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Former AFC Exec warns Govt not to stall for time

– says GECOM must provide timely election preparedness update
– urges coalition to put its fate in the hands of the electorate

A former Alliance For Change (AFC) executive has called out the authorities for seemingly stalling for time, noting that at a time when everything should be in elections mode, the Administration has fallen into a ‘go slow’ mode.

Former AFC Executive Sase Singh

According to economist Sasenarine Singh, at the time appearing on a broadcast ‘town hall’ panel discussion, there is a real risk that Government’s stalling tactics could see them slipping into illegitimacy after March 2019 – that is, if there are no elections and an agreement to extend the deadline is not reached by the National Assembly.
As per an agreement reached by President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo during a recent meeting, their respective Chief Whips – the Government’s Amna Ally and the Opposition’s Gail Teixeira, were supposed to meet Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) officials last week to enquire into their preparations for elections.
“The Chief Elections Officer (Keith Lowenfield) has told them (Chief Whips) I would like to meet you, but I can’t meet you unless my boss authorises me to meet you guys. So where is the boss? The boss is the Chairman of GECOM and he’s missing in action too. He’s on extended sick leave,” Singh said.
“So it seems as though the whole Administration is on a go slow. And this is the challenge. The Government’s role is to move things forward. In this case, what we are seeing is the Government opposing itself and really stalling on itself. And it’s making the whole national conversation into a joke. It is critical that the Government stop behaving immature.”
Singh also reminded that as an entity that receives billions in taxpayers’ money, it is accountable to the people. As such, Singh noted the importance of GECOM’s accountability with less than 90 days left before elections are constitutionally due.
“The reality is a decision was made by the majority. Accept your fate, put yourself in the hands of the electorate, because they are the ones who put you in authority. Let the people decide what they want. It’s their country. We have to work together … GECOM will need a framework to deliver on these elections.”
“Fortunately, for GECOM, they’ve just come out of local Government Elections, which meant the machinery has proven it works. So it just needs tinkering and some level of expansion and it will be ready. So they don’t need a long time. But GECOM is so anaemic in its communication, they have not even prescribed to the nation what their roadmap is.”
While Lowenfield diverted the two Chief Whips to his ailing boss, Teixeira in an interview with Guyana Times had said that a meeting with Lowenfield would probably have been better, since a number of technical matters would have been dealt with.
“Lowenfield thought it appropriate we write the Chairman first and get a meeting set up. That’s what (Chief Whip Amna Ally) did as a result. We haven’t gotten a response yet. My view was that this is a technical issue and (we should) get the technical areas from Lowenfield and his secretariat and the operational preparedness,” Teixeira had said.
Meanwhile, Ally, in an interview with the State media, stated that Lowenfield did not have a difficulty in meeting with them. But, nevertheless, he still requested that they seek out Patterson.
“This, I did, speedily yesterday (Thursday) afternoon and the letter has been dispatched to the Chairman of the Elections Commission as well as the Chief Elections Officer, requesting a meeting to have us briefed on the matter of GECOM’s preparedness for elections,” Ally was quoted as saying.
GECOM Chairman, retired Justice James Patterson was recovering after being hospitalised last month and was expected to return to GECOM last Tuesday to host a statutory meeting. That very day, however, the Commission revealed that Patterson did not return as scheduled and in fact, had received an extension of his medical leave.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Bai Labba,

Yuji is not Revvie. I noticed you, sorry, Tk is grasshopping again. Dem bais going to spray pesticide pun he head and then he will ketch sense. He will hop like a madman.

Hey Hey Hey 

 

FM
Last edited by Former Member
yuji22 posted:

Bai Labba,

Yuji is not Revvie. I noticed you, sorry, Tk is grasshopping again. Dem bais going to spray pesticide pun he head and then he will ketch sense. He will hop like a madman.

Hey Hey Hey 

 

Hey hey hey...dem shoud tek lil guysuco fertilizer dem bais was mekkin money pon and throw pon he. Hey hey hey

FM
yuji22 posted:

You rass on a roll today. Honestly dat fertilizer thing is true. I heard dat dem bais does tek it by the truckload. 

Hey Hey Hey

Yea doh is one reason why coolie peopkle get impoverish when abie Gaad was president. Abie put wan hustler and tek de kickback. Hey hey hey...

FM

Dat is where you and I will have to disagreed. Indos had jobs and lived a comfortable life under PPP.

Blackman come and closed down the estates where a majority of indos worked and one Minista made it clear that she would give Jobs to black people only. 

Dem want to wipe out Indos with them one love whistle.

Hey Hey Hey

FM
Last edited by Former Member
Labba posted:
yuji22 posted:

Bai Labba,

Yuji is not Revvie. I noticed you, sorry, Tk is grasshopping again. Dem bais going to spray pesticide pun he head and then he will ketch sense. He will hop like a madman.

Hey Hey Hey 

 

Hey hey hey...dem shoud tek lil guysuco fertilizer dem bais was mekkin money pon and throw pon he. Hey hey hey

Rodent you have speech disability,  I tried many times to follow your comments  but your Hay here and your Hay there confuses me.

K
yuji22 posted:

 

Blackman come and closed down the estates where a majority of indos worked and one Minista made it clear that she would give Jobs to black people only. 

 

Indo man sold Guymine out to Chinese who fired black man. Then Indo man told the police to shoot down black man when the same Indo man wanted to take away the only benefit that they had left.

Volda said what she would do. Jagdeo actually did it, giving top jobs to Indos causing Kissoon to call him a racist. He sued Kissoon and had to withdraw the law suit when Luncheon proved that Kissoon was right about Jagdeo being a black hating racist.

FM

Bauxite industry collapsed while PNC was in office
-- Prime Minister stresses


Guyana Chronicle
July 12, 2002

Related Links:Articles on bauxite
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PRIME Minister Sam Hinds has stressed that the bauxite industry collapsed while the main Opposition People's National Congress (PNC) was in power, contrary to claims by that party that the industry disintegrated under the governing People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

PNC leader, Mr. Desmond Hoyte repeated the claims at a news conference yesterday.

But Mr. Hinds, in a statement yesterday, noted that when the PPP/C was elected to Government in 1992, the bauxite industry "had already been virtually destroyed under the PNC".

He said that ever since the PPP/C Government has been working with the bauxite workers to rehabilitate the industry.

"It was in 1983 that the bauxite industry suffered its first major retrenchment of workers and the alumina plant and the bauxite operations at Ituni were closed.

"It was under Mr. Hoyte that the decision to sell the industry to private interest was made.

"By 1992, the production of bauxite was one third of the production in 1975 and the industry on the verge of collapse and in an increasing decline," Mr. Hinds pointed out.

According to him, the Linden Mining Enterprise (LINMINE) steam power plant was a victim of this collapse.

"Privatisation of power generation for Linden was completely consistent with the PNC's own commitment, even before the PPP/C came to office, to privatise the bauxite industry. It was a perfectly reasonable decision at the time and in fact was urgently recommended by the LINMINE management," Mr. Hinds stated.

"It is extraordinary, therefore, that Mr. Hoyte should issue a statement attempting to lay the blame for the disintegration of the bauxite industry at the door of the PPP/C Government," the Prime Minister said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hinds also refuted another claim made yesterday by the PNC/R at its weekly news conference, and noted that in 1998, the Linden Power Company (LPC) were in need of accommodation for their management staff and offered to rent the property owned by the Prime Minister in Linden which was vacant at the time.

According to Mr. Hinds, the property is rented at G$65,000 per month, the rent paid by the previous tenant.

 


Comments on this article?

 

FM

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