Show-of-Hands, Secret Ballots and the making of an Elected Oligarchy

Posted By Tarron Khemraj On February 9, 2011 @ 5:02 am In Daily,Features |

Oligarchic Government and the Crowding Out of Private Investments

Posted By Stabroek staff On August 25, 2010 @ 5:01 am In Features | 

Why don't you propose baseline constitutional reforms which will place a legal firewall between politics and the military machinery.  Oh, that might very well offend your buddy Redux.

ahmmm . . . what is the existing "legal" nexus between "politics and the military machinery" that your "firewall" is supposed to address?

again, take your time mein Herr

where the hell is Baseman hiding?

The military has to be ethnically balanced and the National Service reintroduced. However, the bigger crisis facing the nation is the police force which lacks credibility and is compromised by the most corrupt PPP. The military had many Rodneyites. Did the military overthrow the PPP? What am I missing? 

Two years on…Indian logging firm still to build processing plant

Posted By Stabroek editor On January 1, 2013 @ 2:47 pm In Local | No Comments

12 armed ranks guard Jagdeo round the clock

 
Over a year after he demitted office Former President Bharrat Jagdeo continues to live like he’s still the head of state, especially when it comes to his security detail.

No wonder opposition politicians are clamouring for a review of his benefits, which they claim are placing a heavy burden on the taxpayers of the country.

 

Flashback: Jagdeo inspecting a Guard of Honour by police ranks while he was Head of State.

Kaieteur News has managed to ascertain that the former President still has his full complement of security personnel, consisting of fulltime members of the Guyana Police Force.

This situation is even more troubling especially when it is taken into account that the Guyana Police Force is short on ranks to effectively protect citizens.
At present the force is operating with approximately 3500 ranks to serve a population of about 720,000 persons.

This works out to about one rank to every 205 persons.
But reliable sources have informed that Jagdeo alone currently has a total of 12 guards on a 24 hours basis.

There are eight who are split up over two 12 hours shifts at his mansion in Pradoville 2 (Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara) while four others act as personal security to the former President.

Contrast this with the fact that the Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition has claimed that the government is failing in its obligation when it comes to the provision of security for that office.

An act of parliament mandates the government to provide a “rent free office” for the Opposition Leader, and security for both the provided office and the home of the Opposition Leader.

However, that provision is lacking, as $1M is owed to a security firm for services offered to the Opposition Leader for the period January-June of the year.
A Partnership for National Unity officials noted that security service from the police was not authorized until June last year, hence the need to solicit private services.

TK, you are filled with envy and bitterness.  I don't understand as you would not return to Guyana anyway even if the PNC/AFC wins.  Why the hatred, it mystifies.

You are a naive joker.

Chinese firm still to set up laptop assembly facility

Posted By Stabroek editor On January 2, 2013 @ 5:04 am In Local |

I guess the oligarchy thread must be making the exploiters and the representative of the exploiters uncomfortable. You see some of us did okay all on our abilities and have no reason to envy others who are clubbing and scheming to control the people's resources. What you interpret as bitterness is just an expression of our duty to repay those folks in the motherland who gave us a free education. 

I have to say this is one of the more clever incidences of expropriation by the oligarchs. No doubt Moti, the oligarchs and the Oligarch-in-Chief got their piece from the deal. The Guyanese people got nothing and lost money. Now an insurance company has to pay up. Everyone realized Moti was a bogus thing and did not have the experience. How come this insurance company did not see that? Who at the insurance company made the decision when school boys/girls knew something was amiss? 

==========================

Amaila Falls Road Project…Gov’t wants court to force payment of US$1.5M bond

The government wants the court to force insurance company Hand in Hand to pay US$1.5 million after it fired Makeshwar “Fip” Motilall from the Amaila Falls road project.

The former Bharrat Jagdeo administration had handed Motilall a US$15.4 million to build the road leading to Amaila Falls where the government plans to construct a mega hydro power plant.

However, with Motilall unable to get the job done, he was fired last January, a month after the new Donald Ramotar Government took office.
A performance bond was posted by Hand in Hand Insurance Company to the value of 10 per cent of the contract, or US$1.5. With Motilall failing to perform and out of the way, the government sought to get the US$1.5 million, but to no avail.
“We are dealing with that in the courts,” Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn said yesterday.

He said that there was a “valid” performance bond and there were “issues with performance on the contract” and so the government is moving to secure the bond.
Sources had indicated that Motilall’s performance bond expired ever since July 2011.

That bond was negotiated and brought into force when the contract with Motilall was signed in January 2010, with duration of eight months. But Motilall was never able to meet that deadline and had several extensions until the plug was pulled in January 2011.

When the validity of that bond expired in July 2011, Motilall was expected to secure another, but he did not and that was used to fire him.

In an agreement he had signed, it was agreed that “failure of Synergy Holdings Inc to present to the Government of Guyana a valid performance bond from an acceptable institution to the value of 10 per cent of the contract price on or before January 10, 2012 will result in the immediate termination of the contract.”

A claim by the government did not mean that the insurance company would automatically pay, but that it would have to carry out its investigations, as is done in all cases of persons making a claim.

Motilall, following the announcement of the termination of the contract with Government, had claimed that he was owed in excess of US$1M.
Winston Brassington, the Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), who had played an integral role in the project had said that the government received what it paid for.
“…Government has received value for money based on the work completed,” he had said. Brassington had said that the government retained 10 per cent of all valuations.”

He said, too, “The Agreement for Completion to the contract with Synergy, executed in December 2011, provided certain additional safeguards, including assigning the rights to the equipment to Government.”

Hand-in-Hand, in an official announcement following the termination of the contract, had stated that “the position of an insurance company with regard to any insurance policy or claim is strictly confidential and would not be disclosed by the insurance company unless required by law or legal process.”

The insurance company had also stated that “If a claim is made under a performance bond, it goes through our claims verification and investigation process…This process is performed in respect of each and every claim regardless of size.”

Large claims are submitted to the Board of Directors of Hand-in Hand for its consideration.

Your interpretation of your duty is to repay the gratitude of the nation by re-imposing the PNC on the backs of the people.  The Guyanese people will decide that anyway as you will never return to fix any problems.  The majority of Guyanese don't share your position.

Me Fada seh after he read this post, where they found a Gadaha (donkey) like Baseman from.

No body want to impose nothing on Guyana.

When the people vote next time they will kick the PPP so far that even baseman will have to run miles to find them.

Then we gun jail all them ali baba tieves.

Tell yuh fada, he stupidyness fall pun he son.  Yuh muma muss be crying, she marry waan stupidy man and geh waan stupidy son. 

Guyana Marriott costs three times more than Jamaica

-   Government remains mum on investors
Quick Facts
·       Jamaica project – US$23M versus Guyana project US$58M
·       Average cost per room in Jamaica – US$176, 923 verses Guyana cost US$294, 416
·       Guyana’s project cost is 152 per cent more than Jamaica
·       Jamaica project is privately funded (private equity) versus GOG investment

Full disclosure on Jamaica project, little disclosure on Guyana project

Construction cost of the Guyana Marriott hotel is more than three times the comparative cost of a Jamaica Marriott.

The cost for constructing the Guyana “Marriott” Hotel and Casino is projected as at almost US$60 million, while the Jamaican project has been announced at US$23 million. Guyana projects to build 197 rooms while the Jamaican project is 130 rooms.

Using the Jamaican cost, the comparative cost for Guyana project should be in the vicinity of US$35 million.

Taking the average cost per room, if one were to use the overall cost in Jamaica and divide it by the projected number of rooms, it would mean that the cost per room is US$176,923. The comparative price in Guyana should be the same. But, Guyana is building a room for US$294,416.

International construction companies peg an average cost for a 130-room hotel at US$22.8 million which matches the Jamaica project cost. According to one analyst, “Guyana defeats logic in its projection of costs on its projects.”

The Guyana “Marriott” project should be cheaper than a comparative Jamaican projects for many reasons including the low labour cost and the free land. It must be noted that the Jamaica cost includes the cost of land whereas in Guyana the land is Government-owned and therefore would be free to the Government project.
Despite pressure by opposition parliamentary parties and a Parliamentary motion to halt Government funding for the project, the government is stubbornly pushing ahead with the project.

With existing hotels in Guyana struggling to fill their rooms, it is strange that government is insisting that the Guyana “Marriott” hotel is viable, but it is refusing to make public the studies which justify the project.
The government is so far using tax dollars to fund the project. It has already handed over US$10million (G$2 billion) to SCG Shanghai Construction Group International (Trinidad and Tobago) Ltd, which was awarded the contract to build the hotel.

Private investors are expected to contribute US$27 million.
The government has some special arrangement that guarantees the private investors that they would get their money if the project folds.

So, if in a scenario where the project fails and the value of the property depreciates to a value below what the investors have plugged, then the investors will get back their money, and there would be nothing to return to NICIL. Taxpayers’ dollars would go down the drain.

The government will participate in the project, by way of equity, in the sum of US$4 million. This will be committed through NICIL, one of the investment arms of the government which holds its assets.

The equity contribution determines the government’s strength in Atlantic Hotels Incorporated – the company created to see the project through. As it stands, the government is currently the sole shareholder in the company.

However, apart from the equity contribution, financing for the project would also come from “subordinate loan stocks” of US$15 million invested by NICIL.
Adding the US$2 million, NICIL will end up spending in development costs for the project, including design and other preliminary studies altogether, US$21 million into the project.

So, in total, the amount of money the government is pushing into the project is just about what the Jamaica hotel project is costing, and just about what it should cost in Guyana to complete the project, industry experts say. The additional US$40 million remains a mystery to everyone.

The tragedy of NICIL – Act 1

Posted By Christopher Ram On January 6, 2013 @ 5:07 am In Features,Sunday | 

Nokta’s noctiluca and Anthony’s antonomasia

The lead letter in Monday’s edition of KN described a situation where a citizen by the name of Shyam Nokta (the son of a member of the executive committee of the PPP) has a private company that does environment and climate research. At the same time, he is a consultant with the Office of the President (OP) to which he applies for consultancies in the same area.

We don’t have to even mention for one second that this is a conflict of interest. But a conflict of interest can exist on paper only. Let me explain. Let us say that I work with the President and I have a printing company that tenders for Government printing jobs. Suppose I never received a successful tender, then it means that a conflict of interest never occurred.

So is Shyam Nokta in a conflict of interest? Only if he receives contracts from OP. It is for Nokta and President Ramotar to deny that any contracts were offered to Nokta. If there is silence the opposition should act; but not only the opposition, civil society too.

This Nokta conflict of interest thing surfaced two years ago and not even one citizen picked it up. Times like these my mind focuses on that defunct body called the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA).With a large office on Hadfield Street, I wonder who funds that outfit which a man and wife have headed for the past thirty years and to which no one goes to complain and from which we don’t hear about any investigation into human rights violation. More on the GHRA in future columns.

Now we have a new kid on the block, Transparency Institute (TI).
Does Transparency Institute see an impropriety in the Nokta connection with OP? If yes, it must publicly state so. I am now calling on Transparency Institute to make a statement on this issue. This column’s support for TI will stop in the future if TI does not see the wisdom of commenting on this intriguing situation. Guyanese cannot go on watching organizations telling them that they have their interest at heart, but choose to be diplomatic, evasive, subtle or even silent when wrongdoing is right in front of our eyes.

It may not only be Shyam Nokta who may be in a conflict of interest cocoon with OP, but also the son of another member of the PPP executive whom I am told has a private business and gets a lot of OP contracts for internet and other cyberspace work.

Not to mention, he is very wealthy, with the expensive purchase of prime real estate – not too far from the Guyana Police Force – from a foreign diplomatic mission in Guyana.

I keep telling individual members of the opposition parties that I associate with, that with each passing day, the enormity of wealth possessed by the PPP leaders, their second-tier cadres, their third level activists, their devout supporters and those generally associated with the PPP is going to be so widespread that it will be tantamount to buying out Guyana.

Let us move from Nokta’s noctiluca, to Anthony’s antonomasia. Mr. Ruel Johnson has publicly stated that there are indications that Minister Frank Anthony is planning libel action against him.

If this is so, then I hereby offer free legal advice to Frank Anthony. I hope Mr. Anthony takes it and refrains from seeking wisdom from one of his colleagues, a lawyer that rose from being an obscure attorney in landlord-tenant cases and then fell into infamy by publicly exclaiming that “I is a man that is do illegal things.”
Here are my wise words to Anthony. When a President, Prime Minister, Army Chief, Police Chief, or Cabinet Minister sues another citizen for libel, the defence lawyer automatically puts the plaintiff’s (the person who sued) integrity in the witness box.

All kinds of past decisions, past mistakes, past controversies are aired in court, because office-holders like Presidents, Prime Minister and Ministers are powerful people whose policies and judgements may have twists and turns that the defence lawyers will want to highlight in court.

If Minister Anthony thinks that he is going to sue for libel and not be made to feel the heat in the kitchen, he is wrong. The first thing that will run through the mind of the defence lawyer is “I am going to deal with this guy, I have the evidence.”
It has been reported in the newspapers  by Malcolm De Freitas, of the Theatre Guild that the Carifesta  Secretariat still owes the Guild over a million dollars. Weren’t you the Minister in charge of Carifesta? Is the money paid as yet? Just asking!

The good guy versus bad guy theory is sickening nonsense

Mr. Ralph Ramkarran has written a Stabroek News column entitled, “The PPP’s enduring fears” in which every paragraph, from start to end, is a narrative on Guyanese history from 1950 to 2013. Guyana’s history is painted in a zero sum drama of the good guy, the PPP, haunted and hunted down by the bad guy, the PNC. This is a simple, written article in which the writer takes the unashamed position that from the fifties onwards, the PPP has been enduring the wrath of the PNC.

It is one of the most shameless, disgraceful, propagandistic, unpolished and senseless essays ever written on this country’s history. No Guyanese citizen with a proper education should let this crude description of this country’s contemporary history go unanswered.

Mr. Ramkarran traces the post 1950 evolution of the PPP and tells us that PPP since then has been locked in a battle to survive because of the relentless pursuit of a terrible, evil party that wants power, the PNC.

Before I reply, let me offer you his periodization schema of the PPP’s will to survive the repression of the PNC. Phase 1 – the suspension of the PPP Government in the early fifties and the Jagan – Burnham split. Phase 2 – the violent harassment of the Jagan Government from 1957 onwards. Phase 3 – the PNC’s partnership with imperialism (Ramkarran’s word) to destroy the PPP. Phase 4 – the PNC’s 28 years of rigged elections and oppression of the PPP. Phase 5 – PNC’s use of violence after each election from 1992 onwards to bring down the PPP Government. Phase 6 – the present alignment of the PNC with imperialism (again, Ramkarran’s word) which drives continual fear in PPP leaders.
Here is my point by point rebuttal of this abominable distortion of sixty years of Guyanese history.

1- The PNC and the PPP took opposing sides in the Cold War. Why not use the word Americans versus Soviets instead of imperialism. In 1950, twelve years before his government encountered difficulties with the Americans, Cheddi Jagan gave an interview to a QC magazine (Lictor) in which he praised the government and politics of the second most diabolical, evil human that history created, Joseph Stalin.

For Ramkarran, the Americans were imperialist. But the world knew that Stalin was far worse than any American president.

2 – In the sixties, Premier Jagan faced a popular uprising led by the urban working class, the business community and middle class East Indians. Their grievances were directed against a government they claimed was racist, anti-working class and hostile to private entrepreneurship.

To dismiss the popular struggle against Premier Jagan in the sixties as the machination of imperialism is not worth the paper it is written on.

3- The period of PNC rigged elections was derived from the same fear of oppression and domination that Ramkarran sees in the PPP. PNC leaders told the world that a free poll would result in an Indian domination of administration, state power and the economy, thus virtually reducing African Guyanese to nobodies in their own homeland.

Look at the PPP record since 1992 and we can clearly see, as David Hinds puts it – both groups were afraid of being dissolved by the other.

4- Post-election violence was not a simple act of PNC wickedness as Mr. Ramkarran wants us to believe. As early as 1994, PNC leaders were alarmed at widespread illegal purges of the public service and the wider state realm. Genuine ethnic fears fuelled the fire of post-election violence since 1992. While President Jagan earned the sympathy of the nation after he came to power in 1992, early warning signs of what PNC leaders in the fifties and sixties dreaded most terrifyingly were beginning to show all over Guyana. Look where we’re at in 2013. Were these PNC leaders right?

5- The PNC is not and has not been the demonic monster that Mr. Ramkarran makes this organization out to be. The PNC has produced the best president of this country, far outstripping the achievements of all PPP presidents. It was a PNC leader that accepted free and fair elections that brought the PPP to power.

6- The PPP is the political party that has been at the receiving end of imperialism’s (Ramkaran’s word) generosity. In 1992, the Americans facilitated the PPP into power and since then the PPP has faithfully adhered to the American-shaped economic programme carried out by the IMF known as structural adjustment.

7 – It may be possible that more PPP leaders have children and family connections with “imperialist” countries than the PNC’s.

Space does not permit further rebuttal of Mr. Ramkarran’s good guy versus bad guy nonsense. Suffice it to say, it is sickening and obnoxious, because it is such a barefacedly twisted account of our country’s history.

One last point – in my experience in living with both PNC and PPP Governments, the PPP has produced more corrupt, more immoral and less patriotic leaders. We need to the deconstruct word “evil.”

Jagdeo shares out airwaves to friends…Bobby Ramroop has nine TV and radio channels Mirror newspaper gets five radio channels Deputy Permanent Secretary in Robert Persaud’s Ministry gets five too

Just before he left office, former President Bharrat Jagdeo farmed out the airwaves for his friends, those close to the government and a few others, it was revealed in the National Assembly yesterday.

This action was an abuse of power, said one parliamentarian. Further, it was revealed that while the government has been inviting applications for TV stations, just a few more channels are available to be assigned.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds revealed that Dr Ranjisinghi Ramroop, the man Jagdeo publicly declared to be his best friend, has Channel 28 and three other links to that station, which could effectively allow him to broadcast across the country.
Further, Hinds made it clear that the very month Jagdeo left office (November 2011) he, Jagdeo, gave Dr Ramroop five radio frequencies. The President acts as the Minister of Information and it is under his hand that licences are issued.
The Prime Minister was responding to questions posed by Cathy Hughes, Parliamentarian with the Alliance for Change. Her questions were sparked by mounting controversy over the granting of radio and TV licences, particularly to Ramroop and China Central TV.

Yesterday, Hinds said that China Central TV does not have a licence; that its programmes are broadcast on channels assigned to NCN.
Regarding new radio licences granted under Jagdeo, the Prime Minister revealed that the New Guyana Company Limited, which publishes the Mirror newspaper, and belongs to the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was granted five radio frequencies. The contact person for New Guyana Company Limited was listed as Dharam Kumar Seeraj, a Member of Parliament for the PPP.

In addition, a certain Telcor and Cultural Broadcasting Incorporated, was granted five radio frequencies. The contact person for that company was given as Mr Omar Lochan, who is believed to be a relative of Priya Manickchand, a senior government Minister. Lochan is listed as the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, under Minister Robert Persaud.
Apart from those, in the month before he left office, Jagdeo gave one radio frequency each to other persons. These are NTN Radio (Anand Persaud), Rudy Grant, Wireless Connections (Maxwell Thom), Hits and Jams Entertainment (Rawle Ferguson), Alfro Alphonso and Sons Enterprise (Alfro Alphonso), Haslyn Granham and Little Rock Television Station (Rockliffe Christie).

In December, 2010, Jagdeo also granted two close associates of the PPP permission to broadcast television signals on the 2.5 GHz band, which allows for cable TV operations and internet-related services.

These persons were Vishok Persaud, the son of longstanding PPP stalwart Reepu Daman Persaud, and Brian Yong, who mounted the PPP platform in 1996.
Regarding television stations, the Prime Minister said that only six more television stations can be assigned using current formats for television broadcast in Guyana.

Hinds said that determining the availability of channels for broadcasting depends on many factors. These include transmitter power and specifications, height of antenna, and location of proposed transmitters.
He said that given the propagation characteristics of sound broadcasting signals in the medium frequency (MF) and high frequency (HF) bands frequency availability is not based on national considerations only. International frequency usage and results of international notification and coordination are some of the considerations that would determine frequency availability, Hinds stated.
Frequency usage in the very high frequency (VHF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) bands etc., in border areas, would also be informed by coordination with neighbouring countries, the Prime Minister claimed.

He said that to give a rough approximation (from a radio frequency standpoint) in the Georgetown area (the area with the highest demand), at least 10 more channels in the VHF band (FM sound broadcasting) can be assigned.
One more VHF channel can be assigned for television broadcasting and in the UHF band approximately five channels are available for assignment for television broadcasting.

However, he said that countless other radio and television channels could be made available when there is a change in broadcasting formats.
According to the Prime Minister, if Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) is introduced here, there is the potential for “hundreds of television and sound feed programmes/channels.”

He said DTTB is now common in many countries worldwide and the analog format is expected to be brought to an end worldwide in the not too distant future. The switch-off date for analog TV signals is June 17, 2015, for many European and African countries.

Guyana television broadcast is still analog (a broadband taking up much frequency space) .This country will be following the transition to DTTB, Hinds said, but a date has not yet been set.
He said that this analog to digital TV broadcasting switchover, while offering many benefits to viewers (including the capacity for additional television feeds/programmes), will introduce a very different scenario and the National Frequency Management Unit is currently working on this issue.

Dem boys seh…Jagdeo people preparing fuh defend he

De bandits get ketch again. And is not de regular bandits who police does hunt. De police frighten this set because all of dem is big ones. Dem is de people who hold Government office. De main one is Jagdeo and he laughing all de time. He think he smart everybody when he share out dem radio licence.

De man select de people who he had to give because he want to shut down all who does criticize he and de government. He decide that de best way to mek sure that only he voice people hear was to give he friends de radio station.

All who is he friend and powerful he give five channels suh dem can send dem signal right across de country. He know that de private media can only reach a certain section. Newspaper got de reach but is not everybody can read. But everybody can hear. And this is why Jagdeo mek sure that he friends and he party get de radio.

Is only Donald couldn’t see that because he eye fasten under de cow tail. But he can hear and he now hearing how people feel bout de radio channel wha Jagdeo give away. He now know why people never trust Jagdeo. He sit down wid Hoyte and promise that nobody gun get radio or TV till dem set up a broadcast authority.
Hoyte lef de meeting but he seh that he don’t think he can trust Jagdeo. Hoyte now turning in he grave. Before he dead people beg he fuh trust Jagdeo and he try. That is why he dead. He try fuh do de impossible.

Jagdeo do exactly wha he promise he wouldn’t do. He share out radio and TV licence but he share to he friends and he family. De few people who like a sport, he give dem one one fuh broadcast in dem village. And dem smile. He friends can broadcast to de whole country but not dem other people who look like Hoyte.
And Donald ain’t see this.
Talk half and light fire under Donald tail

TK stoops to KN toilet paper reporting.

BK sand mine faces objections at Yarrowkabra

Posted By Staff Writer On March 16, 2013 @ 5:23 am In Local News |

The Environmental Assess-ment Board (EAB) will on Monday hold a hearing at Yarrowkabra on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway to determine whether a proposed sand mine project by BK International will affect the operations of Bulkan’s Timber Works and whether there is need for an Environmental Impact Assessment prior to giving the go ahead.

 

Howard Bulkan, the owner of Bulkan’s Timber Works, told Stabroek News that if the sand mine is located next to his business, then he would have no choice but to shut down and send workers home.

Howard Bulkan

 

Speaking to this newspaper last night, Brian Tiwari of BK International said he saw no problem with Bulkan’s Timber Works since the sand mine operation will be located some 2,000 feet away. He said he believed the company is just out to create mischief.

Bulkan said that he wrote to the EAB on December 18, 2012, requesting that there be a hearing to determine the validity of his complaint against the proposed development next to his business. He said that after being asked by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to resubmit his application following his first submission, he was able to convince the EAB to arrange a hearing. This will take place on Monday at 4:30pm.

 

In a letter to Executive Director of the EPA Dr Indarjit Ramdass, Bulkan’s Timber Works and Superior Shingles and Wood Products through attorney RN Poonai raised concerns about the safety of workers and equipment and the effects on persons who depend on these companies for a living.

 

“The proposed project site borders the old glass factory at Yarrowkabra out of which the above mentioned companies operate. This compound contains many old, tall steel structures (water towers, rusting building frames, silos, etc) given the nature of the previous manufacturing entity that operated here. My clients engaged the opinion of an engineer who advised that based on the angle of repose of sand and the consistent volumes of rainfall that occur in this area, the minimum safe distance that the edge of the sand mine should start is two and a half times the distance of the intended depth of the mine away from the any given point in the compound of my clients,” said the letter from Poonai.

 

“Given the physical properties of sand, my clients are very concerned about the safety of their approximately 100 employees should any of these structures become undermined and collapse.”

 

The letter also raised concerns of possible damage to highly expensive and sensitive wood working equipment and of the adverse effects of sand particles blowing into the factories, on the manufacturing process and the products.

Brian Tiwari

 

The attorney’s letter also pointed out that members of the Yarrowkabra Charcoal Burners Association – an organisation comprising mostly single mothers – rely on the free raw material provided by Superior Shingles and Wood Products to earn a living. “The granting of a permit to mine sand has the real potential to put these women out of work and I believe their concerns should be addressed…,” Poonai said.

 

The letter said too that given the nature of the area, an Environmental Impact Assessment should be done to ensure that the project would not adversely affect the natural vegetation and wildlife. The letter was copied to Tiwari and Dawn Braithwaite, Chairperson of the Yarrowkabra Charcoal Burners Association.

Bulkan said his business not only supports the women in the association and the factory workers but also small loggers out of Linden who supply Wallaba logs for the operations.

 

 

Breaking News…Brassington buys 50,000 shares for NICIL, and 2.25 million shares in brother’s name

http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....-over-of-gncb-trust/

NICIL take over of GNCB Trust

Executive Director of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) Winston Brassington, just one day after challenging the opposition members to prove the allegations of corruption against him, is again the centre of another scandal.

This time, Brassington is coming under fire for a transaction that he might have initiated in the name of his brother, Jonathan Brassington, for 2.25 million shares in Hand in Hand Trust Corporation.

Brassington was the head of NICIL when it acquired the Guyana National Cooperative Bank (GNCB) Trust. NICIL then sold the GNCB Trust to Hand in Hand Insurance Company.

On October 13, 2003, the insurance company passed a special resolution to change the name of the new asset to Hand in Hand Trust Corporation. NICIL, still headed by Brassington, became a major shareholder in the company.

NICIL held 250,000 shares in the Trust; the majority of shares was held by Hand in Hand Fire Insurance Company.
In 2009, by order of a resolution passed by the Board of Directors at Hand in Hand Trust Corporation, “the Board authorized an increase in the Trust Corporation Share Capital from $250M to $750M and further authorized the issuance of Preferred/Ordinary Shares to cover the increased Share Capital.”

This meant that the Trust increased the volume of shares from 2.5 million to 7.5 million at $100 per share. Immediately, Jonathan Brassington bought 2.25 million shares for $225 million. This purchase gave him a one-third ownership in Hand in Hand Trust Company.

By September 2009, Winston Brassington who still represented NICIL as a major shareholder in the Trust company, signed for these shares on behalf of his brother who was at the time and still remains overseas. Jonathan Brassington became the second largest shareholder in the Trust company after Hand in Hand Fire Insurance Company which held just over three million shares. At the same time Brassington, acting on behalf of NICIL, increased its share holdings to 300,000.

Alliance For Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan has labeled this transaction as another in a string of incestuous dealings. He says, “Winston Brassington signed a special resolution on behalf of a Jonathan Brassington who some time in 2009 became the owner of 2,250,000 of the shares in Hand-in-Hand Trust Co. Inc….With this 45 per cent take of the share issue in 2009, a Brassington became the second largest shareholder in a Brassington-privatised company…This is not only corruption: it meets the test of fraud.”

Ramjattan says that what is even more alarming is the fact that this transaction took place mere months before the company plugged a multi-million-dollar investment in the Berbice Bridge. This investment has since been described as a ‘cash cow’ for its investors. “The same Hand-in-Hand Trust is part of the Group which invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Berbice Bridge Company. Winston Brassington was the financial architect of this project.”

Ramjattan is also questioning why Brassington is now setting a condition for his resignation when his resignation had been announced several months earlier.
“I hope that Mr. Brassington has not changed his mind so that he can prevent access to the files and records that will conclusively establish the mounting evidence of fraud, corruption and illegalities surrounding NICIL which has surfaced with every passing day.”

Jagdeo orchestrated plot to take over airwaves

…grants cable licences to two buddies

…Vishok Persaud, Brian Yong set up shop before licence was granted 
Apart from shocking disclosures that President Bharrat Jagdeo handed his friends and associates and political party multiple radio and TV licences, the granting of cable licences has shed light on a plot to snap up the entire telecommunications sector.
He granted cable licences to Vishok Persaud, the son of PPP stalwart Reepu Daman Persaud and to Brian Yong, a very close confidante.
The granting of cable licences allows the licencees to offer what in the United States and other countries is called triple play—internet, television/radio and telephone services.

Even without being coupled with cellular service Cable on the 2.5 GHz Band is a virtual monopoly in the telecommunication sector for whoever owns the licence. When a consumer accesses Cable with the triple play then regular landline services can become irrelevant.

The cable by itself monopolises the interactive flow of information and that is what Jagdeo has given to his two buddies.
Searches reveal that Jagdeo handed out the cable licences to control the electronic media.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Thursday, disclosed that the former President granted the two persons cable licences on the 2.5 GHz band in December 2010. These were E-Networks, under Vishok Persaud, the son of Reepu Daman Persaud, a stalwart of the ruling People’s Progressive Party; and Brian Yong, who Jagdeo invited to mount the PPP platform in the 2006 elections.

Bharrat Jagdeo

 

Both Vishok Persaud and Brian Yong are known to be close to Jagdeo and Winston Brassington, the man who manages Government’s investments.
The service offered by the two men, such as 4G requires both the availability of licensed airwaves – also called spectrum – from the government, and considerable private investment in infrastructure.

The revelations by the Prime Minister show that Jagdeo granted licences to facilitate the development of the already established business of his friends.
In early December, 2010 Persaud introduced his company’s WiMax 4G Network, opening up a wireless digital communication system to provide broadband wireless access, satellite services providing internet access and voice services to miners and companies in the interior, and other services.
This means that Persaud launched his service the very month that he was granted a licence. From all indications Persaud moved to set up his infrastructure knowing that he was assured of a licence from Jagdeo.

In normal circumstances, a person would await the granting of a licence before investing in infrastructure.
The case of Persaud resembles the scenario under which Yong was granted his licence. Yong received his licence in December, 2010.
He too started developing his business with the assurance that he would get a licence.

Vishok Persaud

In January, 2009, Yong’s company signed a deal with O3b Networks, the developer of a new fibre-quality, satellite-based, global Internet backbone.
At that time, Yong boasted that “with less than 1% penetration of broadband Internet usage in Guyana, we feel we have a moral obligation to provide all Guyanese Internet access for educational, commercial, and medical purposes.”
Sure enough, Yong ventured into the business offering broadband satellites and cable TV and was granted his licence.

The 2.5 GHz band, under which Persaud and Yong were licenced, is currently used for electronic news gathering services (including television outside broadcasts). Spectrum in this band is being relocated worldwide to meet increasing demands for wireless broadband services.
Using the provisions of the 2.5 band, a number of initiatives can be undertaken, such as the rapid, unplanned deployment of links to cover breaking news events; planned use of group links employing a variety of techniques to provide specialist coverage of particular events; and electronic field production, which could be used to provide elements of a television production.
In other words, these two businesses could dominate the mass media landscape of the entire country.

Brian Yong

Who says that Jagdeo cared about all the people?

 
Radio is perhaps the most convenient of the means of communication. Since its somewhat accidental discovery it has taken the world by storm. Drivers find it a convenient companion as they travel, people in remote lands keep abreast of developments in every corner of the world through radio and most of all it allows for the easy dissemination of information.

Not so long ago people in Guyana kept abreast with the rest of the world through radio. Many were the nights when neighbours gathered around the single radio around for such simple delights of soap operas, and the pop tunes. The information that most people wanted were the announcements of deaths and the messages.

The sports fanatics followed every detail, be it boxing or cricket. The people at the other end had a command of language. They had to be very good to transmit the images they were seeing through the use of words. Radio made for the development of people.
I shall not attempt to examine the other uses because for many today, they are ancient.

It is true that radio is not as pervasive as it once was. The telephone, particularly the cellular phone which has become smarter to the point that it is a radio, a telephone and an encyclopedia all in one, has taken the pride of place. Of course the phone is much more, not to speak about its role as link for social gatherings.
But radio is still the easiest of the mass communication systems. Because of its capability to transmit messages over long distances to a multitude of people at the same time it became a worthwhile tool for politicians and entertainers alike.
Guyana had many radios. There were the so-called ham radios which allowed private operators to listen to chats and other information from around the world. The first news out of Grenada after Hurricane Hugo came via ham radio. But I am getting ahead of what I really want to look at. Guyanese get almost all of their ready news from radio.

In other countries people are informed of traffic jams, weather conditions, and the news by radio as they drive. When planes went into the World Trade Centre, radio gave those on the road immediate information and probably saved more lives because those who would have been in the vicinity a few minutes later, diverted.
In Guyana, people are provided with what passes for news on television and most get these pieces of information at nights, hours after the event would have happened. The state radio, because of its misconceived role, provides tidbits on what the government wants to be known on the hour. But they cannot compete with the private media.

It took decades, but the government has come to recognize that its state-controlled media facilities are no match for the private media who, though few, do make an impact on the people of the country. It is widely believed that the private media had so significant impact on the nation that they influenced the final outcome that saw the government, for the first time, having a parliamentary minority.

During his tenure as President, Bharrat Jagdeo recognized that he had an uphill task to maintain his grip on information. Many believe that he was emulating Forbes Burnham who had an ubiquitous presence in the country by way of the only daily newspaper and the only radio station. The nation, for the most part heard what he wanted them to hear.

Desmond Hoyte opened up the media and before he died there were many private newspapers and television stations. More voices were heard with different messages. However, the most pervasive of them, radio, remained in Government hands.

Jagdeo had a television station controlled by Robert Persaud, three others by sympathisers of his party, but he still had to wonder at the power of the private media. The result is that he got a newspaper going, but that is still to get off the ground.

Before he demitted office he decided to liberalise radio. This decision was hailed until Jagdeo kept his promise. He picked his friends, and close associates to own these new channels. Again he wanted to ensure that his message and that of his party reach everyone at the same time. The private media would have to catch up some twelve hours later and Jagdeo, being a clever man, knew the advantage of time.

It did not matter that there were numerous pending applications by people who seriously wanted radio to give people something other than government propaganda. Jagdeo handpicked those who would get radio.

The insult to those who had applied more than a decade ago was that Jagdeo’s best friend, Dr Ranjisinghi Ramroop, got five channels. Jagdeo’s party got five more and Robert Persaud got five. What does this tell us? Jagdeo wants to control the airwaves and he calls this acting in the best interest of the people.

Chandra Narine Sharma who was moved to a television channel that automatically accommodated a radio frequency was actually told that he could not advertise his radio. Anthony Vieira, who was sick of the sole state radio station, opted to start his broadcast. The result was that the government swooped down on him and seized his radio.

Vieira moved to the courts and found that he had a right to broadcast. That is a landmark decision and I am surprised that no other individual has opted to capitalize on that court ruling. Had they done so this mass allocation of radio stations to friends and family would not have occurred.

There is the contention that the National Frequency Management Unit, which is responsible for allocating the spectrum, would have deemed squatting illegal, and would have moved against the radio. But Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon actually told the nation that the NFMU is a rubber stamp. He said that it can never tell the government not to or to refuse any move by the government.

Desmond Hoyte knew about the power of radio and he got Jagdeo to agree that nothing would be done until there was a Broadcasting Authority. Jagdeo turned his back on that promise to satisfy his penchant for nepotism.

Media refuse to accept biased distribution of radio licences

…Press Association calls for overseas intervention

Revelations that former President Bharrat Jagdeo farmed out radio and television licences to his friends and others close to the government just before the last elections have sparked widespread concerns and a statement of defiance from privately-owned media houses.
Yesterday, the Guyana Media Proprietors Association (GMPA) and Guyana Press Association (GPA) issued statements calling for an immediate reversal of the allocations.

Several private media houses and personalities who had applied for licences and are seen as critics of the government were bypassed by Jagdeo. The former President approved the licences as Minister of Information shortly before his constitutional term in office ended in November, 2011.

According to GMPA, the “lawlessness” must end. The body said that it is “appalled at the revelations in the National Assembly on the recent allocation of radio licences.”Three of the stations issued licences under Jagdeo have already started broadcasting.

GMPA said that the manner in which the allocations were made “flies in the face of freedom of expression. It will not be accepted. It would effectively limit objective voices. It smacks of deceit, duplicity, and downright discrimination. Effectively, then President Jagdeo breached the agreement between himself and Desmond Hoyte in 1997.” GMPA is convinced that there was deliberate bias in the process when Jagdeo refused to issue licences to the others.

“We demand the right to free and independent voices.”
Already, members of the GMPA have met to discuss the way forward.
Meanwhile, the GPA in a separate statement, said it is disturbed over what appears to be the unfair distribution of frequencies, weighed in favour of the governing party.

Media owners who were ignored.

The association yesterday called on overseas media bodies to intervene.
On Friday, the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), of which GPA is part, also said that it is monitoring the situation and is concerned. The association’s President, Wesley Gibbings, who is based in Trinidad, said that the ACM has been keeping an eye on the developments.  The body is preparing to issue a statement shortly.

“It is equally disturbing that the Government of Guyana is creating a media environment of monopoly ownership and control that leaves media workers limited options on employment and creative outlets for their skill and talent,” the GPA stated
An under-pressure government, with a one-seat minority in the National Assembly, was forced to disclose specific details of the licences granted following questions by the Opposition demanding answers.

GPA also pointed out that Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, in releasing details of the allocation, did not explain why for over two decades there has been no national plan to allow for investment in the sector by Guyanese and CARICOM nationals.
It referred to recent disclosures that China’s CCTV was allowed to use a channel, reportedly allocated to the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN) under strange circumstances.

“The Guyana Press Association is also concerned that at least one TV channel has been farmed out to essentially carry international content from a foreign power that clearly does not bring employment or other tangible benefits to the Guyanese media fraternity.”
GPA called on the Government to correct the “obvious lapses” in the administration of the broadcast/telecommunications sector in the country.
“The Guyana Press Association would like to see the elected representatives from both sides of the House (the National Assembly) engaged with other stakeholders in the process to redress the deficiencies in the sector. 

 
“We encourage the involvement of Caribbean and Commonwealth media advisers in this task to ensure the equitable distribution of the resources of the electromagnetic spectrum that would redound to the benefit of all media workers and those involved in the creative industry.”

The granting of the licences to close friends and party members by Jagdeo is widely seen as a move by the party to further consolidate its control on the media.Following the ruling party’s loss of its control of the National Assembly, the private media was blamed.

Rev here is a nice thread. Show your bitterness and jealousness here.  LOL!

Mines body lending $3b to housing authority

Posted By Staff Writer On January 30, 2015 @ 5:30 am In Local News |

Loan was investment opportunity – GGMC

Posted By Stabroek editor On January 31, 2015 @ 1:18 pm In Local News |

Why should TK bother about the culture of the PPP?

It is the People who choose the Party which will govern the country not a chosen few.

On May 11,2015, the People will once again exercise their franchise.  They will choose the party capable of running the country.

Elections will fair and free

The election will be free and unfair. We are concerned with the culture of the PPP because its choices have implications for everyone living inside Guyana and even inside Caricom. Is that clear enough?

Unfair distribution of radio licences nurtures a bitter society – Sir Fenton Ramsahoye S.C

By Kiana Wilburg

Distinguished Guyanese Scholar, Dr. Fenton Ramsahoye, S.C

Fenton Ramsahoye, QC, strongly advocates for the monopoly over Guyana’s telecommunications sector, particularly the radio frequencies by a select few, to come to an abrupt end.

Dr. Ramsahoye commented on the current mismanagement of the spectrum and warned that should a restructuring of the current arrangements fail to occur sooner rather than later, it could have detrimental effects for freedom of expression in the Guyanese society.

The former attorney general stated that partisan use of the spectrum is unconstitutional and is a misuse of the national asset. He stressed too, that it denies equality of treatment to which every member of the population is entitled.

The lawyer said, too, that the spectrum and how it is managed, currently, needs to be restructured and that it should not be used as a weapon. Failure to do this, he said, would only lead to a fractured nation and increase division.

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo days before demitting office, gifted several radio and cable frequencies to cronies, relatives and family.

A number of frequencies went to PPP’s newspaper, The Mirror; to Jagdeo’s best friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi “Bobby” Ramroop, and another five to an overseas-based sister of Natural Resources Minister, Robert Persaud. Persaud is also Jagdeo’s nephew-in-law.

The applications for radio frequencies by independent newspapers, Kaieteur News and Stabroek News, and televisions stations like CNS 6, WRHM 7, Capitol News, HBTV 9 and RBS 13 were ignored by Jagdeo.

President Donald Ramotar had given his word to the nation that he would review those licences but since he assumed office, it remains an unfulfilled commitment, even in the face of strong protests by the independent media.

In giving his views on the matter, Ramsahoye, said that the Jacob Rambarran case which is with the Guyana Court of Appeal raised the question of the ownership of the spectrum and if its use should be regulated by an autonomous body.

The Queen’s Counsel said that that particular subject raised in the case was also one that was brought up in another, in India. That matter in India which spoke to the use of the spectrum started because of a debate over how the Cricket matches should be aired over radio.

In the India Supreme Court, Ramsahoye said that two things were mentioned that are relevant and important to the Guyanese situation. The first he cited was that the spectrum is owned by all the people of the country and secondly, that its use should be regulated by a self-governing body where all of the people are represented.

Ramsahoye said that he strongly believes that Guyana ought to accept those principles for they are firmly rooted in the soil of democracy.

He said that such a process would ensure the dissemination of information in a free and fair manner.

Ramsahoye stressed that while there is a monopoly over the airwaves by those in power and people believed to be supporting them; freedom of speech is being hindered.

He emphasized that in allowing freedom of speech, one of the fundamental characteristics of any democratic state, ensures that the country is ruled by a representative and responsible government.

He said that such a process would lead to a society being better able to make informed judgments and decisions.

Significantly too, the Queen’s Counsel said that it is only democratic for people to have access to all information and not partisan views. “Partisanship”, he said, “only nurtures and ensures a bitter society.”

He said that one can only expect such as an inevitable consequence with the way the spectrum is being managed in Guyana.

The celebrated scholar added, too, that freedom of expression implies that the means of imparting and receiving information may be constitutionally used. But the use of those means must be regulated in the interest of order.

Dr. Ramsahoye articulated that this means of regulation of the use of the spectrum which is a national asset must lead to honourable and fair dealing in which all of the people have the right to impart and receive information about matters which concern the public.

Members of the political opposition have made solemn promises to revoke, review and regularize the licenses granted as well as the policies governing it.

Specifically, Prime Ministerial candidate for the coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)/Alliance For Change (AFC) front, Moses Nagamootoo, recently said that the partnership is concerned with the deliberate hijacking of the airwaves and of several news outlets.

“We will also move to ensure that the Broadcasting Authority is reformed and sanitized to purge it of party and political contamination. And therefore, that body will be tasked to review the frequency allocation and to consider applications on their merit.”