IF THE PPP/C GET BACK INTO POWER, BRIBERY AND CORRUPTIONS  CONTINUES IN GUYANA: THE CURRENT PPP/C WOULD CONTINUE MAKE CHEDDI JAGAN DREAMS OF A LEAN AND MEAN GOVERNMENT AS NANCY STORY/JOKE

Ignore this. This article is from 2 PPP haters.

Skelly, this statement speaks volumes.

The PPP can no doubt rely on its tribal base to come out in full support in the next general election but whether that will be enough to make the PPP victorious is doubtful. Their tribal base is dwindling due to overseas migration and others are marching toward the other parties. The youths are fed up with the propaganda, distortions and untruths by the do-nothing PPP cabal who seem to think that they can squander the taxpayers’ money at will on shady projects.

Guyana ranked a very poor 27 out of 100 points in the Transparency International 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

The report was released this morning. Last year, Guyana scored 28 points.

Guyana is again doing worse than every other country in  Caricom except for Haiti (19) which has also traditionally been one of the worst performers.

Transparency International (TI) premiered a new methodology last year where countries are ranked from 1 to 100 points with 100 representing the least corrupt. Any score below 50 indicates a serious problem and though it is not possible to meaningfully compare Guyana’s performance with the previous methodology, the country remains in the bracket of those with a very serious problem.

By contrast, Barbados scored 75 points, the highest in Caricom, The Bahamas 71, St Lucia 71, Trinidad and Tobago 38 and Jamaica 38. Suriname came in at 36 this year.

The perception of corruption has remained a big problem for the Ramotar administration over the last two years.

The CPI 2013 measures perceived levels of public sector corruption in 177 countries/territories.

In a statement accompanying the report, TI which first issued a report in 1995, said

“Corruption continues to have a devastating impact on societies and individuals around the world, with more than two-thirds of countries surveyed scoring less than 50 out of 100 in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

“Despite 2013 being a year in which governments around the world passed new laws and forged fresh commitments to end corruption, people are not seeing the results of these promises.

“Anti-corruption is an increasingly attractive platform for politicians, with many incorporating anti-corruption pledges into their election campaigns. It reflects waning public tolerance towards corruption. The danger, however, is that these anti-corruption promises fail to materialise.

“Government guarantees of greater accountability do not always bring about tangible results at the local level. Protests in Brazil this summer showed public exasperation at the continuation of political scandals in spite of governmental assurances of a zero-tolerance policy on corruption.

Words must be backed by action

“Some countries, such as Estonia, have seen improved CPI scores go hand in hand with efforts to combat corruption, such as the development of a new anti-corruption strategy.

“Other countries, however, prove that words are not enough in the fight against corruption. After a summer blighted by political scandals indicating a lack of accountability and fading public trust, Spain tried to remedy its corruption troubles with a new Transparency Law.

It is certainly a step in the right direction, but the provisions do not go far enough. This missed opportunity to bring about significant legislative changes is particularly worrying given Spain’s six-point drop in this year’s index.

“While countries such as Myanmar have seen significant improvements in the perceived success of their anti-corruption efforts; on average, perceived levels of corruption have failed to improve globally since 2012.

“EU and Western European countries continue to perform best with an average score of 66, while Sub-Saharan African countries once again show the highest perceived levels of public sector corruption, averaging a score of 33.

“But scores vary widely within each region and with a global average of just 43, all regions have a long way to go in curbing corruption.

Corruption persists in being a pervasive force in the public sector, hurting citizens in their daily lives and in times of dire need.”

Auditor General finds…Education

officials preside over US$7.5M

overpayment to contractors

The Ministry of Education is still to recover in excess of $1.5B which it overpaid to contractors during 2010 and 2011.
This is according to Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, who flagged this deficiency in his report on the Ministry’s activities last year.
According to Sharma, it is important to note that the personnel and/or Consultants nominated by the Ministry were integrally involved in the examination of the projects and the related findings discussed and agreed upon with the team headed by the Special Projects Officer of the Ministry.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand

“Nevertheless, there was a failure to recover the amounts overpaid.”
The overpayments of just over $1.5B related to three projects—- an Information Technology (IT) Laboratory each for the Charity and Aurora Secondary Schools and the New Wing which was attached to the Patentia Secondary School.
The Ministry reportedly overpaid the contractor for the Patentia Secondary School project, $885M over the two year period.
The contractor for the IT Laboratory at Charity Secondary School was overpaid $398M, while the contractor at the Aurora Secondary school was overpaid $245M.
The report found, too, that the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board last year awarded a contract for the construction of the Science Laboratory of the Central Corentyne Secondary School.
That contract was for $11M and works commenced on December 11, 2012.
Between that date and the end of the month an amount of $2.2M was disbursed from the proceeds of the contract.
The completion of the project was scheduled for March 5, 2013, but at the time of the audit visit on June 26, 2013, the works were not completed and appeared to be abandoned.
“In addition to the fact that liquidated damages had accrued on a daily basis at a rate of 0.1 per cent of the final contract price, but not exceeding 10 per cent of the final contract price, there were overpayments totalling $202,400, on measured works.”
The report found that the Ministry has been hoarding $200M in a Bank of Guyana Account.
According to Sharma’s report, in 2011, approval was given for the establishment of a Housing Revolving Fund.
He said that three cheques to the value of $200M were drawn on January 5, 2012 and deposited into a special bank account held at the Bank of Guyana.
“At the time of reporting, no disbursements were made from the Account.”
The Auditor General found too that with regards to the School Feeding Programme in Region Nine and in keeping with the Memorandum of Understanding for the consolidation of the School Snack Programme in that Region, two warrants amounting to $40M were issued.
This was to enable preparation and supply of schools snacks to 3,500 students across 43 Villages in that Region.
According to Sharma, financial returns were not provided to account for funds expended on behalf of the Ministry.
“In the circumstances, it could not be ascertained whether the amounts were expended for the purposes intended.”

NB: 7.5 Million US$ = One billiion, five hundred Million Guyana Dollars

Quote "The Ministry reportedly overpaid the contractor for the Patentia Secondary School project, $885M over the two year period.
The contractor for the IT Laboratory at Charity Secondary School was overpaid $398M, while the contractor at the Aurora Secondary school was overpaid $245M."unquote

With the above, one would tend to believe that backshish has been going around to everyone

Dem boys seh…Ramroop and Jagdeo

mooma lef state property fuh dem

Ramroop and Jagdeo playing bareface bully but dem boys know that dem ain’t no bully. Dem is nutten but damn crooks of de highest order.  Dem tekking state assets left, right and centre. Top and bottom too. And when dem ain’t get through wid some of dem crookishness, dem quick fuh holler how dem pulling out because of confidentiality. That is a word that Brazzy, that odda fat crook, mek fuh dem. Imagine dem set about fuh thief de GCC and de GFC ground and tell de people shuu, shuu—Wha that mean? De people of this country shouldn’t know nutten about dem own property. That is exactly wha dem crooks mean. Is like dem mooma alone lef state property in dem will fuh dem. Dem boys can’t help but saying dem crooks eyes pass this nation. Last week dem boys ask de nation nah ask wha dem got dem hand in, ask wha dem nah GOT dem hand in. This week it gone beyond that. Is nah wha dem secretly snatch; is wha more dem want fuh snatch. Dem boys seh that dem suh bareface that dem don’t care who talk bout wha dem tekking. AND poor Donald, dem crooks nah seh nutten nice bout he. In fact dem seh how he is a so and so (and that is de nice word fuh describe a good human being like Uncle Donald). Dem cuss Granger. Dem seh that he does tek bribe and how dem got he in dem front, back and side pocket. As fuh Prak, dem seh that dem nah worry bout he, that he don’t see and hear good. But dem boys got a message fuh Donald, Granger and Prak. When a bully mash you toe, you stay quite; he stamp you foot, you tun you face; he kick you and you know wheh, you fall and you still nah seh nutten. De next day he gun kill you. Well if none of dem politician can’t help this country dem boys begging Uncle Sam, especially Brent de Hardt man. Dem boys know that he got a good heart and he come from good stock. And he got good eyes, better that Prak. He seeing everything. De last time he talk bout de radio and nutten ain’t change. Dem boys looking forward fuh he to act. Monitor dem and let de world ketch dem wid de millions that dem got here, there and everywhere. Is some of that same millions that Ramroop spending all about. He was trying fuh buy GCC and GFC wid US$30 million. Dem boys could only match that wid Guyana dollar. Talk half and beg dem mooma fuh lef something fuh Guyana.

Ramroop operating three radio stations

with one licence

- Authorities promise investigations

The country’s regulators are moving to investigate reports that a radio company misused its licence by illegally operating three different broadcast stations on frequencies that should have been used as repeater stations for an extended broadcast. Chairperson of the Guyana National Broadcast Authority (GNBA), Bibi Shadick, also said yesterday that the broadcast authority is hiring a number of lawyers to go after television and other broadcasters who are operating without

Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop

licences.

During a press conference at her South Road office, yesterday, to update on the work of GNBA, Shadick made it clear that it would be a breach of law for any company issued with multiple frequencies to use them to transmit different content instead of being utilized specifically as relays to reach outlying areas. The company, Radio Guyana Inc. (RGI) is reportedly broadcasting on 89.3FM (Essequibo), 89.5FM (Georgetown) and 89.7FM (Berbice). Under the conditions of the licence granted, the radio station would use one frequency to broadcast with the rest to increase its signals. Observers have complained that RGI, owned by Queens Atlantic Investments Inc. (QAII), a company with close links to former President Bharrat Jagdeo, has instead been really operating three different stations. Shadick yesterday said she is unaware of the possible breaches but will investigate. However, the official disclosed that GNBA is taking any breaches seriously with the law expected to take its course. She maintained that the current broadcasting laws are clear on the actions. In the past, under the old regulations, authorities have used their powers to even seize broadcasting equipment.

BREACH One TV station on East Coast Demerara, HGP Television Channel 16/Cable 67, she said, was warned after moving equipment intended for a relay to its primary location and then transmitting on another frequency. The station has received its licence but has been told to halt broadcasting on the other. There have been fears that the multiple frequencies, controversially granted by former President Bharrat Jagdeo, would have been used for setting up numerous radio stations. However, Government has been reassuring that this can never happen, that the additional frequencies were for use as repeater stations.

GNBA’s Chairperson, Bibi Shadick

Days before he ended his term in office back in 2011, Jagdeo breached a decade-long agreement with the Opposition not to issue new licences by approving permission for several radio stations and a number of cable TV operations. QAII got five frequencies. So too did the New Guyana Company, printers of the Mirror, the ruling party’s newspaper, and the overseas-based sister of Natural Resources Minister, Robert Persaud. Several media houses, including Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, Capitol News, CNS 6 and WRHM were all bypassed, sparking days of protests. Back then, it was felt that it was a move to give a few persons who are close to the administration, total control of the airwaves. A few others were given one frequency each. Yesterday, Shadick said that GNBA is still to start examining new applications. Kaieteur News and several media houses had been asked to make fresh applications. The official is hoping to start the process before the year is over, but could not give a deadline. She said that her broadcast authority will be meeting by December 16, next. So far, under the regularization of the airwaves, GNBA has issued television licences to TVG 28, GWTV Channel 2, Pinnacle Channel 8, MTV Channel 65, CNS Channel 6, DTV Channel 8 and HBTV Channel 9. Radio licences have also been issued to RGI, Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc. ( the company linked to Minister Persaud),  NTN 89.1FM and Hits and Jams Entertainment. For the cable TV licences, GNBA would have issued licences for E-Networks, Atlantic Cable Networks, Ali Broadcasting Corporation, Infinity Telecommunications and E3 Communications. According to Shadick, two television licences were issued to Countryside Broadcasting and Guyana Learning Channel. Spectrum and broadcasting fees will be waived for the state-owned Guyana Learning Channel. However, several others are not in order, and in some cases have not paid their fees.These may be facing trouble. While there was an October 31 deadline by the GNBA for all operators to be licenced, the move by the authority to now hire lawyers is significant as several operators are without licences and with only a few weeks remaining for the year.

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo

Quark Communications which has been approved a cable TV licence by Jagdeo, has problems with the name of its company. Approval letters have been issued to Skar TV 102; WRHM which is eligible for two licences;  21st Century Communications and RBS 13. RBS 13 and HGP TV 16/67 are two of four companies which have sued over new broadcasting fees which have been introduced. Also without licences are NTN TV and radio stations; New Guyana Company Limited (The Mirror); Rudy Grant radio, Wireless Connections radio; Linden Wireless; Pinnacle Radio and TTS of Bartica.

MUSCLE The GNBA official said that its monitoring arm has been activated to regulate the broadcasts to ensure compliance. The monitoring committee of the GNBA comprises Major General (Ret’d), Norman McLean; University of Guyana’s communication specialist, Dr Paloma Mohamed; head of the Guyana Learning Channel, Seeta Shah-Roath and attorneys-at-law, Fazil Azeez and Sase Gunraj. Azeez is a veteran broadcaster. McLean was a former member of the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting (ACB). Shadick does not see Shah-Roath’s presence as being a conflict on the monitoring committee as the Guyana Learning Channel is not considered a competitor to the normal TV operations. The committee’s first task will be to revamp old regulations to fit the new laws. Questioned whether GNBA may be moving too slowly to process new applications, thus allowing the current operators time to expand, Shadick pointed out that Trinidad took four years to get its act together. She admitted that there will be complaints but the authority would prefer to take its time than rush.

Jagdeo authorized radio licence for

‘Ghost Company’

Days before President Bharrat Jagdeo demitted office, he directed that a ‘Ghost Company’ be handed a radio licence with five frequencies.
General Elections were held on November 28, 2011; Radio Guyana Inc., was incorporated on December 14, 2011, more than two weeks later. Ramroop was listed as the lone director.

Bobby Ramroop

A few days later, he appointed as Company Secretary, Lakshmiwatie Shiwnandan, an Attorney-at-Law, whose mailing address was listed as Queens Atlantic Industrial Estate, Industrial Site, Ruimveldt.

Two Radio Companies
It has now since been revealed that Ramroop owns two separate radio companies— Radio Guyana Inc, and ‘One Guyana Radio Inc.’
One Guyana Radio Inc. was registered three days before the General Elections of 2011 and is still to receive a licence to operate. When this company was incorporated, Ramroop appointed himself as sole director.
As is the case with his other radio company, Ramroop also appointed as Company Secretary, Lakshmiwatie Shiwnandan.
One Guyana Radio Inc does not broadcast.

Bharrat Jagdeo

Airwaves    
Other broadcast facilities had been approved for licences by Jagdeo before he left office, among them the New Guyana Company Limited, which publishes the Mirror newspaper, and belongs to the ruling People’s Progressive Party.
That company was handed five radio frequencies and is yet to commence broadcasting.
In addition, Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Incorporated, was granted five radio frequencies.
Telecor had at the time, Ruth Baljit, the sister of Robert Persaud, as its sole shareholder.
Persaud’s wife, Kamini Persaud, who also happens to be Jagdeo’s niece, was the other director.
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 Graham and

Robert Persaud

Little Rock Television Station (Rockliffe Christie). There are other radio licences in the pipeline. A meeting to examine those applications will be held on Monday, December 16.
In December 2010, Jagdeo had 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.

Brian Yong

The sugar industry will not recover with this board and managers

December 5, 2013 · By Staff Writer ·

Dear Editor,

I refer to the article captioned ‘GuySuCo bringing Indian experts to rescue corporation.’

Stupidity is in full bloom at this corporation which does not account to the public and especially not to the opposition which has no representation on the board. We saw a 2013-2017 plan which told us that in those five years the industry would magically improve from 218,141 tonnes in 2012 to 350,000 tons in 2017 ‒ an improvement of 62.3%. If we take this 62.3% and divide it over the five years of this plan it would mean an improvement of 12.46% per year. So according to this new plan which had stated at the very beginning that it is “based on the initiatives put forth in the original Strategic Blueprint and new initiatives put forward by Estates’ and other Key Management personnel” in 2013 we should have seen an improvement of 12.46%, ie, 245,626 tonnes. We now know that GuySuCo will not make 200,000 tonnes this year, ie, before the ink was dry on this new plan it was obsolete, as have been all the other plans of this corporation since 1992.

Now remember that we have a new chairman/CEO whose qualifications are woefully inadequate for this job, and it was he as chairman and CEO who put forward this disastrous plan. We pay this man a huge salary, not because he understands the Guyana Sugar Corporation but because he is a mobiliser for the PPP in New York and New Jersey. He does not even live here and has to be brought in whenever he needs to attend the board meetings at the corporation’s expense. We were told that he lives here now, but evidence of this has not been provided.

Mr Raj Singh has had his pitch and he was found wanting, so what does the PPP government do? Do they fire him? Do they take action against the incompetent board of the corporation which clearly doesn’t know what it is doing and only makes promises, in between running to the Parliament for more and more money to bail them out of the quagmire they find themselves in?  No we don’t! First we bring in a South African company Bosch Engineering to fix the Skeldon problems for US$4M. We are not completely certain what they did, but we paid them to be here for two weeks according to KN; then they hired a Tate and Lyle official to manage Skeldon. He spent 9 months here, accomplished nothing, and we have information that he has since resigned. At least one person in the industry is showing some sense. I would get out too. We would like to know what Bosch Engineering did for the US$4M we paid them. We would like to know what Tate and Lyle’s consultants were paid and what they were to do, and we would like to know why Richard Orr, the Tate and Lyle manager of Skeldon resigned.

The opposition has no alternative now, to protect the workers of the industry from the incompetence of the PPP, they must demand representation on the board or no $4B new subvention to the industry which the PPP is currently seeking from parliament to bolster the numerous problems plaguing this industry.

The latest symptom of being totally lost at sea is that having brought in Tate and Lyle and Bosch apparently to no effect, we are now bringing in Indian specialists to tell us what is wrong with our industry. The 2013-17 plan is deficient in many areas and does not address the major areas of concern which have contributed to GuySuCo’s biggest problem, which according to Messrs Bhim and Komal Chand is that “there are no canes in the fields.”  The plan begins by telling us that stakeholders and shareholders were consulted to make inputs to the plan; the management, the workers and the board of GuySuCo were consulted, but nowhere did I see that the opposition were considered or consulted either as a stakeholders or as shareholders.

The PPP are maintaining the sugar industry simply to employ the sugar workers who are now migrating away from the sugar estates; the government’s own housing policy in an effort to change the demographics of the country has removed workers from the sugar belt. To now ask us taxpayers to subsidise an industry which is in fatal decline on nostalgic grounds, simply because it once was the main industry in the country, is illogical; there are very viable alternatives to sugar which have not been explored in any significant way, which can still be implemented and offer meaningful employment to the few sugar workers now working in the industry. GuySuCo needs to establish a vibrant and committed other crops/aquaculture division to resolve some of the issues facing the industry through diversification.

The genesis of this problem is that without understanding the consequences GuySuCo has embarked on a process of levelling the cambered beds which I believe is the main reason why there are “no canes in the fields.” The 2013-17 plan seeks to continue and even accelerate that process, which is doing the same wrong thing over and over again, hoping for a different result.  I am contending that until they are assured that they have the manpower, the expertise and the conditions to mechanise the industry properly, that all conversion cease immediately. Rather than being the mainstay of their “plan” it should be halted and hand labour be used to cut as much of the cane as it can today, and use machines wherever possible to supplement harvesting until we get it right. What canes cannot be reaped by the combined efforts mechanical and hand labour which the industry has at present, should be brought out of cultivation (there has been some talk of flood fallowing) and some form of diversification introduced. We are planting at a rate which completely overlooks the fact that we cannot reap it if there is proper yield! A stupidity in itself.

Editor, the conversions of the cambered bed layout are contributing to the declining yields, since they entail pushing all the top soil into the inter-bed drains, thereby exposing the toxic subsoil on the top of the beds. Even if they do convert all the lands to mechanical harvesting, since the country sits in an extremely high rainfall zone, mechanical harvesting and loading will be expensive, onerous, unreliable, uncoordinated and dirty (a lot of mud). Combines which are supposed to reap 100 tonnes an hour only reap a maximum of 150-200 tonnes at best a day here! We therefore cannot continue down this disastrous path of converting even more lands without evaluating the results obtained so far and undoing the damage already done, if possible.

In 2012, according to the Bureau of Statistics, gold was at No 1 earning US$716,939,000 in foreign earnings; rice was at No 2 earning US$196,226,000; at No 3 bauxite earned US$150,781,000; and sugar was No 4 earning US$132,147,000 (source: Bureau of Statistics). The wages paid to the bauxite workers are a fraction of what GuySuCo pays to its workers, but bauxite is bringing in more foreign earnings a year ‒ US$151M when GuySuCo is only bringing in US$132M a year. In 2012 gold earned us more than half of the country’s GDP ‒ 51.4 %. It’s where all of the cane-cutters are now working; the only reason why an alleged 16,000 people remain on the coastal plain in the cane fields is because they are afraid of malaria. The GGMC tells us that there are 8,000 dredges working in the interior today and if we allocate (a low) 7 persons per dredge this means that the gold industry is now by far our largest employer with around 56,000 people.

We have been unable to mechanise the sugar industry owing to our unfavourable climatic and soil conditions, even though we knew since the 1980s that we had to mechanise or perish, since the labour costs of production were rising alarmingly and we were in competition with countries which had almost completely mechanised their field practices and who therefore had a much lower cost of production.

The sugar industry’s current wage bill is $19B for its alleged 16,000 workers in 2012. The current price for sugar is US17.77 cents a pound or G$35.54 a pound, ie, G$71,080 per tonne. The labour cost to produce 218,000 tonnes (2012 production) was $19B, ie, $87,155 per tonne, so we are losing $16,705 on every tonne we produce in labour costs alone. This means that we have to sit down as a nation and discuss if these figures make sense, and whether the sugar industry can exist without remaining a national liability forever. Diversification is necessary, and a phasing out of this expensive labour intensive industry for one which is less labour intensive and with better economic returns must be found. We can’t keep asking taxpayers who are earning between $400,000-$700,000 a year to subsidise an industry which is paying out $19B to a workforce of 16,000, resulting in an average annual income of $1,188,500; it’s unfair and should be examined more closely by the opposition.  But there are alternatives which can keep the sugar workers employed in a far less strenuous occupation; we just lack the will, the knowledge or the energy to pursue them. And most incredibly in the period 2008-12 against all norms of economics and business we made the biggest loss in the industry; in 2011 we lost $13.802B when we made the biggest production of 236,505 tonnes!

As for the economics of mechanization, quite apart from the very expensive cost and inherently damaging consequences of conversion of the land, we have to determine if it is even remotely feasible or not.  Currently the industry has only a ridiculously low total of 10 mechanical harvesters and the yield of cane after converting the lands for mechanical harvesting is very poor, since in the process they have exposed the acid and toxic sub soils and are leaving a soft area where the old drains used to be in which the harvesters keep sinking and have to be pulled out. A mechanical harvester costs US$375,000, ie, $75M.

Having already converted most of the cambered beds in the industry with disastrous results to our yield of cane, this new plan seeks to rush into more conversions without the money or the equipment to do either, ie, to convert from the cambered bed layout to the layout necessary for mechanical harvesting, and to actually harvest it mechanically. Even if we mechanise the roughly 50% of the sugar industry currently converted estate by estate and reap the rest by hand we would need to pay attention to the following: we will be reaping an average of around 4,287,500 tons of cane per year by 2017 (350,000 tonnes sugar x12.25 TCTS). It is impossible and unrealistic to project an improvement from less than 200,000 tons in 2013, to 350,000 tonnes by 2017.  This is more than 75 per cent improvement in 4 years, so here again the GuySuCo 2013-17 turnaround plan was obsolete before the ink was dry on it.

But if by some miracle we do manage to grow 4,287,500 tonnes of cane per year by 2017, if we can reap half of this by hand we still have to reap the other half of 2,143,750 tons by machine. In order to reap 2.1 million tons of cane per year with a cropping period of 36 weeks we would have to reap 9161 tonnes a day by machine and there would have to be totally dry conditions throughout the entire cropping period, since experience at Skeldon has demonstrated that even three quarters of an inch of rainfall in one day could interrupt mechanical harvesting by as much as three days. But if we are lucky and no rain falls we would need 47 harvesters @ $75M each ‒ a total of 3.5 billion dollars. Where are the operators, the operational coordination personnel, the 94 dumper trailers (two per harvester) to take the cane from the harvesters to the punts, and where is the complete chain of mechanical necessities including administrative and technical skills to do this operation coming from?

We are decades away from an efficient and economical method of mechanical harvesting, so again I have to ask the question where are the money, the administration, the skills and the equipment coming from? Certainly not from a bunch of people totally unprepared to cope with all of these technicalities who are sitting in head office, most of them not ever having seen a canefield, who are blundering along whilst the industry perishes, because they will never be capable of grasping the fact that they are dealing with one of the most, if not the most hostile situations to the mechanical harvesting of cane on the planet, ie, low-lying, poorly-drained, heavy clays and high rainfall.

And now that we have a mechanically friendly field layout in over 50% of our cultivation, have we, for example, begun mechanically applying fertilizer, doing inter-row tillage and stubble shaving of the ratoons to enhance our yields? The answer is no! Have we even considered that our current planting regime may not be conducive to mechanical harvesting since the rows of cane are being planted too close together to allow the tracks of the mechanical harvesters to ‘walk’ in between the rows comfortably to harvest the canes? No we have not! We have to prepare and plan from now to plant our fields to be harvester friendly, and to introduce mechanical operations to offset some of the damage done by the conversion and the shortage of labour. One is forced to ask who is in charge of this madness?

The policy of the corporation for the past 30 years has been to replant after the 4th ratoon, ie, a replant programme of 20% per annum. The plan tells us that we have never achieved this, but it says that in the next 4 years we will achieve it but we are not told how.

In any event according to this same plan the industry has been achieving around 16-17% per annum replant instead of the policy 20%. They are asking us to believe that the 3-4% of the entire industry’s cultivation which is older than 4th ratoons is accounting for the precipitous decline in production of nearly 40 per cent.

The corporation tells us that they are conducting training programmes, but they complain in the same plan that the managerial and supervisory staff are poorly trained.

They are leasing land at Uitvlugt to farmers but at numerous estates they are seeing a falling off in cane farming.

There is quite a bit more, Editor, but the conclusion is clear, the industry will not recover, not with this board, this chairman or these managers, and I don’t care who they bring, it will continue to fail.

Yours faithfully,

Tony Vieira

Finance Minister fails to account for

$8,000 million in five years

The budgetary allocations for Revision of Wages and Salaries for public servants is now being regarded as a slush fund given that over the past five years there is more than $8B unaccounted for.

Finance Minister Ashni Singh

Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan, has said that it is most troubled by the Ministry of Finance’s explanations.
According to Ramjattan the amount budgeted for Revised Wages and Salaries for 2013 represents an almost 15 per cent increase for public servants and not the five per cent that is being touted by Government.
According to Ramjattan, “This is deception being perpetrated by the Ministry and is wholly wrong this does not accord with the norms of the budgetary process at all.”
He said that according to the party’s calculations at this stage it is proving that for the past several years there has been a huge difference between what was allocated for revised wages and salaries and what was actually paid out.”
“A substantial amount is definitely not accounted for,” said Ramjattan.
He said that in 2012, the amount paid out was in excess of some $2.2B and for 2011 that amount is $2.7B.
According to Ramjattan, this year the House approved a sum of $4.4B.
He said that with only a five per cent increase being given, when computed against the total Wages and Salaries this would only amount to half of this $4.4B.
According to Ramjattan, “The question must be asked: Where did the other half go? Where is this sum of money? I hope that it was not used as a slush fund to execute on projects which were not supported by the National Assembly.
“That would be criminal as per section 85 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act of 2003.”
Ramjattan was quick to point out that “this amount of money is wholly controlled by the Ministry of Finance.”
He was speaking to the amount being voted each year for the revision of Wages and Salaries.
Ramjattan said that to top things off is the fact that the Ministry is not one that credits itself with a high level of neither reputation nor esteem these past years.
Ramjattan said that the AFC will certainly be asking questions in Parliament “now that our confidence has waned so terribly as a result of this development…We are now appreciating why the President does not want to assent that amendment to the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act namely section 85 which expands “official” to mean the Minister.”
Under this amendment the Opposition is looking to expand the category of government officials that can be held accountable for the misuse of public funds.
“He (Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh) is the one who ought to be made culpable for any delinquencies on this score, rather than the other officials there.

Three teenage girls arrested after leaving Corentyne orphanage

…allegations of ill-treatment surface

Allegations of maltreatment of children at a popular Corentyne Orphanage are surfacing at a time when three teenage girls of the home are being held in the lock-ups at the Albion Police Station. The girls, 12, 14 and 15-years- old (names given) were arrested on November 20, 2013 for “wandering” away from the home, placed before the courts and sentenced to be institutionalized at the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) in Essequibo where they are expected to be deployed shortly. Magistrate Ravindra Singh made the ruling earlier last week at the court.

The girls at the Albion Police Station yesterday.

This has caused outrage from residents and concerned citizens in the Albion area, including one police officer, who spoke with this newspaper. According to reports, the girls are originally from Skeldon and have been at the home for over four years now. Two of them are sisters. They have no parents who are alive nor do they have any close relatives. A resident of Albion slammed the administration of the orphanage. The administrators, the person claims, ill-treats the children on a regular basis and that this may have been the reason for the three girls leaving the home. “The lady does sell out all them children thing. Like she ain’t really fit to run that home anymore, because she get old and she put responsibility on her daughter-in-law,” claimed the resident. “There was a time when she grandson and son used to live with all the big girls—as soon as they become mature, they lived with these children them! Let them go and investigate!” the person stated. “Three girls were going to commit suicide and they had to call the police—and these children break down! But they don’t talk—and the ill treatment!” A police officer, who spoke to this newspaper, claimed, “She sells out the stuff too. A set of things coming in for her for Christmas and she selling them out—What you think she does when she goes to Canada and America? Her daughter-in-law and son going overseas with orphanage children money!” The 12- year- old is a student of the Corentyne Comprehensive High School, while the 14- year- old attends Port Mourant Secondary. The 15- year- old does not attend school. Kaieteur News spoke to the teacher of the 12- year-old yesterday who is very concerned at the girls’ incarceration at the Albion Police Station. The teacher, like many other concerned persons, is also concerned that the girls are being posted to the NOC, and is angry at the Magistrate not having Social Services becoming involved first in the matter. The teacher is also concerned and wanted to know what the police considered wandering, since she claimed that the girls were just outside the gates of the home on November 20. “I spoke to the [12- year- old] girl personally and the girl said sometimes she go to school without lunch and the teachers would have to buy lunch for her. We never knew the extent of her sadness. When she was absent, the teachers were trying to get in contact with the home but they were given the royal runaround, that there were two such homes in the county.” The teacher wants the relevant authorities to launch an investigation into the operations at the home. “If someone can [only] go there and do an investigation or call upon the older and younger boys in that place, persons will know about the atrocities that go on in that place.” But when contacted, Head of the home, (name given) denied all of the accusations. “They [the three girls] ran away twice. They said nothing but that they wanted to leave!” she said. “It’s the second time they ran away, and I don’t want to keep them anymore…they want to sport at Skeldon…the Magistrate put them to go and learn something at girls school. We are too strict; we don’t allow them to walk on the road,” the Head said. As for the allegations of ill-treatment, she said, “Well if the children say they are being ill-treated, they should come and find out from the rest of the children.” Residents in the area are planning a protest in front of the home.

Corruption has left our country among the poorest

DEAR EDITOR, The impending economic and political crisis in Guyana is not an accident; it was caused by an out of control and corrupt, political Stalinist oligarchy that controls the ruling party. Since November 2011, the failure of the minority PPP regime to accept that they continue to bleed politically, has led to a series of desperate acts of political bullyism, spiteful actions and the reckless squandering of taxpayers’ money, that have exacerbated the financial hardship of the masses. The Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal has and continues to close deals, using the resources of the people like if they are running a cake shop. Why is the PPP playing politics with the lives of hard working Guyanese? Why is the PPP offering these workers slave-like wages as if they are plantation workers? We have concluded that the cabal is only concerned with their own well-being. Each day brings another damaging corrupt scandal from controversial back-room deals that will never stand the scrutiny of any proper procurement process.  If one is to observe all the PPP-led deals they have common traits – no competition, a family member or a friend of the party gets the deal, and a one-man operation sits somewhere in the background as the underwriters or financial engineers of the deal and they all are quoted at multiples of the real market value for a similarly structured deal.  In common language – it is wholesale theft from the people. While the ordinary citizens continue to be crushed under the heavy burden of huge increases in the cost of living, deteriorating real value of their wages and a 16% VAT; the kingpins in the cabal and their baron friends and relatives continue to make more and more money off the backs of those whom the regime has abandoned. How did we get here in 2013?  Why did we allow Guyana to descend to this level after Desmond Hoyte and Carl Greenidge started the process of economic recovery in 1989 and Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Dr Asgar Ally so ably pursued after 1992? The answer is Guyana has a very corrupt, greedy and selfish regime that will not stop until its members and their friends covet all of the country’s resources. We want all Guyanese to know that corruption and racial politics have made Guyana the second poorest country in the Caribbean after Haiti. This is why Guyanese are migrating en masse to all the Caribbean islands in search of work that this regime is unable to provide. Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish Singh

See how them disgraceful thief getting caught red-handed...

https://guyana.crowdstack.io/topic/pp...ing-over-200-million

The results of the 2013 Corruption Perception Index ranks   Guyana as 136 out of 177 countries surveyed with a score of 27 points out of   100.  This is down from last year's ranking of 133 out of 176 countries,   and 28 points.  The AFC is neither surprised, nor confused by these   results, since they are consistent with the everyday experiences and   observances of most Guyanese.

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Mursi deal with Robert Persaud further exposed

A company director openly campaigned for PPP – Granger

The scandalous events unfolding that involves the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Robert Persaud, and Mursi Brasil Ventures Inc, is a matter of concern for all Guyanese, and must be seen as a clear and present danger to our National Security and the preservation not only of the pristine environment of the New River Triangle, but more importantly, the territorial integrity of Guyana. This is according to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), who yesterday in a public missive, said that the Granting of Permission for Geological and Geophysical Survey (PGGS) to Mursi Brasil Ventures Inc. might seem innocuous on the surface, but a deeper examination of the parties involved makes it even more sinister.

Standing next to the Brazilian Governor Jose de Anchieta Junior, on the PPP platform is Yucatan Reis.

APNU said that it notes that one of the persons listed as a Director of the Company- Mursi Brasil, is Yucatan Reis. According to the party, “One would recall that in the November 8, 2011 issue of the Kaieteur News, a photograph was printed showing the Brazilian Governor of the State of Roraima addressing a People’s Progressive Party (PPP) rally at Lethem- Upper Takatu- Upper Essequibo Region…In that Kaieteur News photograph standing next to the Brazilian Governor Jose de Anchieta Junior, on the PPP platform is Mr. Yucatan Reis.” APNU said, “The question that now springs to mind is whether as an inducement for his support of the PPP campaign was handsomely rewarded with the granting of the PGGS.” The party further said, “The question also arises as to the involvement (if any) of the Brazilian Governor of the State of Roraima in this nefarious scheme to sell off Guyana.” According to APNU, the PPP’s financial empire and the failure of the Ramotar administration to be open and transparent are now being exposed for all to see. APNU is the latest to come out in condemnation of the permission granted to Mursi Brasil Ventures Inc. Permission granted by Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Persaud, to Muri Brasil Ventures Inc, to survey more than two million hectares of land in Guyana for rare earth elements will pose a border and security threat. According to Financial Analyst, Christopher Ram, in latest writings points out that the Permission Area is located at the confluence of the Kuyuwini and Essequibo Rivers and is right on the border. “Indeed, Annex A to the permission states that Point C of the area is located approximately three hundred yards from the Brazil Guyana border”. Ram charges that had the Minister done the kind of background research which one associates with such major decisions, he would have recognised that the national policy was against any commercial activity in the area. According to Ram, “National security and territorial integrity could be compromised over a huge swathe of Guyana.” He reminded that the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) voiced its opposition in an earlier attempt under the Cheddi Jagan Administration. He said, “It is to ensure that we are not exposed to such threats – as Robert Persaud’s action now does – that the GDF is given a place on the Board of the Geology and Mines Commission.” He said that the “tragedy is that the law allows Persaud to bypass the GGMC and engage in the kind of recklessness starkly demonstrated by the Muri permission.” Regarding the threats to the security and border that Ram suggested; that could be incurred as a result of the deal inked by Minister Persaud. The financial analyst drew reference to the fact that it has drawn a not particularly friendly reaction from Suriname. In that country, its Deputy Speaker of Parliament is calling for her country to lodge a formal complaint with Guyana. According to Ram, “that will certainly complicate issues even as the bigger question remains the border with Brazil.” He said that Guyanese will now wait to see if President Donald Ramotar will define himself and protect the integrity of the borders of this country. “Decisive action on this issue will give some credibility to his Presidency…If he fails to act now, nothing ever will.” Ram has suggested that, in face of the implications and improprieties, President Ramotar has only one option in this matter. According to Ram, the President must scrap the ‘Permission to survey’ given to the company and relieve Robert Persaud of any ministerial duties. Ram suggested that Persaud’s Ministerial performance has been characterised by some grave lapses and his commitment to responsible governance and accountability is even poorer than Guyana’s.

Dem boys seh…De gold deh deep under Rob de Earth petticoat

  Nuff things talking in de grapevine. Jagdeo and Rob de Earth creating a parallel government to Donald wan. When Donald plan something and think is he alone got de idea, Jagdeo and Rob de Earth does get all de information from this Israeli man who dem bring. He sit down quiet and listening to every, conversation that Donald and everybody else mek. That is how dem know that Donald gun kick some of dem. Dem boys ain’t calling name but de Israeli man and dem boys know. But that is nah all wha dem boys know. Dem know that Brazzy, de fat crook, ain’t give dem Berbice people from Number 76, light fuh many years. One man seh that de only time de people does see light is when is full moon. Brazzy and de Rat tek millions of US dollar and seh how dem gun spend it pun de Skeldon plant that would be capable of giving de whole Corentyne light. Dem boys ain’t know wha dem do wid de money but years now, de factory ain’t done and dem still ain’t got no light. Dem boys want dem show people when dem put de money—if dem put it in dem pocket or under dem family petticoat. De deal wha Rob de Earth sign wid Muri Brasil deh under he petticoat. He got de nerve to tell this nation that he never give de people any prospecting licence. Is de same thing he seh; he never apply fuh radio licence but he got five. He alone got brains. Dem boys want fuh ask he if when dem people spend all dem millions to survey and dem find all wha deh in de area if dem gun come out and seh Rob de Earth, “Point A got gold by de ton. Rob de Earth, Point B got diamond by de carats. Rob de Earth, Point C got rare earth. Tek Jagdeo, de fat crook, de shaat crook and you family and do wha you want. We gone.” De people stupid fuh come here and spend millions just fuh survey. And Guyanese must believe this, nah Rob de Earth? Talk half and watch Kwame digging deep under Rob de Earth petticoat fuh de gold.