Jamaica seizes cocaine found in

shipping container from Guyana

Friday, 08 November 2013

(JAMAICA OBSERVER).-KINGSTON, Jamaica.- Fifty-two packages of cocaine weighing 57.5 kg, with an estimated street value of US$57,000 or J$57 million, were seized Thursday in a joint operation by Jamaica Customs and the Trans-national Crime and Narcotics Division (TCND) at Kingston Freezone.
According to the Jamaica Customs Department, the contraband was found wrapped in brown masking tape in a 40-foot import container with commodities declared as tea bags from Guyana.
No arrests have been made in connection with the seizure, however, investigations are ongoing.

Mitwah is desperately trying to detail any thread that exposes the sinister motives of the APNU/AFC

Go lick butta from Kwamee BT. That's what you are good for.

Mitwah's post are a true reflection of his/her IQ, its a waste of time arguing with a complete idiot, one must have pity on his soul. He/she is clearly desperate, derailing the threads the speaks of the sinister motives of APNU/AFC

You answer somewhat like a computer, I still believe you're a programme called Micro Soft Councie.(aka Likkle Soff Councie)

[www.inewsguyana.com] - Chairman of the Governance and Security Committee of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Captain Gerald Gouveia is now questioning the Combined Opposition’s friendliness to the Private Sector after A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in conjunction with the Alliance for Change (AFC) voted against a petition by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) in the National Assembly on Thursday, November 7.

The PSC had decided to petition the National Assembly to pass the Amendments to the Anti – Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill as they are fearful of the repercussions facing Guyana if the amendments are not made into law.

Gouveia who is currently abroad said he was made aware of the news this morning and expressed grave disappointment that both the petition and the AML/CFT bill was voted down by a majority opposition vote.

He told iNews, “I really don’t know what the opposition’s strategy and objective is, we have talked at length of the damages not passing the bill will have on the economy, businesses and jobs” he said, adding that “they are not meeting with the private sector, I’m simply shocked, this sounds very anti – Private Sector and scornful.”

Gouveia said the Private sector Commission submitted the petition in good faith and it is simply disappointing the stance the opposition took.

Yesterday, in the National Assembly when PPP Parliamentarian Manzoor Nadir stood to present the petition, APNU Member Carl Greenidge interrupted stating that the petition was not in keeping with the Standing Orders.

However, Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman reminded the House that petitions are the only instruments which the public has to speak to the National Assembly.

Through Trotman, the Clerk of the National Assembly noted that the petition has met the rules of the National Assembly and it was allowed.

In the end, the petition was presented by Nadir. However, the Parliamentary Opposition defeated the motion by securing a majority vote.

Failure to pass the Bill by November 18 could see Guyana being blacklisted and financial transactions could come under severe scrutiny.

The PSC is a very biased organization. They are Jagdeo lackey. 

The joint opposition's actions were uncalled for, in denying to listen to the concerns of the PSC, when one turns a few pages back in history, the person(s) who only cripple the private sector back them wants to repeat such acts.....

He is a latrine pit dweller.

They may have called themselves PNC in the 1970s and now call themselves APNU, but their resentment of, and hostility and destructive attitude towards, the private sector remains strong, Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh said in an invited comment on the Opposition’s recent stance on a number of major private sector developments.

 “If we examine the facts, during the 1970s and most of the 1980s, the PNC destroyed and decimated Guyana’s private sector. They expropriated the private sector’s assets, intimidated and effectively banished the entrepreneurial class, and completely destroyed the environment for doing business. Their attitude today reveals that, although they are attempting to hide behind the thin veil of a new name, their hostility towards the private sector is much the same, and they remain diametrically opposed to private sector led development. This is perhaps unsurprising, considering that some of their main ideologues remain the same, in particular (Carl) Greenidge as the economic czar that presided over the destruction of the Guyanese economy from 1983,” he stated.

PPP are barefaced thieves. They have no regard for the constitution/laws of the nation and spit in the face of the people while they rip them off. When are they going to establish the Public Procurement Commission as required by the Constitution? Do that and then let's talk about the AML/CFT Bill.

The PSC are PPP stooges just like you.

Mr. Granger is acting as the PPP/C wants him to

Dear Editor, The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, currently the subject of intense speculation and national debate, was being considered by a Select Committee prior to the National Assembly proceeding on its two months recess. Despite the urgency that the Bill be passed into law to prevent Guyana being deemed as non-compliant with its international obligation, no work was done by the Select Committee for the entire ten weeks or so from the recess date. We have since learnt that shortly after the Select Committee’s resumption, at a meeting which none of the opposition members could attend, lead PPP/C member Ms. Gail Teixeira, Chairperson, abruptly terminated consideration of the Bill and brought the Committee to an end. Her action deprived not only the opposition MP’s but also members of the public the opportunity to appear before the Committee to present their views. She will now be presenting the Bill to the National Assembly with recommendations that it be passed with all its several and serious flaws on which both of us have written publicly, and one of us made written submissions to the Select Committees of the original 2009 Bill and the Amendment Bill. It is against this background that we express our dismay over a statement attributed to Mr. David Granger in which he distanced himself from the public commitment of the AFC that essentially states that that party would not support the Bill unless the constitutionally mandated Public Procurement Commission is established. Mr. Granger states that he sees no nexus between the two. Fundamentally we find it regrettable that after so many months considering this Bill, the Leader of the Opposition could not bring the opposition parties to find common ground in addressing the Bill, or indeed a legislative agenda that serves the national interest. On November 28, 2011 the people elected them to the National Assembly to make laws as well as oppose any bad laws proposed by the ruling Party. We are not the first to call on these parties and their leaders to get their act together. We share Mr. Granger’s interest in having a proper anti-money laundering Bill that will work to stamp out money laundering. Where we disagree strongly with him is that there is no nexus in the elements of a meaningful national legislative programme. In taking such an approach, Mr. Granger is acting as the PPP/C wants him to. It is more than twelve years since the Guyana Constitution mandated a Procurement Commission; a Local Government Commission; legislation to set a fair mechanism to allocate resources among the regions; and a Public Service Appellate Tribunal to protect the interest of public servants. It is years since we last had an Ombudsman, the defender of the interest of the poor. To call for these immediately is not petty politics but the essence of our democracy and responsible and responsive leadership. We therefore believe that it is entirely unacceptable that the Leader of the Opposition should act in any way that gives support to the PPP/C’s belief that they are free to decide those of our constitutional rights we will enjoy and those which we will not; whether the National Assembly will function as it was intended to do or merely to serve the interests of the PPP/C; which Bills will be properly considered by Select Committees and those which will not; those Bills the President chooses arbitrarily not to give his assent to and those to which he will; if and when we will have local government elections, a Procurement Commission and an Ombudsman; and which projects will be passed through the National Budget and which will be diverted through NICIL. Two years into this new Parliament is more than enough time for these fundamental questions to have been resolved. With or without the Anti-Money Laundering Amendment Bill, the matters referred to above are vital to our democracy and are linked in our constitution. Mr. Granger must therefore resist any attempt by the Government, the PSC or the diplomatic community to designate these as secondary issues. We fear the consequences of not having the democratic and governance structures much more than we fear the consequences of a delay in passing the amendments. We believe that the consideration of the Anti-Money Laundering Amendment Bill which the Government and the PPP/C are now rushing to pass presents the ideal opportunity to deal with this unacceptable state of affairs. It is for these reasons that we propose that the Opposition Parties demand action on these critical issues as a necessary precondition for even agreeing to discuss the Bill and the Principal Act. Ramon Gaskin Christopher Ram 

Clearly there are multiple culprits here.  The ppp will not cave in to the opposition demands as it will give credence to their accusations against the govt. On the other hand the afc/pnc will not support the money laundering bill because it will expose them as paper tigers. So the nation has to suffer as we see the parties jockeying to show who has the bigger stick. The solution is compromise or snap elections to regain the majority in parliament. Neither are viable solutions for all parties involved. So the PPP will hang on to power for the next 3 year and the opposition will continue to stymie progress to build political point. Meanwhile the nation will continue to suffer.