Reporting the facts. Keeping you informed.
The Guyana Police Force wishes to notify the general public that in pursuance of mitagory measures against Coronavirus(COVID-19) to dissuade large gatherings and assemblies, no application for Barbecue permits, fairs, parties and any other public event would be processed.
Regional Police Commanders across the country would not entertain such requests until further notice.
STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT DAVID GRANGER:
I am deeply disappointed that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Initiative –which was agreed upon following the intervention of the Prime Ministers of Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago – has stalled.
The Group was headed by the Right Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, who is also Chairperson of CARICOM.
I welcomed the Prime Ministers and embraced the Initiative which was based on an understanding that a recount of the ballots cast at the 2nd March 2020 General and Regional Elections would be executed.
The Initiative saw the arrival of a High-Level Team of five distinguished Caribbean professionals to oversee the process. The team, unfortunately, was unable to commence its task.
The Supreme Court of Judicature granted an injunction filed by a citizen today, 17th March, thereby preventing the Elections Commission and its agents from proceeding with the ‘total national recount’.
This independent court action has curtailed further our thrust towards reaching a transparent conclusion to the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
The matter will be heard in the Supreme Court on 20th March 2020.
I have said repeatedly throughout the electoral process that I will abide by the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, the decisions of the Elections Commission and the ruling of the Supreme Court. I maintain this position.
I iterate my commitment to the due completion of all electoral requirements and the conclusion of the process under the auspices of the Commission and in the interest of all Guyanese.
I assure the nation that I remain committed to the electoral process and to the declaration of results by the Elections Commission in accordance with the law.
I appeal for patience and public forbearance until this matter is resolved.
The United States Embassy in Guyana releases the following statement:
Due to reduced staffing, limited traveler mobility, including quarantines, flight cancellations, and border restrictions, U.S. Embassy Guyana is suspending immigrant visa appointments.
Applicants will be contacted with instructions for continued visa processing when we resume normal operations.
Applicants who were previously notified of appointments up to Friday, March 23, 2020 may appear for their interviews.
If you are not a resident of Guyana and you traveled to Guyana prior to March 17, 2020 for a scheduled immigrant visa appointment, please e-mail visageorge@state.gov your confirmed travel itinerary/ticket showing your arrival and departure dates and we will notify you if/when it is possible to conduct your interview.
After almost two weeks of anticipation, Guyanese are hoping that a final declaration will be made regarding the 2020 elections. This follows an agreement between President David Granger and Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo to have a recount of the ballots for the ten administrative regions under the supervision of a high-level CARICOM team.
The team arrived over the weekend and are currently finalizing logistics before the actual recount begins today.
The recounting will commence at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Georgetown where, CEO, Keith Lowenfield and the CARICOM team will be present to supervise the process. The ballot recount will commence with region 4 which has been the subject of the elections controversy.
Some 2,339 ballot boxes will be recounted and the team will be supervising the process under the Terms of Reference (TORs) agreed to by GECOM.
Last Friday a declaration was made in favor of the APNU+AFC coalition government being victorious at the March 02nd elections, however that declaration was not accepted by the opposition and the ABC countries.
Following this move, Guyana was threatened by some from the International community about facing isolation.
The team aboard a Caribbean military aircraft and the delegation includes Mr. Francine Baron, Foreign Affairs Minister and Former Attorney General of Dominica; Mr. Anthony Boatswain, former Minister of Finance of Grenada; Ms. Cynthia Barrow-Giles, Senior Lecturer in Department of Government of UWI; and the Chief Elections Officers of Barbados and Trinidad.
Below is the full address by President David Granger:
Address to the Nation by His Excellency Brigadier David Granger
Guyanese,
The General and Regional Elections of 2nd March 2020 were conducted peacefully and in accordance with the Constitution and laws of Guyana. The events, thereafter, have marred the excellent work of the Elections Commission.
The electoral process, as initiated by the Elections Commission, is incomplete. The Elections Commission is the sole authority for making a declaration of the results of the General and Regional Elections.
Confusion ensued at the Office of the Returning Officer for District Four in the wee hours of Wednesday, 4th March 2020 as a result of an invasion of the premises by political elements.
Statements following the events of 4th March by the observer missions also created uncertainty in the minds of the citizenry.
The Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP), so far approached the Supreme Court on three separate occasions to obstruct the work of the Elections Commission. Those actions coupled with the calls for recount, allowed for the Supreme Court to determine the way forward. This was done.
The Chairperson of the Elections Commission, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, has stated publicly that she will abide by the ruling of the Court. I, too, have said that I will abide by the ruling of the Court.
As result of the delays and statements by the observer missions, the Caribbean Community sent a five-member delegation of Prime Ministers to Guyana on a two-day mission on 11-12 March to work with stakeholders to craft a path forward out of the present political situation.
Prime Minister of Barbados, the Right Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, who is also Chairperson of CARICOM, was accompanied by Prime Ministers Dr. Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago, Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, Dr. Keith Mitchell of Grenada and Dr. Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
In response to the CARICOM Initiative by the five Prime Ministers, I agreed that a ‘total national recount’ could be done to satisfy the questions raised by the observers and the citizenry.
I had a teleconference with Prime Minister Mia Mottley Today, 15th March 2020. I proposed that the CARICOM Initiative should operate within the legal framework of the Constitution of Guyana and respect the role of the Elections Commission and the rulings of the Supreme Court. It will not act independently.
I urged, also, that the Commission be allowed to craft the Terms of Reference governing the relationship between the CARICOM Initiative and the Elections Commission.
The Organisational Structure which should embody supervisory and technical elements should be determined by the Elections Commission.
The Government of Guyana looks forward to a ‘total national recount’ being completed as soon as possible under the auspices of the Elections Commission.
Guyanese, I iterate that I have no role to play in the work of the Elections Commission. I cannot bring the process to an end; the Elections Commission must be allowed to do its work.
I am committed to the rule of law and the Constitution. I respect the integrity and autonomous nature of the Elections Commission. I will abide by the declarations of the Elections Commission as I have abided by the rulings of the Court.
I urge you to be patient as we comply with the rulings of the Court and the decisions of the Commission. I advise you to avoid provocation by certain lawless elements who committed acts of violence against innocent school children, nurses and police officers.
Guyanese, as we await the conclusion of the electoral process, we must be reminded of the very difficult public health environment occasioned by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
I appeal to the public to remain calm and to implement all the advisories relating to personal hygiene, social distancing and overall infection prevention and control.
—says matter is waste of court’s time
Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George on Saturday dismissed the People’s Progressive Party (PPP)’s attempt to disrupt the Guyana Elections Commission from performing its constitutional mandate, calling the matter ‘a waste of the court’s time.’
After Friday evening’s declaration of Regional Elections results for District 4 by Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo which showed the APNU+AFC in the lead for both the Regional and General elections, the PPP/C moved to file an official request for a recount.
Heard at the Diamond/Grove Magistrate’s Court, PPP’s lawyer, Anil Nandalall sought to impose upon GECOM, an injunction based upon an agreement made between His Excellency President David Granger, Leader of the Opposition Baharat Jagdeo and CARICOM, which would see the Regional body observing recounts by the commission.
APNU+AFC’s GECOM commissioners sought to clarify the matter this afternoon clarified the matter.
Commissioner Vincent Alexander explained that while the court hearing was set for 1pm, the PPP/Cs affidavit was not served until 2pm. Making matters worse, the PPP/C failed to serve all the respondents and in this particular matter the RO for District 4, Clairmont Mingo.
Further, he noted, without any proper notice, GECOM Chairman (ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh was summoned to court to respond to a then-unknown matter which was later revealed to be the above-mentioned case.
Alexander clarified the position of the APNU+AFC commissioners that the procedure to apply for a recount of ballots is clearly outlined in the Representation of the Peoples Act, and “if there is intent for any such thing to occur, they have to appeal to GECOM to discuss the matter.”
Therefore, he noted the PPP/Cs move is grossly flawed.
Furthermore, Alexander noted that to impose such an agreement on the commission is baseless since no political party or extra-judicial body should make decisions for the commission.
Commissioner Charles Corbin further clarified that any decision with respect to the election is determined within GECOM. He stated, “If there is an agreement outside of GECOM, wherever that agreement is made if it is to conform to our legislation and constitution then the body that will have to pronounce on it would be GECOM.”
The commission was set to meet at 2 pm to discuss pertinent matters but the PPP/Cs delay tactic through the courts prevented such.
Earlier today, the APNU+AFC signalled its willingness to have CARICOM observe a general recount of ballots of all electoral districts, in the interest of transparency and to uphold the integrity of the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections.
In a move to protect the health and wellbeing of public servants in light of global concerns over the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Department of Public Service has instituted a shift system.
The following is a circular memorandum that was addressed to Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Departments and Regional Executive Officers on Saturday:
On the directive of His Excellency, President David Granger, to coordinate the Public Service response to COVID-19; the Department of Public Service has approved the following Staff Rotation measures to prevent clustering at the workplaces during the period March 16 – 27, 2020.
The Department of Public Service would be grateful for the cooperation of all Ministries /Departments/Regions as we strive to manage this pandemic.
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Guyana presently has 4 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Persons are advised to contact hotline numbers 227-4986 or 624-3067
Guyana confirms four cases of COVID-19
Minister of Public Health, Hon. Volda Lawrence today confirmed three positive cases of COVID-19 bringing the total number to date to four.
The three patients who have tested most recently positive have been identified as the husband of the 52-year old woman who died from the virus earlier this week, one of her children and another person living at their residence on the East Coast Demerara.
The country’s first Corona Virus victim, her husband and at least one of her children travelled from New York to Guyana on March 5th and she presented herself to the Public Health system five days later with health complaints.
Based on the patient’s travel history and symptoms, (with out-of-hand diabetes and high blood pressure) health professionals also diagnosed her for COVID-19. A sample was collected and sent to National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL) where laboratory tests confirmed a positive result on Wednesday morning.
The woman died last Wednesday while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Her family members were informed.Other family members and more than a dozen others who came into contact with the female patient were advised by MOPH specialists to self-quarantine. They are all under regular surveillance by public health specialists.
Tests on the other household members over the last two days revealed that the three had contracted the virus discovered last year in Wuhan, China.
The MOPH reminds the public that if anyone has a fever, cough and difficulty breathing they should immediately call the COVID-19 hotline:
227-4986 ext. 215 (from 8am – 4:30pm;
624 -6674; 624 – 2819 (from 4:30pm to 8am).
It is also advisable to share previous travel history accurately with your health care provider.
The Health Emergency Operating Centre (HEOC) was this week activated by the Public Health Ministry as part of a broader menu of measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
These measures include:
• sending health teams to the homes of those with complaints for assessment and initiation of public health measures;
• identification and contact tracing for all possible exposed persons;
• meetings between public health officials and staff members of the country’s health facilities to ensure all necessary infection-control measures are in place
Minister Lawrence appeals to Guyanese to remain calm and follow the advised health protocols:
• practice simple, everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses:
o frequently clean hands using soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand rub if your hands are not visibly unclean;
when coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue. Dispose of tissue immediately and wash hands;
o avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever and cough by keeping a distance of at least 1 to 2 metres (3 – 6 feet) from them;
o resist touching your face.
From CARICOM Secretariat:
CLARIFICATION BY SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM) AMBASSADOR IRWIN LAROCQUE TO STATEMENT BY CARICOM CHAIRMAN THE HONOURABLE MIA MOTTLEY ON CARICOM TEAM TO SUPERVISE GUYANA ELECTIONS RECOUNT
“The Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Honourable Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados has asked me to clarify her earlier statement: “CARICOM Team to supervise the Guyana Elections recount.”
For the avoidance of doubt, His Excellency President David Granger and Leader of the Opposition Mr Bharrat Jagdeo had agreed to a recount of all Regions and not just Region 4. “
The Ministry of Public Health has today confirmed the second case of COVID-19 in Guyana. The Ministry will provide further details subsequently.
The Ministry urges all Guyanese to remain calm and take the necessary preventative measures and precautions as per the public advisories.
