Black Immigrant Daily News

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Creative Industries and Culture Minister Dr. Ernest Hilaire, declaring that the 2022 Carnival Queen show was a ‘great’, has congratulated the newly crowned Queen and other contestants.

“Indeed, it was a great show,” Hilaire, the MP for Castries South whose Ministerial responsibilities include Tourism, Investment, and Information, wrote on Facebook.

“It feels good to wake up to the news that the 2022 National Carnival Queen is from Castries South! Congratulations to Miss Xenia Douglas – who was crowned last night as our new Carnival Queen,” the Minister stated.

” I also would like to congratulate the other beautiful contestants who graced the stage with confidence and elegance,” Hilaire wrote.

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A Carnival Planning & Management Committee (CPMC) release on the Queen Show described Xenia Douglas, Miss BOSL Wise, as having put on a ‘consistent display of poise, confidence, and elegance’ throughout the Competition.

The results for the 2022 National Carnival Queen Pageant are as follows:

Miss Photogenic – Miss Chestertons, Shaniah Richards
Miss Congeniality – Miss WASCO, Nyambi Jn. Baptiste
Best In Swimwear – Miss BOSL Wise, Xenia Douglas
Most Outstanding Talent – Miss WASCO, Nyambi Jn. Baptiste
Best In Costume – Miss Chestertons, Shaniah Richards
Best Evening Wear – Miss Chestertons, Shaniah Richards
Best Interview – Miss Massy Stores, Kejean Smith

The order of winners is as follows:

3rd Runner Up – Miss Windjammer Landing, Kurnisha Augustus
2nd Runner Up – Miss Massy Stores, Kejean Smith
1st Runner Up – Miss Chestertons, Shaniah Richards
2022 National Carnival Queen – Miss BOSL Wise, Xenia Douglas

According to the CPMC, after being crowned National Carnival Queen, Xenia Douglas said the pageant had been very fulfilling.

 I enjoyed my time on stage and meeting my fellow contestants. During my reign I hope to spread the message of holistic health and wellness, physically, emotionally, and mentally,” Douglas expressed.

She will receive a 4-year scholarship from the Embassy of Morocco.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Retrouvez, chaque semaine, le « Grand JT des Territoires » de Cyril Viguier, diffusé sur TV5 Monde, en partenariat avec France-Antilles.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Retrouvez, chaque semaine, le « Grand JT des Territoires » de Cyril Viguier, diffusé sur TV5 Monde, en partenariat avec France-Antilles.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

News

Gary Griffith. File photo/Sureash Cholai

THE Police Service Commission (PSC) said on Friday it did an appraisal of former commissioner of police (CoP) Gary Griffith’s performance from January-August 2021. It says it hopes to complete the process for the appointment of a new commissioner by the end of the year.

In a statement, the PSC said the Constitution mandated it to appoint a commissioner and deputy commissioner, and do an annual performance appraisal on these office holders.

“With respect to its responsibility for the preparation of performance appraisal reports, the PSC is now involved in the finalisation of the performance appraisal report for the past commissioner of police, Mr Gary Griffith.

“In accordance with the established procedure, the commission is required to meet with Mr Griffith in this regard.”

The appraisal was done on June 28.

The PSC said it designed and developed a recruitment process in line with the Constitution and relevant legal notices.

“The objective of the process is to ensure a fair and transparent procedure for the selection and appointment of the best candidate in accordance with the criteria prescribed by order of the President made pursuant to section 123(2) of the Constitution.

“The process is also designed to ensure fairness to and the confidentiality of the candidates.”

In the process, a vacancy is advertised and applications received, a confidential number is assigned to each applicant, and applicants are screened by the commission’s secretariat (excluding commissioners). Successfully screened candidates are assessed by an independent assessment centre and successful candidates are shortlisted.

“(A) vetting process is conducted.

“Shortlisted candidates are introduced to and interviewed by the commission members.”

Under the Constitution (section 123(3), the PSC creates a list of individuals for appointment to the office, in an order of merit.

“The list is submitted to the President of the Republic of TT for the relevant notifications to the House of Representatives.

Appointments are made by the PSC only after approval by the House in line with the Constitution (section 123(5).

Griffith told Newsday, the assessment had placed the present members of the PSC in a difficult position as they had not been in place during his tenure, to now assess him. Likewise, he had been put in a difficult position, as when he was assessed he was no longer in the post of CoP.

Griffith said, as the former CoP it would be totally irresponsible for him to disclose details of his assessment.

Regarding the year-end target date to now fill the post, he asked why the whole process typically takes seven months (and costs millions of dollars) while in places like New York, it takes seven hours. He urged a reformed process, despite him topping past assessment exercises.

“Under the present process, suppose someone is selected and, God forbid, they then drop dead? You’ll go back to being without a CoP for one year.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Your Eyewitness would be foolish indeed if he were to condemn the entire Guyana Police Force. Surely, in an organisation of some 4500 men and women, who’ve literally been given the power of life and death over their fellow citizens, some of them would abuse those powers. There’s that famous experiment wherein some college students were given the roles of guards over other students, and, as “guards”, went as far as torturing the “prisoners”!! Yes, we humans do tend to abuse our powers.

But because this known tendency in humans is taken a whole new level when the Police are handed real weapons – with real laws compelling folks to obey them – imagine what can happen! And in Guyana we don’t have to “imagine”, do we?? Police “harassment” has been part and parcel of Guyanese life ever since the Police Force was formed in 1839!!
It was no coincidence that this was the very next year following the abolition of slavery, was it?? Did you think they were told to “serve and protect” those folks who’d been treated like animals for the past three hundred years?? Their job was to protect the SYSTEM, and the whites who ran the system!! Up to independence, most of the officers were whites, weren’t they?? During the riots in the run-up to independence, the name of British Police Commissioner Peter Owen struck fear in the ordinary people. And that attitude never really changed.

Burnham picked up right where the British left off, and he ensured an enlarged Police Force was personally loyal to him. All those who didn’t want to toe his line, it was “off with their heads”!! So, the natural propensity of folks to abuse their power was coupled with the free rein Burnham gave the Police to harass folks who opposed him. Many Policemen were even part of the “kick-down-the-door-bandits” squads up to the late eighties – until Hoyte brought in his “hang-em-high” policy!!

The GPF that the PPP inherited in 1992 had been corrupted through and through; but, sadly, rather than immediately launching a thoroughgoing revamping and reorientation of the GPF, they courted the top brass and continued with the system and the manpower they inherited. And that was a mistake that the entire country suffered from – during the twenty years of the new millennium, that saw Bandits holing up in Buxton having absolutely no respect for them. And taking on the Police directly.

So, the breakdown in discipline in two Police killings – of Bacchus on the ECD and Singh in Ruimveldt – and the riot at Mon Repos by the protestors from Golden Grove shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

…in politics

It ain’t easy being in politics in Guyana nowadays. Used to be you told the folks what they wanted to hear – meaning, promise them the sun and moon! – buy some rum in the rum shops and give your private (racial) spiels under the bottom houses, and that was it!! Since folks voted mostly racially, it was already a foregone conclusion as to who’d win – that depended on the colour of the various noses!!

But now things are different: the noses are almost equal in number – which creates a dilemma for the old order. Suddenly, you gotta be nice to everybody, since the least missteps could cost you those crucial fence sitters’ noses!! Problem is the new “bottom houses” where folks engage in the race talk – the social media. Here, it’s a case of everything hanging out, and since the content’s available to everyone with a smartphone – meaning EVERYBODY – it means everyone’s riled up!!
The politicians now have to be “outing” fires every minute of the day!!

…in Old Blighty

Boris Johnson was never one to keep his thoughts and actions to himself. Letting it all hang out made him stand out in stiff-upper-lip Britain. But party-gate under Covid was too much.
And he’s now out!!

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