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…says PPP first 100 days a big disappointment
By Lisa Hamilton
The rise in COVID-19 deaths, the unsolved West Coast Berbice (WCB) murders, the dismissal of hundreds of public servants, the large transshipments of narcotics and the alleged misuse of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to shoot at squatters are just some of the issues the APNU+AFC says has stained the first 100 days of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in Office.
On Tuesday, a large number of civilians, trade unions representatives and political members who feel aggrieved by the management of the country under the PPP/C since August 2, 2020, took to the Office of the President on Vlissengen Road to stage protest.
The planned event commenced promptly at 10:00 hours and involved former President David Granger; Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon; Chairperson of the People’s National Congress (PNC), Volda Lawrence; Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine and several other Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs).
As the PPP/C Government positively celebrated its 100 days in office on Tuesday, the protesters counteracted this with placards giving the Government a poor grade of performance which several said should be summed up as discrimination.
RISE IN COVID-19 DEATHS
“We feel that there has been failure on the part of the PPP to protect the population from this deadly disease,” former President Granger told the media.
From March 11 to August 2 – a period of six months — the previous Administration recorded a total of 21 COVID-19 related deaths. However, from August 4 to November 9, 2020 –four months — the country has recorded 114 additional COVID-19 deaths.
Last week, Village Voice News reported that over 50 positive COVID-19 cases were recorded at the indigenous village of St Cuthbert’s Mission off the Soesdyke-Linden Highway while the Education Minister confirmed on Monday that eight President’s College students tested positive for the virus.
Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo said recently that the Health Ministry is prepared for a possible rise in COVID-19 cases as the Government balances implementing restrictions and reopening the economy. On the contrary, the APNU+AFC Opposition has stated that the rise in deaths and cases is testament that the current Administration is doing many things wrong in its management of the spread of the virus.
DISMISSAL OF PUBLIC SERVANTS
On the other hand, the former President also touched on the high number of dismissals of public servants since August 2, 2020. Some of the notable names dismissed include former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Vincent Adams; former CH&PA CEO, Lelon Saul; former Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GLSC) Head, Trevor Benn; GuySuCo’s former Corporate Communications Officer, Audreyanna Thomas; former Head of NICIL’s Special Purpose Unit, Colvin Heath-London; several Public Relations Officers at a number of Ministries; 42 workers from the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA) and others.
Granger said: “We have recorded over 500 dismissals of public servants. There are persons who are trained and qualified, these are not card-bearing members of the coalition and we feel it’s unfair and we want to call public attention to this discriminatory behavior,” he said.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, said back in August 2020 that the Government is not involved in “witch-hunting” but suggested that all those who were politically appointed resign or be fired.
UNSOLVED WCB MURDERS
Regarding the murders of teens Isaiah Henry, Joel Henry and Haresh Singh, the former President criticised the work of the GPF under the PPP/C stating that more ought to be done to bring justice. “They died in September. October has passed, November has passed and the families are worried that this is going to become a cold case. Although they’ve been promises of investigation on the part of foreign agencies we feel that the police has been slothful, they’ve been dragging their feet on this important investigation,” he said.
The last update provided by the GPF was that it has put out a $3M reward for any person with information after the DNA samples sent to St. Lucia to gather leads returned as a dead end. The families of the Henry boys and their attorney, Nigel Hughes, believe that this is a sign of failure on the part of the GPF. However, the GPF has denied this and has assured the public that they are working assiduously to solve the crime.
LARGE TRANSSHIPMENTS OF COCAINE, GPF MISUSE
Granger, along with Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon, also touched on the recent 11.5 tons cocaine bust coming from Guyana which they say has put the country back on the map in the negative spotlight. “The coalition Government was proud of having suppressed narco-trafficking and piracy during its tenure of Office and, within the last 100 days we’ve had two significant narco busts and, worst than that, the agency, which was put in charge of countering narcotics trafficking, the National Anti-Narcotics Agency (NANA), has been dissolved. So, it seems as if the narco-traffickers are encouraged by this absence of the surveillance,” Granger said.
Meanwhile, Harmon added: “We have to resist this kind of behavior and there must not be a day in which this Administration feels comfortable doing what they’re doing and there has been no response from the Guyanese citizenry.”
The former President also spoke to the shooting of squatters at Success with pellets and the alleged failure of the PPP/C to create new job opportunities for young people. The APNU+AFC Executives said that this is not the last that the PPP/C Administration will hear from civil society and party members as they plan to stage such protests until the Government cleans up its act.
