Archives for July 17, 2016

… urges donor community to “pay close attention”

Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo’s Office on Saturday said that the rule of law in Guyana was under threat and it has urged the international community to pay close attention to recent developments.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

In a strongly-worded statement, Jagdeo’s Office singled out recent declarations made and actions taken by the Head of the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), Dr Clive Thomas, who it said is openly hostile to the PPP; and “politically directed” interference in the operations of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), both of which are aimed at witch-hunting members of the parliamentary opposition and the leaders of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
It said it noted public commitments from the diplomatic community to lending technical and financial assistance to SARU, but argued that the unit’s role as designed since the change of government is to “target, pronounce and make wild unsubstantiated accusations” against the parliamentary opposition and leaders of the PPP/C, while proceeding to try these very individuals publicly.
The claim that new legislation is required in order to bring charges against persons who are accused of criminal offences with regards to state assets is false, according to the statement, which highlighted that already there are existing laws to bring such charges.
In objecting to the new legislation to institutionalise SARU, Jagdeo’s Office argued that it appears to relate more to entrenching SARU as an entity in law with powers overriding the Guyana Police Force, the Audit Office of Guyana and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Personal vendetta
Meanwhile, turning the attention to Dr Thomas, the opposition leader’s office said that the SARU head seems to have a personal vendetta against the PPP.

Lieutenant Colonel Sydney James

“Public statements by the Head of the SARU, Dr Clive Thomas, are illustrative. He appears to be consumed with a personal vendetta against the PPP. In fact, his hostility is not exclusively his; the entire Unit is composed of leading APNU/AFC political operatives, some of whom were APNU and AFC Members of the 10th Parliament,” his office said.
The statement reminded that SARU is financed through the budget of the Ministry of the Presidency and alleged that the Unit has been created with the objective of leading the “witch hunt” of the present parliamentary opposition and leaders of the PPP.

SOCU
Focusing attention on SOCU, Jagdeo’s Office reminded that the Unit was created with the sole purpose of investigating money laundering and the financing of terrorism under the AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing for Terrorism (AMLCFT) Act, but is now the operational arm that is being used to target opposition members.
“This concern of the parliamentary opposition is further bolstered by recent public statements by Cabinet Ministers which are particularly ominous,” the statement highlighted.
It reminded that during the 2016 Budget Debates, in February, the Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan promised to make the protocols that guide SOCU’s operations public in a matter of weeks, a promise he is still to fulfil.
It also reminded that one government spokesman Minister Raphael Trotman at a press conference a month ago declared that the protocols were not complete, while Minister of State Joseph Harmon last week stated that SOCU operates within the laws of Guyana, thereby side-stepping the issue of the promised protocols.
It was SOCU, the statement said, with army personnel which lead a botched high-speed chase on the car transporting the wife of PPP/C Parliamentarian Charles Ramson Jr, resulting in three persons being killed and the subsequent declaration by the government that there will be no investigation into the incident, while no agency or person has so far accepted responsibility.
Jagdeo’s Office said that the fact that $40 million has been allocated in the 2016 Budget of the Ministry of the Presidency for a “top up” of the SOCU staff, is highly suspect and facilitates an environment for overt political interference.
“Exacerbating our concerns is the recent public statement by Minister Jaipaul Sharma that the Cabinet would be deciding who was going to be charged as a result of the forensic audits carried out in various Ministries and state entities. Furthermore, the Office of the Leader of the Opposition is aware of the existence of a list containing the names of political leaders of the PPP/C and non-PPP/C individuals who are to be targeted by the SOCU. This list originated from no other than the Ministry of the Presidency,” the statement noted.

It added that government’s silence with regard to the public call by Jagdeo for a specialised firm or Interpol to track the assets of all MPs and former Presidents is of particular interest in the context of these developments.
“Therefore, our concerns regarding these trends which are undermining the rule of law in Guyana are not emotive, but, based on the very actions and statements made by senior government Ministers and the SARU, coupled with actions of the SOCU. These reveal a stealthy intrusion of the executive into the independence of the prosecutorial and judicial arms of the state by the APNU/AFC Coalition government,” the statement said.
Jagdeo’s Office is also alerting the Guyanese public, civil society bodies, the diplomatic and donor communities of what it terms “worrying developments which are an indicator of creeping authoritarianism undermining democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

A West Coast Demerara (WCD) family is left traumatised after four unmasked bandits, all armed, barged into their business and terrorised them before taking off with an undisclosed sum of cash and other items.
Guyana Times understands that the robbery took place sometime around 12:10h on Saturday at a grocery shop at Lot 26 La Jalousie Public Road, WCD. The owner, businessman Bhupaul Panday, was in the shop with his wife, son and daughter along with two customers when the bandits pounced on them.
It was reported that the perpetrators tied up the six individuals with duct tape as they ransack the premises in search of valuables.
A relative related to this newspaper that the men stormed the shop, all armed with handguns, and kicked down the door to gain entry behind the counter. The men immediately began ripping out the electronics in the house including the computers, the DVR attached to the surveillance camera and the phone lines.
“They just walked in and kick down the door… and start ripping off all the electronics in the house and beat up the people them,” the relative stated.
They then began to terrorise the family, asking for money and other valuables, the relative noted. The bandits then duct-taped the four Panday family and the two customers as they searched the house for whatever valuables they could get their hands on. However, they kept on hitting the owners, demanding more money and jewellery.
“They took a bunch of things with them, personal items and so on but they keep hitting the people them, as if what they were taking weren’t enough. They wanted more,” the relative noted.
After some time, the four bandits realised time was running out and so made good their escape.
This newspaper understands that the men were able to take with them phone cards, laptops, cash and jewellery.
Police sources also confirmed that the perpetrators managed to get hold of the businessman’s hand and shot guns, which they also took with them.
According to the relative, after fleeing from the shop, the bandits jumped into two awaiting cars: “These two cars were seen pulling off from in front of the shop and heading towards Vreed-en-Hoop side,” the relative disclosed.
The Police were alerted and immediately launched an investigation. Police ranks in D Division (West Demerara) have since confirmed to Guyana Times that two persons have been arrested and are in custody assisting with investigations.
However, this newspaper could not confirm whether those persons arrested were among the four bandits who barged in and terrorised the Panday family and their two customers.
Meanwhile, the victims had to be taken for medical attention as a result of the beating they suffered.

Three persons were on Saturday morning rendered homeless after a fire of unknown origin obliterated their Lot 55 Vigilance, East Coast Demerara home. According to Adela Duncan, an occupant who resided with her husband Dennis Bagot in one of the two apartments, she was in the kitchen at around 11:00h when she heard an explosion followed by large flames erupting at the front of the home. “This morning I was cooking, and I hear something mek pow! This thing bust. From the time I hear this thing bust, when I look, I see fire in front ah the house. If you see this thing!” the visibly shaken woman relayed.

The destroyed home at Vigilance, East Coast Demerara

Adela Duncan

Duncan noted that upon seeing the blaze, she quickly ran out of the home and began shouting to alert neighbours.
“I run downstairs and starting shouting for Les. I said Les, Les watch, watch fire and when Les watch he said oh Jesus Christ,” she recapped.
The woman told Guyana Times that she was home alone at the time, and was unable to save anything since the flames engulfed quickly.
“Everything I loss. Is just wa I got on right now. All me money that I save, all my papers, my daughter papers that she give me to keep. Everything gone,” the grieving woman wailed.
The Guyana Fire Service was alerted but despite valiant efforts by the firefighters and residents, the building was completely burnt.
An investigation has since been launched.