Guyana
First of 2 parts
The future of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) has taken an uncertain turn - not necessarily an unexpected one given the history of failed attempts at West Indian integration but a disappointing one for those who were looking forward to a brighter future for the Caribbean region.
This is not to say all is lost, as individual countries will continue to strive to leverage the benefits of the proposed CSME – with or without the unanimous co-operation of all member states. That is, until such time that the region awakens to the lost opportunities of not being fully integrated.
While progress has been made on the single market component of the CSME, it was anticipated that the single economy component would have been ready by 2015. However, following the conclusion of the 29th CARICOM Summit held in Antigua in early July, the scheduled inauguration date seems likely to be postponed.
In addition, concepts of a single Caribbean currency, common monetary policy and integrated judiciary remain a distant dream, which may never come to fruition. The truth is: the challenges of integrating a region with diverse social, economic and political characteristics will most likely persist, even as individual countries strive to leverage the benefits of the proposed union.
The reality is: there does not seem to be a willingness among the various countries in the region to fully embrace the CSME, which if implemented, will transform the region into a unified economic bloc.
On the drawing board, it is anticipated that this development would attract an increasing flow of foreign investments into the region and create a myriad of investment opportunities in a wide range of areas such as manufacturing, real estate, hotels and hospitality, infrastructure and financial services.
Although the idea for the CSME was born 19 years ago in 1989, arrangements to proceed with the establishment of the regional body were finalized in 1992 by the Heads of CARICOM governments. Thirteen member states – Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago are either already members or will become members of the CSME. Bahamas and Haiti, the two other CARICOM members, are not expected to be part of the CSME. Neither are Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Turks & Caicos Islands – the associate members of the regional body.
The establishment of the CSME comes on the back of almost a half of a century of struggle for regional integration which dates back to the formation of the West Indies Federation in 1958. Following the collapse of the Federation in 1962, CARICOM was born in 1973 and remains the impetus for the CSME.
In principle, the CSME would allow its combined membership, which has a population of six million to reduce the challenges faced by the region in the face of globalization which has spurred the creation of increasingly larger trading blocs around the world. It will facilitate the creation of pan-Caribbean companies and brands and minimize the structural deficiencies and limitations of size, particularly in relation to the smaller member countries.
Essentially, members of the CSME are expected to operate within a single economic space which will stimulate greater productivity and efficiency, higher levels of domestic and foreign investment, increased employment, and growth of intra- and extra-regional trade.
The CSME is built on five pillars – the free movement of capital; the free movement of goods, services and people; the establishment of a common trade and economic policy; harmonization of economic, monetary and fiscal policies; and a common currency.
At a theoretical level, regional integration will take place at two levels: the single market and the single economy. The single market component which is already effectively in place consists of freedom of movement of goods, services, capital, businesses and skilled labor. However, the single economy component which is more challenging will involve harmonization of policies, laws, and regulations; enhanced monetary cooperation, and development of common external economic policies.
Incidentally, the CSME was born during a period of strengthening economic growth in the Caribbean. Last year, average economic growth in the region – billed as the last frontier for investors - was among the highest in almost two decades, fuelled by higher investment flows and a surge in economic activity. This, in spite of slowing economic growth in the US and Europe – the region’s largest trading partners.
According to the OECD, in recent years countries in the Caribbean Rim have made significant steps towards liberalization and regulatory reform by recognizing the benefits of foreign direct investment and the importance of creating a favorable environment for private investors.
Countries such as Canada, the United States, China and the United Kingdom have been actively engaging Caribbean governments and the private sector in enhancing business relationships. The impending formalization of trade and investing arrangements is expected to spur growth in the region.
Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, for instance, referred to the CSME as an “indispensable foundation on which to build national and regional endeavors which can lead to fair and sustainable growth and prosperity,” while visiting the Caribbean last year.
He added that Canada is committed to playing a bigger role in the Caribbean and indicated that "the push for free trade between Canada and the 15 Caribbean countries that are members of CARICOM is driven by his Government’s commitment to revive and expand Canadian political and economic engagement in the region." In the meantime, the United States has accelerated its push into the region under the Caribbean Basin Initiative. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fisk said last year that the Caribbean countries are a “high priority” and that the US is a “willing partner in the effort to revitalize their economies, strengthen their democracies, provide opportunity to their citizens and enhance their security."
European countries and businesses, particularly from the UK, which have had a historical relationship with the Caribbean countries, are also at the forefront in pursuing investment opportunities.
And so has China, a relative newcomer to the region, which has provided special incentives to Chinese businesses operating in the Caribbean.
In spite of the emergence of positive signals for the region, the lack of co-operation among governments could dampen the enthusiasm of those who would like to fuel its development. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, hit the nail on the head in an interview reported in the Jamaica Observer, when he says, CARICOM will soon be forced to transform itself from a “ramshackle political administrative apparatus” in which several of its member states jealously guard a vaunted and pristine sovereignty.”
Therein lies the main hindrance to Caribbean integration and the implementation of the CSME.
Georgetown — Parsram Parmanand, a 19-year-old money-changer was shot in his abdomen by one of two gunmen on July 16 as he was about to leave his home in Kitty for work. After the shooting, the gunmen fled on foot with some $300,000 in local and foreign currency that Parmanand handed over to them. Police have since recovered a .25 spent shell just outside the residence where the shooting took place. Parmanand was admitted at the Georgetown Hospital.
According to a Stabroek News (SN) report, Parmanand had just stepped outside his door to put on his boots on his way to work when he saw two neatly dressed men standing at his gate who enquired “who is home?” As he turned to reply to them they opened the gate and entered the yard. One of the men pulled a gun from his waist and demanded he give them what he had, the paper said. Alarmed that the men might attempt to enter the house, Parmanand then pushed the gunman two times and it was at this point that he was shot in the abdomen.
Georgetown — The police have detained two women and a man for questioning in connection with the shooting of a vehicle on the Ogle airstrip road on July 15. They have also found a car at a Norton Street home, which they suspect was used to transport the gunmen. And a man who was acting in a suspicious manner at the Georgetown Hospital where the injured driver was being treated was also arrested by police stationed at the Hospital. Meanwhile, the police are on the hunt for ‘Trini’, ‘Yankee’, ‘Capone’ and ‘Sandman’, who they say they want in connection with the incident.
Michael Bryan Jackson a driver attached to an interior charter service was shot in the buttocks as he was leaving the Ogle aerodrome in his vehicle. According to media reports the occupants of Jackson’s car noticed a car parked at the side of the road and as they approached it four men armed with high-powered rifles opened fire on them. Jackson continued driving and the gunmen then entered their car and sped after him discharging several rounds at his vehicle. The gunmen turned back and escaped along the Railway Embankment when Jackson’s vehicle reached the East Coast Public Road. Despite being injured, Jackson managed to drive close to the Sparendaam Police Station before losing consciousness.
Vanessa Mendonca, a cleaner at the Ogle Aerodrome who was a passenger in Jackson’s car sustained cuts on her knee from broken glass while Margaret Maxius, a flight dispatcher and another male passenger escaped unhurt. The police have recovered a 7.62 x 39 spent shell and a warhead at the scene.
Georgetown — A post mortem examination on the body of Edwin Niles, the prisoner who was allegedly beaten at the Camp Street jail, revealed that he died from a blood clot in the lungs due to burns about the back and a fractured left arm. He died at the Georgetown hospital on July 11 where he spent nine days.
Niles was allegedly severely beaten by prison officers after the discovery of seven .22 rounds of live ammunition in his possession during a routine search following a day of labour at the army base Camp Ayanganna. Niles reportedly returned to the prisons with a strange pair of pants which he told prison officers was given to him at the army base. The ammunition was discovered in the pocket of the pants. Niles was to be released from prison in September this year.
A board of inquiry has since been established at the army base to investigate the incident and a number of army ranks were questioned as part of the inquest. Opposition Leader Robert Corbin has written Acting Police Commissioner Henry Greene on the matter while the Guyana Human Rights Association is calling for an impartial and vigorous investigation.
Georgetown — Fullworks Motor Spares at Gordon Street, Kitty, was robbed on July 18 by bandits posing as customers. They escaped with over $400,000 in cash and jewellery.
According to Stabroek News (SN) Mohamed Ali, the manager of Fullworks had just opened for the day at around 8:00 am when two well-dressed men entered the store and asked for the price of a car light. One of the men then pulled out a gun and grabbed Ali while the other relieved him of gold jewellery, his watch and his cellular phone. Ali was then forced into the office where the bandits took over $60,000 in cash. A third bandit then entered the store and together they demanded to know where the safe was. Two of the bandits carried Ali upstairs in search of the safe while the third remained on guard downstairs. When no safe was located they brought him back downstairs. A friend of Ali, Kevin Edwards who had entered the store at this point was ordered to lie face-down on the floor along with Ali. The bandits locked the door and left.
And on July 17, Mikhail Rodrigues proprietor of the Link Store on Mandela Avenue, an internet café, suffered the loss of five computers, a printer and four c-point machines worth $1.5M. Rodrigues said that he discovered the items missing when he went into the store around 8:30 am on July 17 and saw two locks missing from the grill protecting the glass door and one side of the door open. One of the c-point machines was recovered in an alleyway at the side of the building. Rodrigues said it had only been six months since the café was opened and he was very upset because he along with his wife had worked hard to set up the business.
Georgetown — Taxi driver Rabindranauth Baijnauth who was allegedly robbed at gun point by a 15-year-old student on July 10, accepted compensation in the sum of $100,000 from the teenager’s family and in turn did not offer any evidence against the teenager when the matter came up in Court on July 18. However, the teenager who was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and robbery under arms was granted $170,000 bail in the firearm and ammunition matter and will return to court on September 12 to face those two charges.
It is alleged that on July 10 the youth had in his possession eight rounds of ammunition and a pistol without being the holder of a licence. On the same date he robbed the taxi driver of his wallet, cell phone and a quantity of cash together valued $8,300. Baijnauth told the court that the teenager had hired him to take him up the East Coast and along the way the teenager verbally abused him and demanded cash and valuables while pointing a gun at him. Baijnauth caught the teenager when he attempted to escape and handed him over to the police.
Georgetown — A Guyanese man, Christopher Anthony Griffith was shot and killed at a restaurant and bar in Barbados last Saturday night while Silochani Samuels, also Guyanese, was shot in the arm in the same incident.
Barbados Nation News reported that a man with his face covered and armed with a firearm entered the Hippo Bar and Caribbean Restaurant on Lower Bay Street, St Michael some time around 7 pm and robbed the cashier of an undisclosed sum of money.
"During the robbery the assailant also discharged a number of shots wounding the proprietress, Guyanese national, Silochani Samuels who resides at Redman Village, St Thomas, in the area of her right arm, and Christopher Anthony Griffith, another Guyanese national who also resided at Redman Village, St Thomas in his head,” the release said.
Griffith was later pronounced dead at the scene while Samuels was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she is hospitalized, the release said.
Georgetown — Medical history was created in Guyana on July 12 when the first ever kidney transplant in the country was done at the Georgetown Public Hospital. The successful surgery was carried out by a team of doctors from the USA headed by Dr Rahul Jindal, lead attending surgeon. The patient, Munesh Mangal and donor Leelkumarie Mangal, his mother, are reportedly doing fine and have already been discharged from the hospital.
Mangal, 18, was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure last October and was on dialysis treatment since then. When his condition deteriorated a transplant was deemed necessary. His plight was brought to the attention of New York based Guyanese George Subraj, President of Zara Luxury Apartments, who was instrumental in assisting Mangal with the surgery. Subraj has reportedly given a personal commitment to fund at least another five kidney transplants in Guyana.
According to Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy, kidney transplant surgery is expected to be on the menu of medical services provided in the local health sector, and he noted that it initially would require the necessary funding, human resources and collaboration. Several kidney transplants are expected to be completed at the hospital in the coming months and two patients suffering from renal failure, who were seen by Dr Jindal, were identified as possible candidates since according to the doctors, “they are in pretty bad shape”. Dr Jindal said that the hospital had all the facilities and expertise in place to provide the necessary post operative care.
Meanwhile the Guyana Watch Inc which is heavily funded and supported by overseas based Guyanese, arrived in the country on July 18 for its 16th Annual Medical Outreach Programme which will conclude on July 27. According to a press release the team comprises 13 medical doctors in various fields of specialization and also includes one dentist, two pharmacists and 18 supporting staff. During this year’s outreach the team expects to treat over 3,500 patients and prescribe more than US$350,000 in medication. According to its president Tony Yassin, a New York based Guyanese, the team will also be screening children with heart problems.
In 2007 GWI saw 3025 patients and supplied more than US$275,000 in medication. The team also sent four children for heart surgery at the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, West Chester Medical Center, New York.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), Minister Singh commended the organization for the excellent organic products it produces under the name Northwest Organics, such as cassava bread and casareep, Crabwood oil, and Crabwood oil soap, cocoa sticks, and peanut butter which are retailed at leading supermarkets in Georgetown. GINA stated that the money will be used to acquire five choppers/grinders, five diesel engines with frame/belts and five tillers with gasoline engines to facilitate the production of a larger quantity of goods since the company has been requested to export its products to Hi Lo Supermarket in Trinidad and Tobago.