Black Immigrant Daily News

door Ivan Cairo PARAMARIBO —  De regering is bereid het voorgestelde tarief voor belasting op de toegevoegde waarde (btw) verder

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Cayman Airways Limited (CAL) hosted a special ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday August 23, 2022 to mark the official reopening of its exclusive Sir Turtle Club Lounge at Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA) on Grand Cayman.

The lounge, which is the only airline loyalty programme lounge at ORIA, had been closed since the start of the airport’s major renovations five years ago, with the border closure due to the pandemic further delaying its official reopening.

“The new and improved Sir Turtle Club Lounge adds value to the Cayman Airways product on a whole, while offering up the possibility for a few more jobs for our people,” said Minister for Tourism and Transport, the Hon. Kenneth Bryan. “I’m excited to share this moment with the various organisations who were involved in getting this project off the ground, including the Cayman Islands Airports Authority, the Kozaily Design team who are responsible for this fresh new look, and our very own Cayman Airways employees who stepped up to the plate to take on the challenging task of coordinating it all. I have no doubt that our Sir Turtle Club members and Business Class passengers will be very satisfied with the enhancement to our services, and I am sure they will all enjoy this comfortable space while waiting for their flights.”

Cayman Airways President and CEO, Mr. Fabian Whorms, said the airline is in the midst of enhancing both its loyalty rewards programme (Sir Turtle Rewards) and its loyalty membership programme (Sir Turtle Club) in order to continue to maximize value for customers. “Access to this beautiful lounge is one component that will be accessible not just to passengers who purchase Business Class tickets, but also for qualifying members of both loyalty porgrammes. There are also other value adding offerings being reviewed at this time, such as priority check-in and boarding, baggage fee waivers and upgrades,” he noted. “We want to deliver the maximum value and exclusivity that we can to our loyal customers, and we are looking to build a new generation of customers who see even more value than has been traditionally offered, when choosing the national airline.”

The interior design and construction of the new lounge was done by local company Kozaily Designs. In explaining the design direction for the lounge, Ms Alpha Kozaily said the vision was to showcase Cayman’s heritage and natural environment in all aspects of the design. From the geometric shape of the decorative wall tiles being a salute to Cayman’s turtling heritage, and the textured beige floor tiles a reflection of Cayman’s white sand beaches, to the sea blue hues in the custom chairs and light fixtures reflecting Cayman’s waters, and the carefully curated images of Cayman landscapes and seascapes on the walls, customers will enjoy a relaxing Caymanian-themed environment as they await their departing Cayman Airways flight.

Also in attendance at the reopening event were: the Deputy Premier, the Hon. Christopher Saunders; Minister for Health & Wellness and Home Affairs, the Hon. Sabrina Turner; Chief Officer in the Ministry of Tourism and Transport, Stran Bodden; Director of Tourism, Rosa Harris; CEO of the Cayman Islands Airport Authority, Albert Anderson; and CAL Board Member Kris Bergstrom.

The new lounge is only open to Cayman Airways customers who purchase Business Class tickets, as well as to Sir Turtle Club members, and Sir Turtle Rewards Platinum and Gold members.

For details and to sign up to become a Sir Turtle Rewards member, visit: www.caymanairways.com/sir-turtle-rewards-detail.

For details and to sign up to become a Sir Turtle Club member, visit www.caymanairways.com/the-exclusive-travel-experience

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

In light of the APNU/AFC’s recent calls for the voters’ list to be cleansed, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has contended that it will only act by the Constitution of Guyana and legal provisions.

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has been pushing to have a clean voters’ list, which he maintains is “bloated.” He has also threatened to boycott and block future elections if this is not done.

But GECOM explained in a statement on Friday that while it is cognisant of those concerns, it cannot act contrary to the legal provisions enacted in the National Registration Act (NRA), Chapter 19:08 – something which it says has been extensively ventilated at the meetings of the Elections Commission.

The NRA dictates the procedures for the registration of eligible persons and likewise the removal of any such person from the National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB), from which the existing Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) was extracted. The voters’ list or Official List of Electors (OLE) is established from the PLE.

“…It is not that the concerns of stakeholders about the PLE are being ignored, but GECOM must act within the framework of the Laws of Guyana,” GECOM said.

The Elections Commission reminded that the eligibility requirement for registration is that one must be a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, or naturalisation; or a citizen of a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more. Once persons have met those requirements and have been registered, their registration is and remains legal. It follows that any removal of their names from the NRRDB, without a legal basis, would be unlawful and unconstitutional.

Existing legislation provides that the removal of names from the NRRDB can only be done through the legal methodology which includes the receipt of monthly reports from the General Register Office (GRO) or through an Objections process; which allows for any elector, or suitably accredited scrutineers of political parties, to object to the inclusion of names in the PLE whom they suspect may not be eligible. However, the burden of proof would be on the objector to present at the time of the relevant hearing(s) to substantiate the objection(s).

Currently, GECOM is conducting a Claims and Objections exercise that started this week and will run until mid-September.

Moreover, the electoral body further pointed to the August 2019 ruling of Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George, in the matter of Christopher Ram vs Guyana Elections Commission about the House-to-House Registration exercise in 2019. In that decision, the CJ ruled that “for the names of persons already registered to be removed from the list of electors, they would have to be deceased or otherwise become disqualified but the failure of registered persons to be present or resident during the House-to-House exercise would not be such a disqualifier and such a person’s name can only be deleted if they no longer meet the qualifying criteria under Article 159(2) or become disqualified under Article 159 (3) and (4).”

Justice George further ruled that “GECOM would have no legal authority to remove or deregister such persons who are otherwise qualified unless such registration can be cancelled under Section 8, which provides for cancellation of registration, or in the Claims and Objections period under Section 15 of the National Registration Act and the Regulations thereto.” The Chief Justice concluded that if GECOM is to act outside of those legal provisions, “it would be unconstitutional and, therefore, illegal.”

According to GECOM, it is of crucial importance to mention that the decision of the Chief Justice was not appealed, and, therefore, only by way of the enactment of legislation can persons’ names be removed from the NRRDB.

To this end, the Elections Commission is reminding persons that the ongoing Claims and Objections exercise allows for all eligible persons to make a claim to be included in the OLE and provides the opportunity for all those persons who are already registered to check the accuracy of their registration records in the PLE that is posted countrywide in every Registration Division/Sub-Division. Accordingly, any such person can apply for changes/corrections to his/her registration particulars on or before September 11, should this be required.

Additionally, the Commission is also strongly urging persons to scrutinise the PLE, and object to the inclusion of the names of persons, whom they suspect may not be eligible for such inclusion, on or before September 15. Original documentary evidence must be provided to support the objection by the law.

Nevertheless, GECOM further stated that it remains resolute in its vision, “to maintain and further develop the capacity to conduct credible registration; General, Regional and Local Elections which enjoy the confidence of all Guyanese and meet international standards for elections”.

This statement by GECOM outlining the laws it operates under comes on the heels of Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, earlier this week calling on the Commission to clarify to the public, and more so the APNU/AFC, that it cannot remove the names of persons from the voters’ list at the whim of its leader.

Last week, GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh told reporters that everyone on the voters’ list is legally there. She added too that if indeed the list is bloated as alleged by the Opposition, then the ongoing Claims and Objections exercise can be used to contest names and have them removed.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A house at No 64 Village Corentyne, Berbice, occupied by an elderly couple, came crashing down in the wee hours of Friday thus trapping them inside.

Sixty-two-year-old Madray Budram and his wife Parbatie Budhu were asleep when the pillars to their old wooden home gave out.

The elderly woman stated that she managed to run to safety but could not assist her husband.

“Breeze na blow am; the house fall down just so and we wake up,” she said in her native Corentyne dialect while noting that there was no electricity to the building, forcing her to find a window in the dark to get out.

One of their neighbours Tathtea Bridgall told Guyana Times that she was awakened at about 00:30h by a loud crashing sound. Upon investigating, she discovered that the house in front of her had fallen.

Madray Budram and his wife Parbatie Budhu

The woman said she was able to get her two sons to go through a window and remove the posts which had fallen on the semi-paralysed man.

“Me tell me husband to run because something wrong. So, when we run out of the house, I hear she scream out calling for help. So, ah tell my husband for us to go and see if the house mash them. I make my son them wrench the window and go in and two posts went on top of the old man and they pick up the man and put him on the bed and we make sure that nothing was wrong with them.”

She explained that they stayed with the couple until about 03:00h before returning home.Budram has been living at the house for the past 20 years, and it has been 15 years since the couple has been living together. The elderly man fell ill three years ago and is being taken care of by his common-law wife.

“It is not his married wife, he take this lady long. They don’t have children together but both of them two get their own children but none of the children dose think about them,” the neighbour said.

Meanwhile, Budhu explained that she works as a domestic worker and earns $1000 a day for four days a week. She said she has been taking care of her sick husband who cannot walk nor speak since he became ill. “Me ah clean am and feed am and gone go wuk. Me ah do all thing fuh am,” she stated.

The man was left traumatised and in tears, he tried to use his hands to show signs as a means of explaining what took place. The couple is soliciting the assistance of the public to repair their home.

Persons desirous of lending assistance can contact the neighbour on telephone number 338-2795 or 658-2899.

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