The year in review
January-June, 1999
The public service strike The shadow of the public servants' strike darkened the land in 1999, bringing the nation to the brink of anarchy, poisoning race relations and sending the economy into precipitate decline. Its beginnings appeared innocuous enough, with a report in our edition of Saturday, March 13, that the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) wanted the Government to appoint a negotiating team to discuss a pay hike for public servants. Two weeks later on April 3, it was reported that the GPSU wanted an urgent start to the pay negotiations, threatening measures to be taken if this did not materialise. On April 11, the nation learnt from our Sunday edition that the Government had offered the public servants a three per cent wage increase, a figure which GPSU President Patrick Yarde was a few days later to dub "eye-pass". The Government did improve on the offer, but only by 1.6 per cent, which Yarde on this occasion deemed "nonsense". By the weekend of April 24, therefore, it appeared as if the die was cast. The formal descent into strike mode was apparent from the report of Wednesday, April 28, which stated that the GPSU had issued an ultimatum to Government to accede to a 40 per cent pay hike demand within 48 hours, or face industrial action. That action began on April 29, when several thousand public servants marched through the city, some of whom entered ministries to exhort colleagues still on the job to join the strike. On the following day the wharves were affected by the stoppage, and services at the Public Hospital, Georgetown were disrupted. It was a sign of things to come; as the action dragged on, it was the nurses and the Customs officers in particular, who were to supply the backbone of the strike. On that day too, Patrick Yarde led an incident-free strike march through the streets of the capital. The strike was interrupted by the annual May Day observances, with President Jagan in her address for the occasion stating that the Government could not afford a large increase to public servants. The Guyana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) representing sugar workers, decided to hold its own May Day rally on account of what it described as the "undemocratic behaviour" of some leaders of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC). GAWU was to suspend its membership of the GTUC on May 21. By Monday, May 3, commuters were being seriously inconvenienced by striking ferry workers. The administration was subsequently to allege that some of the latter had sabotaged the engines on the ferry boats, an allegation strenously denied by their union, the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (AT&GWU). Our report of May 4 highlighted another ominous development, namely, a number of bomb hoaxes around the city causing further disruption to workplaces. This was eventually brought under control after the Ministry of Home Affairs began making public the phone numbers from which the calls had originated. On May 5, the police issued summonses to the leaders of the GPSU to appear in court on May 10 for holding illegal marches, an action which torpdeoed conciliation talks between union representatives and the Government. The date on the summonses was later amended to June 17, rather than May 10. With industrial action under way for a week, it was reported on May 7 that 80 per cent of the postal workers had joined the action, a situation which caused incoming mail bags to pile up, and letters to be left undelivered. On the following day it was learnt that the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) had served a 72 hour strike notice on the Government, and although it was reported on May 13 that the two sides were to begin conciliation talks, the teachers' strike continued until May 21. Informal talks between the parties resumed on May 13, involving Government representatives and all the participating unions, namely the GPSU, the Union of Agriculture and Allied Workers (UAAW), the AT&GWU, the National Union of Public Service Employees (NUPSE), and the Postal and Telecommunications Workers Union. (The four last-named unions fall under the umbrella of the Federation of Unions of Government Employees (FUGE)). Despite periods of negotiation throughout the strike, however, a settlement was to prove elusive. In the second week of industrial action, workers had blocked the entrance to Customs House in a move to prevent customs officers and others who wanted to work from doing so. On May 18 strikers turned their attention to the John Fernandes wharf in a similar effort, which ended in violence. Seventeen people were injured by tear-gas and shot-gun pellets, and fires were set by the protestors. The stranglehold on the docks was to continue, which placed private businesses in particular, under severe pressure. Violence reared its head again when a building owned by Willems Timber and Trading Company in Water street was set on fire on May 21, while the following day the Georgetown hospital became the focal point when a mob swarmed the building, forcing a doctor on duty to take refuge in the ceiling. Five days later the Riot Squad moved in and dispersed those blocking the hospital entrance. In the midst of the troubles the GTUC called a 72-hour general strike with immediate effect on May 19, which disrupted the work of a number of institutions, and shut down markets and the abattoir. With the action on the streets, the Independence celebrations came and went with barely a whimper, the flag of Guyana being hoisted on this occasion unostentatiously in the compound of the Umana Yana. The first day of the month of June saw explosive devices being thrown at two private residences and at Guyana National Printers Limited, while during the first week the courts were closed twice by strikers who padlocked the gates. Another spate of violence was to follow when on June 10, six protestors were held outside the Ministry of Finance during the course of a fracas when police tried to disperse strikers with batons and gun butts. The mysterious appearance of a grenade which did not explode was the source of various allegations, GTUC president, Lincoln Lewis at first claiming he saw it fall out of a police bag (an assertion he later appeared to partially renege on) and the police claiming it was thrown by the strikers. In the early hours of June 11, a gas station on Regent street was deliberately set alight, but fortunately disaster was averted following action by the fire brigade. Two days later a rocket propelled grenade was used in a blast which damaged a store owned by Reeaz Khan in Camp street, while a fragmentation grenade, which did not explode, was discovered on the verandah of a house in Charlestown. In the meantime, in the middle of June, store owners were obliged to close their doors on two occasions after a mob stormed down Regent street. The worst disturbances, however, came on Tuesday, June 15, when roving bands forced businesses to close yet again. The trouble began around the area of Bheena's store in Regent street, and subsequently spread to other parts of the city's commercial zone. In the evening Bheena's was rocked by an explosion which police said had been caused by a concussion grenade. On Saturday, June 19, this newspaper reported that the Government might invoke emergency powers. There was light, however at the end of the tunnel. Mediators comprising representatives from the GTUC, the Guyana Council of Churches, the Private Sector Commission and the Guyana Bar Association had begun to work with Government and the unions to bring an end to the strike, and on June 17 we reported that "definite progress" had been made. That progress was translated into something substantial when late on the night of June 20, provisional agreement was reached between the parties. While this was rejected the following day by the public servants, the Government proved to be flexible on this occasion, and accommodate the changes requested by the public service unions. On June 23, the strike was declared to be over, although full resumption was not expected until Tuesday, June 29. The main clauses in the agreement provided for a one-off interim payment of $302M in three tranches to the workers and the setting up of a three-man arbitration panel to decide the wages issue, one member of which would be chosen by the unions, one by the Government, and the chairman by both sides. The chairman was to be named by June 30, although this deadline was not achieved. Subsequently, the name of Dr Aubrey Armstrong was agreed on by both sides. The terms of resumption also required that workers repay their salaries received during the strike; this was to be effected over a six month period. Not all the members of the GPSU were happy with the deal, and afterwards attempts were made to wreck the GPSU building. Arbitration had been decided on at a much earlier stage for the teachers, and Father Malcolm Rodrigues was named their arbitration chairman on June 26. Finance, business and commerce The year kicked off with a depreciation in the value of the Guyana dollar; on January 17 this newspaper reported that it was trading at 178 to one American dollar. This was by no means the end of its seemingly inexorable downward slide, and Dr Gobind Ganga, Research Director of the Bank of Guyana confirmed that there was a speculative run on the currency. The central bank subsequently released US15M to alleviate the foreign currency shortage, while GUYSUCO released US$8M. On Sunday, January 24 we reported an announcement from the central bank of the removal of the interest rate ceiling on treasury bills, once again in an effort to stem the slide of the currency. It proved a move not without its critics. At the end of June, the year-to-date inflation rate was declared to be 4.5 per cent. The Budget, announced on March 26, included no new taxes, and the business sector dubbed it a 'holding exercise'. Some top businessmen said that they had expected more emphasis on investment. On the day following the Budget, then Minister Jagdeo criticized the performance of Go-Invest. A month later, the re-organization of the Go-Invest was made public, with Kellawan Lall as its new adviser. Received with far more enthusiasm than the details of the Budget, was the news published in the May 14 edition, that Guyana would receive debt relief worth $256M, after having achieved "completion point" of the conditions under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative. If things on the debt front were of a rosy hue, things on the business front were of a decidedly gloomy cast. In January, Guyana Refrigerators was foreclosed on by the Guyana Bank of Trade and Industry (GBTI) for defaulting on a debt of $190M, while in March IDI went into voluntary liquidation. The following month it was announced that Christopher Ram had been appointed Receiver/Manager of the Tower Hotel after it had gone into receivership. In February the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana had announced a steady decline in the number of visitors to Guyana, while on Tuesday, May 4, we carried a report stating that Guyana had been stopped from exporting shrimp to the US on account of a failure to meet a May 1 deadline for ensuring that local fishing vessels carried turtle excluder devices. The rice industry also found itself being squeezed first when Jamaica imposed a 25 per cent surcharge on Guyana rice imported into the island, and then when local rice officials discovered that the European quota system was being manipulated to exclude local rice. The Jamaican surcharge was not of long duration, being lifted two weeks later, and our June 10 edition was able to report that Guyana had been reclassified to export shrimp to the US again. At his fortnightly press conference on February 26 Dr Luncheon announced that the MMA/ADA scheme was bankrupt, and that the decentralisation of rates collection was being tried. Meanwhile, in the Pomeroon, farmers' crops were destroyed by flocks of birds who descended on their fields in unprecedented numbers. A hopeful sign was the deal clinched between the Government and a local consortium - Aviation Investment - for the divesting of the Guyana Airways Corporation. The new entity - GA 2000 - began putting tickets on sale in early June. On the banking front, Banks DIH acquired a controlling interest in Citizens Bank in early January, and at the end of that month it was reported that management experts funded by the World Bank were to take over the Guyana National Co-operative Bank. At the beginning of March the central bank approved a merchant banking licence for GBTI. The mining sector had a difficult year with Golden Star cutting its local operations in April owing to the low price of gold. On Saturday, June 25, Mekdeci Mining moved out of gold altogether for the same reason. Government A new minister joined the Government on January 8; he was Ronald Gajraj who was sworn in as Minister of Home Affairs. The blighted Essequibo road project lived up to its reputation when in February the contract with the Greek firm, Technodomi, was terminated. On April 8, we published the findings of the World Bank consultants into the operations of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) of the Ministry of Works. Among other things, the report criticised the PEU's move to import stone for Technodomi, while in general it found that there had been a "serious breach" of good accounting and management practices. It highlighted "questionable" and "fraudulent" actions by the unit to expedite the road programme before general elections in 1997, and it confirmed that other donor accounts had been misused by the PEU. The Auditor General's report on the stone probe, to which we made reference on April 18, echoed that of the World Bank. A source told this newspaper that Anand Goolsarran had advised the Government to investigate further various aspects of stone importation which seemed fraudulent, and have the persons who were found culpable disciplined. Early in April 70 persons convicted of minor narcotics offences were released from the Georgetown and New Amsterdam jails, following the passage of an amendment to the Narcotics Act in Parliament stipulating lighter sentences for the possession of small quantities of marijuana. Still in the domain of legal affairs, a report carried in the April 10 edition informed the public that Dr Luncheon had said that Guyana's renunciation of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights had become effective the week before. This meant that no more death row prisoners could appeal to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, as condemned prisoners Yasseen and Thomas had done. Politics Events in the sphere of politics gave no great cause for rejoicing, any more than did events in the sphere of labour relations. The dialogue process, with Maurice King as facilitator, proceeded along its turgid way until brought to a sudden halt in February. The immediate cause of the hiatus in talks was remarks made by Dr Roger Luncheon, a member of the PPP/Civic team, to the effect that the two parties were not negotiating as equals. In an attempt to revive the dialogue, King convened a meeting between PNC leader Desmond Hoyte and President Jagan on April 2 in Colgrain House, which was a less than successful encounter. The facilitator's proposal for a formula which would allow Luncheon to withdraw his remarks was rejected outright by Hoyte. The breakthrough in the deadlock came with a visit of Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Anyaoku here, who announced on May 9 that he had brokered an agreement between the two sides which allowed for the resumption of talks "on the basis of equality and respect." A far more positive development was the National Assembly's approval of the 15 clause Constitution Reform Commission Bill on January 11, paving the way for the commission to begin its work. By the twenty-second of the month, the 20 member body had been sworn in, and Ralph Ramkarran was chosen as chairman. It held public meetings around the country, and contrary to all expectations met the deadline for the submission of its recommendations. Political violence reared its head again in March, following an incident at a PNC rally at the Square of the Revolution on March 4. A section of the crowd beat a man after accusing him of making an attempt on Hoyte's life. The police subsequently confirmed that no attempt in fact had been made on the life of the PNC leader, but an angry mob nevertheless set a fire at the Strand Cinema after it was rumoured that proprietor Anand Persaud had been connected to the incident. The crowd caused serious damage, and patrons were injured in the rush to escape from the cinema. The following day about 60 persons rampaged down Regent street stealing and vandalising, forcing businessmen to close their stores. During the year the Elections Petition was heard in the high court, a process which was still ongoing in the New Year. Foreign Affairs On Wednesday, January 6 we reported that the Venezuelans had said that the two F16 fighter jets belonging to the Venezuelan air force which had flown over the border areas in December 1998, were giving a customary New Year salute to the garrisons posted on the frontier. In our edition two days later, we reported Major-General Joe Singh as saying that the Venezuelans should have given advance notice. On January 9, at his fortnightly press conference, Dr Luncheon informed the media that the Venezuelan reponse was not acceptable to the Guyana Government. At a subsequent briefing, he confirmed that the matter of overflights had not been raised when President Jagan attended President Chavez' inauguration, partly on account of lack of time. On March 30 Guyana and Venezuela signed an agreement establishing a high-level bilateral commission. At the end of May, President Jagan made a four-day state visit to Brazil. Public Corporations, utilities, etc. GUYSUCO amalgamated Albion and Rose Hall estates early in the year, which indirectly produced two strikes, which were eventually settled at the end of March. The first move in the privatisation of the Guyana Electricity Corporation came with an exchange of Letters of Intent on Friday, June 25, between the Government and the Commonwealth Development Corporation/ESBI consortium. The deal was expected to be closed shortly. Health A new gynaecological ward was commissioned at the Georgetown Hospital on June 30, while the stand-off between the Guyana Medical Association (GMA) and Health Minister Henry Jeffrey over nominees to the Medical Council moved to the courts in early February. At the end of that month, Government extended the life of the existing Medical Council, an act which President of the GMA, Dr Max Hanoman categorised as a misuse of power. Education This was the year when teachers were lured away to overseas destinations with the promise of better pay and conditions. On Sunday, February 14, we reported that the first batch of possibly 80 had left for Botswana. On April 10, we reported that an international medical school was to be established here, a decision which the University of Guyana's Academic Board said called into question Government's commitment to the local medical school. In early June an investigation began into a breach of security in relation to CXC papers by the police and Ministry of Education. The problem first came to light in relation to the Mathematics paper, and at the end of the month a CXC official arrived in Guyana to investigate the breach. Media C.N. Sharma, proprietor of the Channel 6 television station was punched by Community Policing Group Chairman Mata Persaud, while en route to cover a story about community policing in the area. Persaud was charged, found guilty, given a suspended sentence and fined. During the public service strike on May 20, a GTV cameraman and the Administrative Manager of the station were attacked and beaten by a mob outside the GPSU hall on Regent road. They were rescued by Lawrence Mentis. Disasters, accidents, etc. In March, the Lusignan sea defence allowed in the water again during a high tide, flooding the surrounding area. On Sunday, May 2, a midday fire at Lot 68 Brickdam destroyed the back building belonging to the Ministry of Education. The fire appeared to have begun on the top floor, and there was time, therefore, to rescue some valuable equipment on the ground floor. Entertainment Mashramani on February 23 was deemed a success by everyone, the consensus being that more bands participated and there was a better spirit. The one discordant note was the decision to raise the flag in the compound of the Parliament Building on the morning of February 24, which motivated the PNC to hold a traditional midnight ceremony at the Square of the Revolution. On Sunday, March 22, Morvinia Sobers was crowned Miss Guyana, and declared Guyana's contestant in the Miss Universe Pageant. Her route to the contest in Trinidad was not without its difficulies, and franchise holder, Sri Yogeandra, was not without his critics. In the event, it was Miss Botswana who carried off the crown.
July - December, 1999 Government The second half of the year opened with a report in our edition of July 2 that President Janet Jagan had been hospitalized with what were described first as 'persistent body pains,' and later as angina. She was soon released, but subsequently went for medical tests, first to Trinidad and then to the United States. A little over one month later, on August 8, she announced her imminent resignation for health reasons. Two days later, her designated successor, Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo, was sworn in as Prime Minister following the resignation of Samuel Hinds from that position. (This tactic became necessary because the constitution stipulates that on the resignation of the President during a term of office, the Prime Minister shall succeed him or her.) Jagdeo's swearing in as President came on August 11, after Mrs Jagan had stepped down. He then reappointed Hinds as Prime Minister, a manoeuvre which generated considerable criticism from the opposition. Our report of Sunday, August 8, stated that the Central Committee of the PPP had confirmed the 'A' team formula - which had named Jagdeo as the successor to Jagan prior to the 1997 election - in a meeting the day before the announcement was made. In his inaugural address to the nation on August 22, the new President said that he saw the need for modern methods of management, and indicated that he proposed to hold a business summit. This eventually came off in early October, and various agreements were come to with a view to stimulating investments, particularly in the tourism industry. Most important, Jagdeo acceded to a consumption tax waiver for local sales in the garment industry. The President wasted little time in beginning his tours around the country, holding Cabinet meetings in Linden, Essequibo and Berbice, where people could have access to his ministers and elaborate on their problems. In general he received kudos from several quarters for his open an tolerant approach. Rumours of radical Cabinet changes, however, did not materialize, although the announcement that two new ministers were to be appointed was made on Friday, November 19. The first was Saisnarine Kowlessar as Minister of Finance, albeit with responsibility for domestic matters only; macro-economic issues were to be referred to the President who, according to our report of December 10, was also expected to have the final say in budgetary allocations, and monetary and fiscal policies. The second was the appointment of Geoffrey Da Silva as Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry to replace the ailing Shree Chan. It had been reported in our edition of July 15, that the latter had had brain surgery in the United States to remove a tumour. Following on his return to Guyana, he had resumed his post for a brief period, but had later resigned for health reasons. He was to die in the New Year, on January 12. On the day that the new ministerial appointments were announced, a major shake-up of permanent secretaries (PS's) was also made public. Nine ministries, it was stated, were to get new PS's, as well as the Office of the President. The ministries affected were Trade, Health, Works, Local Government, Legal Affairs, Public Service, Home Affairs, Information and Agriculture. Two of the better known appointees were Dr Nanda Gopaul to the Public Service Ministry, and Dr Prem Misir to the Ministry of Information. The stone probe report by Auditor General Anand Goolsarran was finally tabled in Parliament on July 22. Among other things, it confirmed the misuse of World Bank funds, which was what had caused the Auditor General to withdraw an earlier unqualified opinion on those accounts. By the time the report had been tabled, both Head of the Presidential Secretariat Roger Luncheon and Minister of Works Anthony Xavier had already indicated that the Government did not subscribe to all of Goolsarran's findings. Among other things they had expressed the view that the report of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) had not been taken into account in the Auditor General's report. In our edition of August 1, we quoted Goolsarran as denying this assertion, and registering dismay at the administration's repsonse. At his press conference on Friday, August 13, Luncheon stated that although the Government was not accepting the Auditor-General's recommendation for disciplinary action to be taken against any officials, it was moving to restructure the PEU. On September 13, we reported the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as "rapping the knuckles" of the PEU about the misuse of its funds in the stone matter, and Jagdeo as giving an undertaking during a television interview with Kit Nascimento on September 9 to hand Goolsarran's report to the police. The Essequibo road, which had given rise to the probe into stone imports in the first instance, continued to be a source of controversy in its own right in the second half of the year. Following a decision by Jagdeo for selective tendering for the project (the two companies shortlisted were Seereeram Bros and Dipcon), a group of engineers met with him on September 7 to register their objection. While in the event he was forced to abandon an optimistic deadline of December 31 for the road, he nevertheless adhered to his selective tendering decision, and the project went to Dipcon. On July 29 we had reported that the World Bank had terminated the project. On November 2, we reported SIMAP as having blacklisted a contractor and supervisor for a project on account of shoddy work. A report in the edition of December 9 stated that the World Bank wanted the Tender Board restructured. Public Service The aftermath of the public service strike still had some bite in it during the second half of 1999. The inquiry into incidents which had taken place during the strike got under way on Tuesday, July 13, with Justice Carl Singh sitting as a one-man commission. The setting up of the commission of inquiry had been part of the terms of resumption agreed to by both the Government and the unions on June 23. However, the unions refused to take part until the wording of the terms of reference (TOR) for the inquiry had been amended. In our July 24 edition, we said that this had been acceded to, although on August 4 President of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) was reported as repeating that the GPSU would not be taking part. In the same story, Minister of Labour Henry Jeffrey claimed that his invitation to Yarde to draft the modification to the TOR had received no response. At the close of the year, Justice Singh's report had not yet been submitted. The contretemps over the inquiry was a minor matter in comparison to the friction which arose over the circumstances surrounding the announcement of the pay award to public servants by the arbitration tribunal. First intimations that all was not well with the three-man panel, comprising Drs Armstrong (Chairman), Thomas (nominated by the unions) and Ganga (nominated by the Government) came in a report which appeared in this newspaper on August 31. It stated that the announcement of the award had been delayed by 24 hours in an effort to achieve unanimity on the issue. In addition, Dr Armstrong alleged that he had been subjected to pressure, and not by the unions. "I am not for sale," he was quoted as saying. On the following day our headlines proclaimed the fact that public servants were to get a 31.6 per cent increase for 1999, and 26.7 per cent in the year 2000. Controversy erupted immediately, since it represented a majority opinion; Dr Ganga let it be known that his award would have been 12 per cent. However, that was not the main source of the friction. He also alleged that he knew nothing of the quantum of the award until the 2:00 pm meeting for the submission of the report, and that factors which were "extraneous, immaterial and irrelevant" had been taken into account when the award was being made. Ganga was to repeat his assertions that the tribunal award had not considered government arguments, while on September 1 Labour Minister Henry Jeffrey announced that Chief Labour Officer Mohamed Akeel was to investigate Ganga's claim that he had been excluded from the arbitration process. In findings made public on September 21, Akeel said that Ganga had been squeezed out of the arbitration process, and that the report would be made available to the Attorney General. This investigation notwithstanding, President Jagdeo gave the assurance on September 3 that the Government would honour the pay award, while it was reported on September 17, that the administration was seeking details from Armstrong on the charges made by him that he had been pressured. In response, the chairman of the tribunal was quoted as saying subsequently that it was better "to let sleeping dogs lie." With regard to Ganga's allegations, Armstrong and Thomas were reported as denying these in our edition of September 10. In an interview published in the Sunday Stabroek of December 19, the International Monetary Fund Chief of Mission to Guyana Gopal Yadav said that the public service award had complicated the management of the macro-economic situation. A strongly worded riposte from Armstrong and Thomas appeared on the last day of the year. At a press conference on December 2, Dr Luncheon announced that the Government would offer temporary, unqualified public servants between salary scales one to five a voluntary termination package of one year's salary as well as a training grant. This was in keeping, he was reported as saying, with Government's efforts to reform the public service. There were exchanges subsequent to this about whether the unions had or had not been consulted, although Luncheon produced his notes of a meeting with the union indicating the matter had been raised. In the middle of the contretemps over the public service pay award, the teachers award slipped by with relatively little attention being paid. On August 31, we reported that the teachers were to receive ten and twelve per cent. The economy and business The second half of the year began with the ostensibly gloomy news that the immediate revenue shortfall as a consequence of the public service strike topped $4B, which was reported in our edition of July 2. However, as a qualification it was stated that a substantial portion of this sum was likely to be recouped as the year progressed. On September 7 this newspaper carried the announcement that the Customs exchange rate had jumped to $180:US$1. Further debt relief was also anticipated as reported on Saturday, July 10. However, the Cologne Initiative under which this would be possible turned out to be a source of international controversy since it involved the sale of gold by the IMF. On September 2 we reported IMF documents as indicating that gold producing countries like Guyana could lose export earnings as a consequence of the gold sales. Decisions by both the Americans and the British, however, meant that Guyana could be eligible for further debt relief from these two countries. Our report of September 18 said that the economic growth rate for the first half of 1999 had been 2.1 per cent - sugar and rice leading the way. The inflation rate for the first half as given on July 21 was put at 5.8 per cent. In our Monday, September 20 edition it was stated that Guyana was now above the IDB low income classification, so that the counterpart funds requirement would rise from 10 per cent to twenty per cent. On July 26 it was made public that the PL480 programme had been cut. Guyana's incentive regime for investment came in for some heavy flak in a USAID investment study, as reported in our edition of July 25, although two days later Jagdeo criticized the newspaper's report as being one-sided. On the business front the private sector took a battering as a consequence of the public service strike, the forestry industry alone reporting a $250M loss in orders. GA 2000 took to the air, however, North American Resources inaugurated a gold mining operation on a 75,000 acre concession at Konawaruk, a new tourist resort at Lake Mainstay opened, and a $1.5B seafood processing plant built by PSI started up at McDoom, among other things. In our October 31 edition we reported that Queen's Atlantic Investment was to take over the Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation, while the week before we had carried a story saying that Royal Investments had won the bid for Guyana Stores. This news triggered a brief protest action by Guyana Stores workers, but by the end of the year the take-over was in any case in doubt. It was reported on November 12 that the Tower Hotel was being put up for sale. In the banking sector, the Republic Bank of Trinidad opened two mutual funds to Guyanese investors. Our edition of December 22 stated that commercial banks had racked up around $18B in bad debts, a figure which the central bank two days later said showed compliance with the law and represented 33 per cent of their loan portfolio. The business venture which generated the greatest controversy, however, was Beal. The concerns expressed centred around the news that the Government intended to sell the US company land in the North West for their satellite launch programme, rather than lease it. The information carried in the paper of November 27 that the administration only intended selling 26,010 acres, did little to assuage the critics. On December 29 it was reported that the closure of the deal would likely be early in the year 2000. Crime The second half of the year was characterized by some spectacular crimes. The greatest human tragedy occurred in Buxton, when on July 7 Raul Herod, a security guard, shot members of his family, set fire to their home and then killed himself. Herod murdered seven people in all - his grandmother, mother, aunt, nephew, niece, daughter and son. One son, Jermaine Herod, although shot in the jaw, survived. On July 14, gunmen stole $13M from a cambio in Regent street. The robbery took place at around 7:45 am, and the bandits sprayed machine-gun fire to keep the public and the constabulary at bay while they executed their heist. A little over one month later, bandits invaded the doctors' wing of the Davis Memorial Hospital carting off US$20,000 in loot, and beating the guards. On September 1, gunmen ambushed Didco in Cowan street, and nine days later five bandits robbed a Campbellville family of $13-14M. At the end of that month, on the morning of September 22, the most daring of the attacks occurred. Four heavily-armed gunmen seized millions of dollars from an America street cambio, spraying the streets mafia-style with gunfire to cover their escape, and injuring five persons in the process. Tracked by police through the city, the bandits seized two hostages whom they later released. Using the tractor belonging to the hostages, the gunmen eventually took refuge in a canefield at the back of Mocha/Arcadia. The police succeeded in killing one of the gunmen, but a police/army dragnet failed to capture the others, and the exercise was called off. On September 28 two men appeared in court on charges of attempted murder and robbery under arms in connection with the robbery, and arrest warrants were issued for Linden London and Andrew Douglas, both of whom were still at large when the year closed. Piracy, which has been a major problem for our neighbour Suriname, showed evidence of becoming a problem here too in 1999. The Boskalis dredge was attacked in August, while pirates plundered $6.2M from fishers off the Waini river in the same month. A report in this newspaper of August 25 said that in another case, a man was feared dead after bandits attacked a trawler. In that instance, three suspects were held. A would-be pirate was shot and killed by the captain of a foreign vessel in September, and pirates struck a vessel coming from Venezuela again in December. Maxwell 'Lunkie' Melville and three others effected a daring escape from the Georgetown prison on August 29, and a few days later Minister Gajraj appointed Peter Willems as chairman of a Board of Enquiry into the escape. The Board issued a preliminary report first, and then a final one to which this newspaper referred on October 20. On November 6, another prisoner scaled the wall and escaped. On December 8 we reported that the authorities had dismissed one person and had several others transferred from the prison. Yasseen and Thomas, who were due to be hanged on Monday, September 13, were given a temporary reprieve, and at the end of the year their case was still engaging the attention of the courts. December seemed to be the month when the police found caches of guns. Their most important discovery was referred to in a report of this newspaper of December 17, when guns and ammunition were located in a container which had arrived from Miami some days before, and which police believed were connected to an arms smuggling operation. On December 21, two persons - one a US-based Guyanese - appeared in court to answer charges relating to the find. Foreign Affairs, etc. The Coast Guard seized several vessels fishing illegally in Guyana's waters during the course of the year, and in early September Minister Sawh authorized the setting up of a committee to look at ways of curbing both piracy and illegal fishing. Its report was submitted at the end of October, and recommended, among other things, that the Coast Guard be provided with boats and equipment. On Thursday, September 23, we reported that Sir Alister McIntyre was to resign as United Nations Good Officer in the Venezuelan border controversy, and a month later it was announced that Barbadian Oliver Jackman was to be his replacement. The one hundredth anniversary of the Paris Award on October 3, saw a restatement of Venezuela's claim to the Essequibo region by President Chavez, who also said that he wanted the matter on the negotiating table. In addition he raised protests about oil concessions given by Guyana off the Essequibo coast. On October 4, the Guyana Government reiterated the validity of the award which had laid down this country's boundary with her western neighbour. The anniversary was also accompanied on Venezuela's side by unusual troop movements, firing by the National Guard from Ankoko and intrusions into Guyana's airspace. Caracas gave assurances to the Guyana Government that the troop movements were drug related, but the latter registered a protest to Venezuela, and alerted the Good Officer. On October 8, we reported that the Suriname Coast Guard had seized four Guyanese speedboats about 200 yards from the Guyana shore, and that a protest had been lodged with the Suriname Government. A disastrous mudslide in Venezuela in which up to 50,000 people may have died, caused the Government of Guyana to donate $15M of supplies for the Venezuelans; the GDF flew aid to the neighbouring country at the end of the year. On December 28 we reported that the Canadians had returned seven deportees without documentation aboard two chartered aircraft; it was a story which was to develop further in the New Year. On November 15 we carried a report that the new Director General of the Foreign Ministry, Ivan Evelyn had quit within two months of his appointment. Rita Ramlall, it said, was now the acting Director General. Utilities, public corporations, etc. The major news was the GEC deal, which was initialled on August 31, and finally signed on October 1. The secrecy surrounding the terms of the agreement was a subject of criticism by the opposition parties, paticularly during the passage of the Electricity Reform Bill on July 29 to facilitate the privatization of the power company. There were first some very stormy scenes, and then the PNC walked out. On July 14 it had been announced that tariff increases for the new company, to be called the Guyana Power and Light Company, (GPL) would be influenced by the depreciation of the dollar. On October 7 we reported that Japan wanted clarification about the leasing of generators to GPL which had been a gift from that country. Late in November, the Moco Moco hydro project was finally commissioned. At the time of the commissioning, Lethem was receiving about twelve hours of power daily. The grumbles about the phone company continued, with Luncheon stating at a press conference on November 12 that GT&T had an iron-clad monopoly. In July it was announced that Guysuco was pursuing plans for a massive expansion of its Skeldon estate. By the end of the year it was clear that the company had recorded a record output from its eight factories. Health On October 25 we reported that Cabinet had approved the establishment of an off-shore medical school which was to open on January 10. Ten scholarships annually would be available to Guyanese students. AIDS, the suicide rate and an increase in reported cases of child sexual abuse remained matters of concern. On November 16 we carried a report that the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Hospital, George Munroe, had resigned. Minister Jeffrey's quarrel with the Guyana Medical Association (GMA) over the composition of the Guyana Medical Council (GMC) was still unresolved when the year closed. After the Minister had dropped two of the names put forward by the GMA, and substituted two others, he was taken to court. The judge ruled that he should give reasons for his appointments. A disagreement over the interpretation of the judge's ruling, produced an explanation which we reported on August 6, that she had intended that the two parties have further consultation. After the GMA had refused further consultation with him, Minister Jeffrey appointed a council icluding four nominees from the GMA and two of his own, which caused the GMA once again to go to court. On November 11, Parliament amended the Medical Practitioners Act, which now provides for five of the nine members on the GMC to be appointed by the Minister after having been elected by medical practitioners countrywide. Six days later we reported that the GMA had withdrawn its nominee to the Georgetown Hospital Board and had informed Minister Jeffrey of its intention not to co-operate with him in respect of the amended act. A hopeful sign which was reported on December 30 was that Dr Makepeace Richmond had agreed to mediate in the dispute, but one day later our report said that mediation talks had broken down. Education On July 6 it was reported that the CXC examination papers leak was not as widespread as had at first been indicated. In our edition of October 15 it was stated that the pass rate for Grades I-III in the 1999 CXC examinations was 46.4 per cent, an increase of 9.2 per cent over the previous year. Where teacher flight was concerned, the second half of the year was patterned on the first half, when 100 more teachers were reported in our issue of September 1 as having been recruited to go to Botswana. Two weeks later we carried a story saying that the top schools had been hit by a teacher shortage, and that some were experiencing overcrowding. The announcement by Prime Minister Sam Hinds of the opening of a university campus at Port Mourant, Berbice, within twelve months, put the Minister of Education and the Academic Board of the University of Guyana at odds. At the end of July it was disclosed that Vice Chancellor Lutchman's contract was not being renewed, and on December 20 we reported that a committee had been named to find someone to fill the post. Local Government While the Linden Town Council tried to impose a tax on trucks passing through the town, and the Mayor of New Amsterdam Errol Alphonso found himself losing a vote of no confidence at a meeting of his council, Georgetown once again saw a familiar pile-up of garbage at the end of September and the beginning of October. The immediate cause was the withdrawal of the services of contractors who collect rubbish in the outer wards, because they had not been paid. According to the Mayor they had not been paid because the Government owed the City Council substantial sums in rates and taxes. While the Government hotly disputed the sums owed, some money was eventually paid, which allowed the contractors to work again, and Georgetown to smell less pungent. In July, we reported on both the new Lethem and Mon Repos markets, which appeared to be white elephants. Housing On July 19, we reported Minister Baksh as saying that mass squatting was under control. Nevertheless squatters overran Turkeyen Gardens in August, and on October 26 we reported on a beach colony which had sprung up cheek-by-jowl with the Le Meridien Pegasus hotel. House lots were issued throughout the year; on September 20 the Lands and Surveys Department was reported as saying that some 4,500 leases had been given out since 1992. On October 31 Tiger Bay residents were granted 148 house lots, and at the very end of the year Baksh unveiled a plan for the squatters of Sophia. Accidents, disasters, etc. It was a bad year for floods, accidents and to a lesser extent, fires. On August 15 this newspaper told the story of massive flooding at Kwakwani, and at the end of that month Mahaica residents were flooded too after the dam was breached. On August 31 we reported two koker attendants as having been suspended for leaving a koker open and causing flooding at Hague, and West Berbice villages were again under water in December. In Sunday Stabroek of November 7 the findings of a Dutch study commissioned by Minister Xavier was carried stating that Guyana was losing the war with the sea. The following Friday Luncheon assured the media that the Government was prioritising weak sea defences for action. On November 22 the Environmental Protection Agency was reported as saying that they would prepare a plan on coastal zone management, the absence of which had been identified in the report by the Dutch. Earlier in the year, on August 30, it had been reported that the European Union would fund a sea defence project to the tune of Euro20M. New Amsterdam was unlucky with fires - one, where arson was suspected, occurring at the market on September 2, and the other at the Medical Diagnostic Centre five days later. Three siblings died in a fire at a home in Ogle Squatting area on September 5, two houses were burnt on the same day and in different Georgetown wards on November 2, and Courts lost their bargain centre to flames on November 5. Road accidents took the lives of both Charles Kennard, who died on September 14 after his car was involved in a collision with a mini-bus the week before, and Fazal Ally who was killed with a court marshal when the vehicle which he was driving overturned on December 23. A gruesome accident occurred on September 17, when a mini-bus collided with a trailer on the Linden-Soesdyke highway, killing six people and injuring eight. The last weekend in October also claimed the lives of seven people in more than one road accident. A four-vehicle accident at Happy Acres on December 3, took the lives of another seven persons. The driver of 'Red Rat,' one of the mini-buses involved was charged with dangerous driving a week later; bail was refused. On November 17, a truck crashed into the home of Chief Magistrate Paul Fung-a-Fat; this driver too appeared before the court. Two more unusual accidents for this country occurred at Marudi Mountain in the Rupununi and Mahdia, when pits in which miners were digging caved in, burying them alive. Three men died at Marudi in October, and two at St Elizabeth in early November. The ever-popular Pancho Carew died (not in an accident) on September 22.
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