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NCC chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters.

Chairman of the National Carnival Commission (NCC) Winston “Gypsy” Peters has said he and his team will make the money allocated to the commission this year bear fruit.

The 2023 budget’s draft estimates of expenditure gave the NCC a little over $146 million to run its operations for the fiscal year, all of which Peters said will be invested into Carnival.

“It will bring back more than $1 billion to TT.

“We could have done with a little more, but that is what the country can afford now. We will have to make do. It’s an investment worth its salt and it’s not going to go down the drain. As soon as Carnival is announced it will start to bear fruit,” Peters told Newsday in a phone interview.

He said in addition to the monetary rewards, the peace of mind as a result of the opportunities the Carnival celebrations provide cannot be discounted.

“A lot of people will be employed for Carnival. Do you know how happy people will feel knowing they have a way of earning something to take care of their families?…The country is under stress and this investment is going to bring back in excess of $1 billion. The feeling that that is going to bring people cannot be monetised.”

The NCC falls under the purview of the tourism and cultural sectors, which have been among the hardest hit by the covid19 pandemic, with the temporary closure of the borders to international and regional visitors, a fall in hotels’ and guest houses’ occupancy rates, the suspension of the cruise season, and the shutdown of the entertainment industry.

This resulted in the cancellation of Carnival 2021 and only a “taste of Carnival” in 2022 at a cost of $30 million.

“Carnival would normally cost $150 million or thereabouts, but, in this case, because it’s a taste of Carnival and our economic circumstances are not very healthy right now, we are going to make do with whatever we have,” Peters had told Newsday in February, adding that it was a showcase and advertisement for Carnival 2023.

Giving his opinion as a former minister of arts and multiculturalism, Peters said the budget, delivered by Finance Minister Colm Imbert on Monday, was a good one.

“The attention was paid to the essential aspects of our country. There will always be people who will not be satisfied, but in my view, it was a good one, given the current circumstances.”

President of Pan Trinbago Beverley Ramsey-Moore said she didn’t “see anything jumping out for the creative sector” in Monday’s budget.

“Because we get funding from the NCC, we will now have to wait to see how it will now distribute.”

In a media release in response to the budget, MP for Moruga Tableland Michelle Benjamin said the Tourism, Culture and the Arts Minister, Randall Mitchell, lacked innovative and creative measures to boost the industry. She said she had hoped the budget would say the “latest digital technology would be leveraged to enhance the visitor experience or even our locals,” and that tourism sites such as the Caroni Bird Sanctuary, the Pitch Lake and Devil’s Woodyard would be developed and modernised.

“Instead, the government’s plan is to build more hotels for what influx of visitors? The minister has been tirelessly accused of not consulting the relevant agencies including small tourism enterprises…,” the release said.

Imbert announced government’s plans to invest in digitising the tourism and creative sectors by offering incentives to small and micro-enterprises, as well as to continue making investments in the hotel and cruise industries.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Princes Town CID are searching for a man who broke into a house and robbed an elderly woman and a male relative of valuables, including two cellphones.

The thief also made the relative, a 33-year-old man, to drive him near a cemetery in New Grant. In his haste to get away, the man forgot the stolen cellphones.

The police said the ordeal began before dawn on Tuesday at the family’s home on Petit Café Road in Princes Town.

At around 3.30 am, a 69-year-old female victim was awakened by a man’s voice in her bedroom.

The unknown man announced a robbery, saying he had a gun.

He also demanded her valuables. Fearful for her life, she handed him some jewellery, a cellphone, and $100.

He ordered her to wake up the male relative in an adjacent room. The relative had returned home from work minutes earlier at around 2.45 am, locked the doors and went to sleep.

The thief robbed him of a cellphone, gold jewellery, and $1,000.

The thief then ordered him to take him to his van and told him to drive towards New Grant.

On reaching a cemetery, the man ordered the driver to stop, got out and ran off, leaving the two stolen cellphones in the van.

The man is of African descent, is medium-built and has a dark brown complexion and a tattoo of a knife on his left hand.

Princes Town police were alerted and searched for the culprit, who could not be found.

They later learnt the man got into the house by prying a window open.

PC Clarence is leading investigations.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Inclement weather on Thursday forced the early closure of schools in Saint Lucia.

The Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training has informed parents and guardians that based on urgent advice provided by the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO), all schools Islandwide would close today,  Thursday 29th September 2022 at midday as a result of an impending weather system.

In a press release, the Ministry advised parents and guardians to make all necessary arrangements immediately to pick up their children or wards at various learning institutions.

In addition, the Ministry encourages all to remain safe during this rainy period.

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According to the Saint Lucia Meteorological Services, an intertropical convergence zone still lingers in the area since Monday, dumping rain on the Island on Monday and Tuesday.

And although the country experienced some respite on Wednesday, Meteorological Services Director Andre Joyeux told St Lucia Times that the Island expected a few more showers and thunderstorms Thursday.

“The models are showing that this afternoon there would be a little more moderate to heavy showers,” Joyeux disclosed minutes before noon on Thursday.

The Meteorological Services Director expects more showers on Friday with some improvement during the weekend.

However, Joyeux observed that the intertropical convergence zone has ‘a mind of its own’.

And noting that the models do not give a clear picture, he asserted that the system could linger a little longer.

Nevertheless, he explained that the Meteorological Services will continue to monitor.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Almost four weeks after it was announced that the Liza Unity FPSO vessel had experienced an oil leak, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is yet to complete its report on the incident; but according to EPA Executive Director Kemraj Parsram, the team has been able to gather critical information.

Parsram told this publication on Wednesday that the assessment team had travelled offshore to where the Liza Unity vessel is pumping oil in the Stabroek Block in order to investigate and conduct interviews onboard that vessel. He said the team was able to use in-house monitoring capabilities in using satellite imagery to determine the size of the oil slick (a film or layer of oil floating on an expanse of water) and to calculate the volume of the spill.

“To date, that volume is making up to what Exxon reported. In fact, it was slightly under one barrel of oil. There is a methodology… based on the slick size and area of the slick, and the calculation is used to estimate the volume. So, the volume spilled was confirmed as they reported,” the EPA Head explained.

Parsram noted that the full findings of the investigation would be made public once the team completes and hands over its final report. This, according to him, should be done in the coming days.

“We don’t want to go out sharing information piecemeal. We want to do a complete assessment,” he explained.

The EPA Head further posited that, based on the findings and recommendations in the report, it would be determined whether or not any action would be taken against the oil major over the incident.

“It depends on the scale of the situation; the report and the findings will determine the course of action. It’s not automatically that you’ll say, ‘Oh, because a barrel of oil was spilled’ that you’d take stringent measures immediately. It has to be informed by the findings [of the assessment team] and the applicable laws, as well as the requirements in the permits. So, as part of the investigation and the report, the recommendations will include as to what actions can or will be taken,” Parsram explained.

United States oil giant ExxonMobil had reported that, on September 9, the team on the Liza Unity FPSO observed a sheen on the water in the vicinity of the vessel. “Initial investigations indicate that approximately one barrel of crude oil was released during a maintenance activity on the vessel. The activity was immediately stopped and the leak isolated…additional surveillance by helicopter confirmed that there was no sheen in the area; only a light sheen was perceptible approximately 20km (13 miles) northwest of the vessel. By midday on September 10th, a support vessel in the area confirmed no further sign of a sheen,” the oil major had disclosed.

The EPA, along with other relevant Government agencies, was immediately notified of the incident. At the time, Parsram had explained that the spill was not from the production well itself, but was from an offloading hose on the Unity PFSO that was used to transfer the oil onto a tanker. There has since not been a recurrence of this incident on the Liza Unity, the second FPSO vessel to operate offshore, which only started production in March.

With the exception of flaring activities, there has never been a serious mishap in the oil-rich Stabroek Block since oil production commenced in December 2019.

Nevertheless, Exxon has, throughout the year, been doing training sessions aimed at improving response capabilities. Only last month, a two-day emergency response training exercise was conducted for staff of Exxon’s local subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL). The areas that the training covered included responses to different levels of crisis in EEPGL’s offshore activities, such as oil spills. A final training session is slated for this year-end.

Meanwhile, there is also a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan which was handed over in October 2020 by the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) to Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips. The plan was months in the making, and involved the input of many key stakeholders, including the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Guyana Defence Force (GDF), and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC).

The National Emergency Oil Spill Plan was crafted with valuable inputs from the Guyana Marine Conservation Society, Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, Shipping Association of Guyana, ExxonMobil, Tullow, GuyOil, Repsol, Shell, GAICO Construction, and other stakeholders.

The United States has also been providing tactical and operational support to Guyana when it comes to advancing and fortifying Guyana’s national response to oil spills. In June, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) provided a recap on the series of training and support provided to 231 persons from over 30 agencies by the United States Coast Guard in building capacity to handle such matters. From June 2021 to April 2022, these efforts have addressed gaps in Guyana’s management of any oil spill.

Exxon is the operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block, with Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holding 30 per cent interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holding the remaining 25 per cent interest.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Dear Editor,

I read Sherwood Lowe’s response to Dr Tara Singh, Ravi Dev, and others who have urged Aubrey Norton to reach and transcend new boundaries, thereby reaching out to all Guyanese in his fight with the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) for a better Guyana.He is claiming that Norton’s fight against PPP is misunderstood, and that he is a leader of all the people.

Dr Lowe then tells his readers what Norton is fighting for and against. Let me make it clear: I feel that Norton has been one of the Leaders of the Opposition APNU+AFC that are most confused, perplexed, divisive and crass.

While Norton seeks to take the Opposition on a new path toward the Presidency, he is opening the old wounds of black discrimination from the 50s to the early 90s.Sadly, Norton does not do a good job, as he does not feel that the public is entitled to know what evidence he has to support his claims. This is the meat of the matter for Guyanese who have not experienced this ethnic discrimination for themselves.

Where is the empirical evidence? Lowe seeks to pour cold water on this by mentioning the things he believes are ignored, instead of seeking to bring instances and evidence to the fore.

Using the Black Lives Matter campaign is disingenuous, because they have evidence of every black life that is lost. They know the details of how and what led to that. They know for a fact whether it is systemic racism and discrimination, or whether it is outright racism. They can point to a whole pile of cases that occurred over the years that are documented by authorities.

Norton still does not feel that he should have evidence, and makes wild and outrageous claims against the PPP.

So, it is a shame that Lowe, someone who prides himself on being an intellectual, would stoop so low as to come to Norton’s defence when he is drowning in his cesspool of discrimination banter. The public is informed and intelligent enough now to know when Norton is gaffing, politicking, and outrightly telling halfway truths.

Secondly, I believe Norton is a political racist. He appears to like the concept of ethnic superiority. He sees the PPP through a racist lens. After all, someone who is a racist never admits that they are racist.

I assume that every time he speaks, Norton does not believe in any multiethnic approach being an active part of opposition politics. Maybe he does on paper, but his actions certainly do not. For instance, bringing an Afro-Guyanese woman into his parliamentary circle who said that she is only going to give jobs to people who are PNC supporters, and by extension black supporters, can hardly be an example of this multiethnic approach.

Going only to black communities in and outside of Guyana again can hardly be an indication of Norton’s broad national and multiethnic approach to politics. See PNC/APNU+AFC Facebook page for more examples.

Thirdly, I have not the slightest inclination to defend the PPP’s wrong of corruption in office, but surely Lowe would have proven examples again of this corruption. Do not tell me of unproven accusations that were made against Bharrat Jagdeo and others. Where are the proven examples?

What did the Police state? Who was charged? Who was imprisoned? The entire nation is made much poorer as a people if you do not know or cannot say where the system to fight corruption is failing us.

Anyway, Norton should have at least fought against corruption from 2015 to 2020, but he chose to remain silent. I would have had more appreciation for the tales he tells now if I had heard him saying that it was wrong to use excessive funds to build the deteriorating Durban Park, and the funds were being siphoned off, but he did not. The $50 million used to pay for tickets for Buju Banton is wrong, but he chose to stay quiet.

Maybe Norton would care to seek the corruption charges from peers about the finances of Congress Place and the Office of the Leader of the Opposition?

In dealing with corruption or allegations made, Norton cannot afford to be selective and politically neglectful. Wrong is always wrong, and right is always right. Neither should be made to wear clothes or a political façade.

Lowe’s defence of Norton is nothing short of criminal, and is an affront to all who possess the skills of discernment and common sense. Finally, I believe Norton has to start practising what Congress Place wants us to think: that he is for all for Guyana and is inclusive. We know differently, but that is not the issue here.

At the end of the day, Norton has fought a good fight for his political supper, but if right-thinking Guyanese were to examine his policies, actions and words, they would get the unmistakable impression that he is divisive, perplexed, confrontational and racist.

His way of doing things and handling each political situation is misplaced from a geopolitical, ethnic and economic standpoint, but I do not expect the so-called intellectuals and schemers to tell him that to his face, much less here in the letter pages.I am for “One Guyana”. I am supportive of strong and truthful politics, and do not pander to racial politics when it suits my aim.

Who is the real Leader of the Opposition? It can’t be Norton, from what I know at UG. Norton is too long in the game to be making these foolish and predictable mistakes again and again.

Yours truly,Michael Younge

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