Two government buildings were destroyed this morning in two separate fires at Linden and Essequibo

This was the scene at Wismar, Linden at the GECOM Sub-district office as a fire of unknown origin gutted the upper flat of the two-storied building at First Alley Wismar, Linden. There are reports that the fire was the work of arsonists. According to Commander E Division Hugh Winter, a security guard on duty at the location said she heard an explosion and shortly after she saw two men running from the scene. He was speaking with this newscast during a telephone interview.

 

The fire occurred just around 1:55 this morning. Commander Winter said an investigation has been launched and police have beefed up security in the Mining Town.

The police say the upper flat of the building was burnt and the roof completely gutted.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigations Department of the Anna Regina Police Station was damaged this morning following an early morning fire.

 

That fire is also said to be the work of an arsonist.

An alert policeman made the discovery this morning during checks around the building. There are reports that he saw the fire coming from the Office of the Regional Detective Inspectors and the Regional Prosecutor. By the time the fire service arrived on the scene  sections of the building were destroyed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to a police report, their investigators observed that a set of window panes were removed from the said window and were resting on the street below the said window, a substance suspected to be kerosene was also present on the ground in the said area.

 

 

 

Court action filed seeking GECOM to declare results in accordance to report submitted by CEO

The election debacle is heading back to the court once again with a private citizen Misenga Jones seeking the high court to compel the Guyana Elections Commission to use the 10 declarations by Returning Officers to declare the March 2 elections.

Jones through her attorneys Mayo Robertson and others is seeking several orders among them:

A Declaration that this Court has jurisdiction to hear this Application on the basis of prima facie evidence that there has been noncompliance by the Guyana Elections Commission and the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission in that they have not complied with the constitutionally stated process as outlined in Article 177(2)(b) of the Constitution with regard to the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections;

A Declaration that the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has failed to act in accordance with the advice of the Chief Election Officer as mandated by Article 177(2)(b) of the Constitution of Guyana in that she has failed to declare the Presidential candidate deemed to be elected as President in accordance with the advice tended in the report by the Chief Elections Officer dated the 11th day of July 2020;

A Declaration that the Respondents and in particular the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) have no authority to declare any person as President except in accordance with the advice of the Chief Election Officer tended in his report pursuant to Section 96(1) of the Representation Act:

A Declaration that the report required by the Chief Election Officer under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act must be based on the votes counted and information furnished by the ten (10) Returning Officers from their respective ten (10) Electoral Districts which were submitted to the Chief Election Officer on the 13th day of March, 2020;

A Declaration that data generated from the recount purportedly conducted under Order No. 60 of 2020 is generated by an unconstitutional process in that the Order requires decisions on validity of ballots that by Article 163(1)(b) are the exclusive province of the High Court.

In the court document filed, Jones sighted several grounds for moving to the court among them that at no time were the returns by the Returning Officers of the ten (10) districts set aside or invalidated by any Court or competent authority.

Yesterday, GECOM Chair Retired Justice Claudette Singh rejected the reported submitted by Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and unilaterally set aside the declarations of the 10 returning officers in the March 2, elections.

Singh also instructed Lowenfield to submit a report in accordance with the recount numbers. No oath of office was taken by any person to perform the function as returning officers during the recount process.

Singh in her instruction to the CEO said if he fails to comply with her instruction then Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Mayers must produce that report.

The recount figures taking into account irregularities such as ballots cast in the name of the dead, those confirmed to be out of the jurisdiction and ballots that cannot be validated because of the absence of all statutory documents from the ballot boxes will give the Opposition, People’s Progressive Party a victory at the polls.

Guyana has now recorded 300 COVID-19 Cases

Guyana has now reached the 300 mark in Covid-19 positive cases with 155 persons having recovered from the virus thus far, and 17 COVID-19 deaths.
Dr. Karen Gordon-Boyle, Deputy Chief Medical Officer provided the daily update and she said as of July 13th, 2020, of the 78 new tests done, there have been 3 new cases which brings the total to 300.
According to Dr. Karen Gordon-Boyle, institutional isolation currently has 128 active cases, 20 persons in institutional quarantine, and 5 persons in the COVID ICU. She said to date, the Ministry of Public Health has tested 3,330 persons with 3,030 being negative. Boyle said it must be noted that our number of positive cases is still on the increase and that we now have 9 out of 10 regions with COVID-19 cases, Region 8 being the newest Region to report cases.
She called on residents of Region 8, to be more vigilant, especially those in the mining areas and the bordering regions. Dr. Boyle said she wished to draw the attention of those persons by informing them that they are still very vulnerable to have imported cases from Brazil as their numbers continue to increase significantly. Therefore, we continue to ask the Toshaos to keep monitoring the movements within their communities and continue to provide the updates to officials centrally.

284 prisoners displaced due to fire at Lusignan

Following the fire at Lusignan Prison on Sunday, 284 prisoners have had to be relocated. This was disclosed by the Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels during a press conference on Monday.

Samuels explained that the fire and riot began after an alert officer observed a prisoner with a parcel. The prisoner was then searched and the discovery of two parcels of cannabis, a bottle containing rum and a cellular phone was made.

The prisoner was then escorted to the office of the Officer in Charge where he was questioned. Happening simultaneously, was a confrontation between two other inmates. According to Samuels, it is alleged that one of the prisoners was assaulted by an officer.

The Prisons Director noted that this led to unease among the prisoners and as the Officer in Charge attempted to return the jail to normalcy, he was met with demands to return the parcel that was seized.

When the demands were not met, the prisoners began destroying the building which eventually led to the fire being set. Despite the efforts of the Guyana Fire Service who managed to contain the fire, all the buildings housing the prisoners were destroyed.

A section of the administrative building was saved.

“We saw the displacement of 284 prisoners. Our initial response was to segregate those prisoners we knew could not have gone into the holding bay, while the others were placed into the holding bay. As time progressed, we were able to transfer 27 of those prisoners to the Georgetown Prison; 51 to the Timehri Prison and as we speak, 50 prisoners are in transit to the Mazaruni Prison. This leaves an additional 156 prisoners who will have to be accommodated in the holding facility,” Samuels stated.

The Director also disclosed that several prisoners attempted to escape but their efforts were foiled due to the increased security that was on the ground and additional support from the Joint Services.

During yesterday’s ordeal, 11 prisoners received injuries but no deaths were recorded. The origin of the fire is currently being investigated and leads are being followed.

“Eight prisoners have been named and the police have been furnished with that information for further investigation,” Director Samuels stated.

 

Fire at the Lusignan Prison

A fire at the Lusignan Prison which started hours ago was brought under control by the Guyana Fire Service. The Guyana Defence Force was called in to lend support to the Prison Service and the Police Force.

Ranks of the GDF along with Police and Prison were on the ground while the GDF chopper flew overhead surveilling the area for any potential security breaches.

While the Guyana Fire Service were working to contain the blaze, some inmates were moved to the Prison Training School next door. One inmate who appeared to be injured was escorted by a prison warden to seek medical attention.

Reports are that a riot broke out among inmates shortly after a raid was conducted in the Jailhouse. The fire was started during the riot by inmates.

Reports are that a section of the Prison facility has been destroyed. The fire is believed to have been started by inmates during a riot.

 

Fourteen recover from COVID-19; One new case and one death

The Ministry of Public Health is reporting some good news, fourteen more persons have recovered from COVID-related illnesses, making that, 148 in total who have recuperated.

However, the Ministry is also confirming one new case and one death, taking those totals to 291 and 17 respectively.

There are currently 126 active cases in isolation at various facilities across Guyana and 19 persons in institutional quarantine. The COVID-19 ICU is currently housing six patients.

To date, 3,166 tests have been conducted with 2,875 yielding negative results.

Citizens are reminded to continue practising social distancing in the workplace, public spaces, and while using public transportation to reduce the spread of the coronavirus disease. They are also reminded to practise frequent hand washing/sanitising and always wear a face mask if they have to go out.

As of July 11, 2020, the WHO is reporting that globally the confirmed cases stand at 12,322,395 with 556,335 deaths. While in the Regions of the Americas, positive cases now stand at 6,397,230 with a total of 279,857 deaths.