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Fire that P
NEWS11 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM DPP drops law books larceny charge against AG
…SOCU withheld evidence from the court – AG’s Attorney
More than three for a declaration that the ofyears after now fence Larceny by a Bailee is Attorney General an offence unknown to the and Legal Affairs Minister, laws of Guyana, and thereAnil Nandlall was charged fore is in violation of Articles with Larceny by Bailee for 40, 144 (4) and 149 (d) of the allegedly converting $2 mil- Constitution. lion in Law Reports belong- Further, his lawyers had ing to the State to his own contended that Magistrate use and benefit, the charge Azore erred in law when against him has been with- she overruled the no-case drawn by the Director of submission and refused Public Prosecutions (DPP), to give sufficient reasons Shalimar Ali-Hack. for doing so as required by
This was confirmed by Section 15 Judicial Review one of Nandlall’s lawyers, Act. This, they argued, was Glenn Hanoman, who on also in contravention of the Monday told Guyana Times, Constitution. “She [the DPP] rightfully exercised her discretion Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall However, Nandlall’s application was struck out by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to withdraw the charge.” both the High Court and Shalimar Ali-Hack According to Hanoman, in erty of the Ministry of Legal Court of Appeal following a letter dated September Affairs, to his own use and full hearings. The courts routine, since it would tram17, 2020, to trial Magistrate benefit. ruled that Section 165 of ple upon the process of crimiFabayo, the DPP instructed He had pleaded not the Criminal Law (Offences) nal trials in the Magistrates’ that the charges against the guilty to the charges and Act makes provisions for the Courts. Nandlall had apAttorney General be discon- was released on his own rec- charge instituted against pealed the ruling of the tinued. ognisance (self-bail). the Attorney General and Court of Appeal to the
Magistrate Azore com- In November 2018, fol- that Magistrate Azore was Caribbean Court of Justice plied with the DPP’s di- lowing the close of the not inclined to provide rea- (CCJ). rectives last week Friday, prosecution’s case, one of sons as to why she overruled October 16, 2020. Hanoman Nandlall lawyers made a no- the no-case submission. Withheld evidence further explained that be- case submission. However, During the High Court According to Hanoman, cause of the powers in- Magistrate Azore overruled leg of the matter, Chief the SOCU Prosecutor on the vested in the DPP pursu- the no-case submission on Justice Roxane George case withheld evidence from ant to Article 187 of the the basis that a prima fa- had noted that it is at the the court and the defence. Constitution of Guyana, she cie [sufficient to establish a Magistrate’s discretion to Nandlall’s lawyer disclosed has the discretion to with- fact] case had been made out overrule a no-case submis- that the evidence had to do draw any prosecution. against him. sion. While she underscored with a statement given to
The charge against As such, the Magistrate that the High Court can ex- Police by former President Nandlall had alleged that had called on Nandlall to ercise its supervisory juris- Donald Ramotar. between May 18, 2015, and lead a defence. diction to review such a de- The lawyer said that the May 29, 2015, while being Reluctant to do so as cision by a Magistrate, this evidence also included a rea bailee, in his capacity as they insisted the charges is only done in extreme and port by the Auditor General Attorney General under the against him were bad in law, limited circumstances. which revealed that the Law PPP/C Administration, he Nandlall’s lawyers filed judi- According to the Chief Reports did not belong to the fraudulently converted 14 cial review proceedings in Justice, moving to the High Ministry of Legal Affairs, Commonwealth Law Reports the High Court. In the ap- Court for a review in such and were in fact, part of valued at $2,313,853, prop- plication, the lawyers asked circumstance should not be Nandlall’s entitlement un-
The Guyana Fire Service (GPS) has confirmed that the fire On the day in question, firefighters spent more than three hours battling the the building, and the flames threatened nearby buildings. This promoted the call for which ripped through the DeSinco Trading Limited building on Sheriff Street, Georgetown, last month was electrical in nature. This was the findings after a probe was launched into the blaze.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle during a telephone interview with Guyana Times on Monday stated that based on the findings, there were some issues with respect to the wiring of the building. blaze at the Sheriff Street, Georgetown business as flames tore through and ultimately destroyed the entire structure. The fire started at about 13:00h; however, despite the fact that several firefighters from the Guyana Fire Service were dispatched to the scene, accessing water was a challenge. By this time, heavy smoke was billowing from more fire tenders as those at the scene were unable to contain the blaze. After almost two hours of battling the flames, the fire service finally deployed a truck with a telescoping boom-ladder to enable the firemen to tackle the blaze from overhead. By this time, at least one of the buildings on the property was completely destroyed, and the other was also gutted. der his employment contract. Fire that razed DeSinco Trading “The Auditor General’s Report and President Limited was electrical – Fire Chief Ramotar’s statement established the facts,” Hanoman noted.
Hanoman said: “The case was not completed. We still had our defence to lead. Had we lead our defence, President Ramotar would have given evidence that the Government continued to pay for his [Nandlall’s] subscription for the law books which were part of his employment contract.”
“The charge was brought because some politically motivated person in the [Attorney General] Chambers decided to ignore and disregard the official findings of the Auditor General,” Hanoman added.
Contractual agreement
Nandlall was charged and placed before the courts in April 2017 after investigations by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) - an arm of the Guyana Police Force. He had always maintained that the law book belonged to him.
In doing so, he had explained that when he was appointed Attorney General in 2011, he requested as part of his contract of service, for the Government of Guyana to stand the expense for his subscriptions for the Commonwealth Law Books.
He had subscribed to Lexis Nexis, the publishers of the law reports. Insisting that nothing was abnormal about the practice, he had argued that it was done by other Government Ministries such as Finance and Health.
He had expressed awareness that for decades prior, the Government had paid for professional and technical publications, journals, periodicals and magazines. He had said that the arrangement received the blessings
Attorney-at-Law Glenn Hanoman
of then Head of State Donald Ramotar.
However, investigators contended that because the books were bought with State funds, they cannot be the property of Nandlall, and in fact, the State should not have entered into such an arrangement in the first place.
The Ministry of Legal Affairs under the APNU/ AFC Government had said that there was no evidence of an agreement between Nandlall and Ramotar. And even assuming that there was such an agreement, they further contended that the use of public funds in that manner is a flagrant violation of the Financial Management and Accountability Act.
Nandlall had maintained that the charge laid against him by SOCU was instigated by Basil Williams, who was appointed Attorney General in 2015, when the APNU/ AFC came into Government, and whose performance he
Firemen struggling to contain the blaze on August 19
has always criticised.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
14NEWS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
2021 budget to cater for 5-year scholarship programmes to train doctors – Labour Minister Ituni small loggers get 2005 log-tracking tags
– as efforts continue to revive the forestry sector
A batch of doctors trained in Cuba
The PPP/C Government’s 2021 budget will cater for five-year scholarship programmes to train doctors to ensure hospitals are better staffed.
Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton made this announcement during a meeting recently with the junior and senior doctors at the Linden Hospital Complex to address the shortage of doctors in the region.
Hamilton explained that the practical solution would be to train more young persons to become doctors.
“We have 900 people doing the job of 1200. I can say to you pellucidly that the practicalities in the 2021 budget will put mechanisms in place to ensure five-year
Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton
scholarship programmes can start,” he said.
Upper DemeraraBerbice (Region 10) has seen a decrease in the staff complement of doctors over the past three years. This is due mainly to some being restationed in the hinterland regions and Georgetown.
Minister Hamilton said in 2015, Region 10 had the most doctors, which could adequately meet the needs of its population.
“We ensured that every single person from Region 10 [who] was trained, we sent them back to their region to work …And now we have a problem, because when doctors were leaving, the previous Government was not training,” he said.
Minister Hamilton also said consideration would be given to sourcing doctors from overseas to serve in the region. ny has received reports from customers who got inaccurate readings after using the incorrect speed test.
Harris explained that it was best to use the established GTT speed test servers since the company couldn’t verify tests conducted outside of its network.
“We want customers to get the correct reading when conducting a speed test. There were instances when customers used the incorrect speed test and got an incoressary panic among our valued customers,” Harris said.
Harris added, “We want our customers to know what they are paying for is what they are getting, so we encourage them to use the correct link for an accurate reading.”
Should any clarification be needed concerning conducting a verifiable speed test, customers can chat with GTT via live chat or call 0488 for guidance.
Some of the small loggers receiving their log-tracking tags
As part of nity by Natural Resources Government’s plan to Minister Vickram Bharrat. revive the forest sec- During his visit, the tor, the Natural Resources Minister met with several Ministry in collaboration members of the Association with the Guyana Forestry and residents who exCommission (GFC) recently pressed their concerns issued 2005 log tracking tags about the economic difficulto the members of the Ituni ties faced within their comSmall Loggers Association. munities.
This was derived from a It was pointed out that recent visit to the commu- Ituni depends on logging
as its main economic activity and as such, the availability of approved harvestable logging quota managed through the GFC’s issuance of log tracking tags is vital for its sustainability.
As such, a collaborative effort between the Guyana Forestry Commission and the Association saw the res-
Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat and other officials listening to the concerns of loggers at Ituni
GTT urges customers to use “correct speed test”
The Guyana Telephone vising customers to use the tom.com/ for accurate read- According to GTT’s and Telegraph correct speed test hyperlink ings when testing for inter- Public Relations Manager, Company (GTT) is ad- of http://gttgy.speedtestcus- net connection bandwidth. Jasmin Harris, the comparect reading. This can create Public Relations Officer understandable but unnec- Jasmin Harris
olution of this matter.
On October 8, the Chairman of the Ituni Small Loggers Association, Richard James, uplifted the 2005 log tracking tags for his Association.
Additionally, Minister Bharrat kept his promise to Region Two loggers and miners for a follow-up meeting with regulatory agencies.
On this note, the GFC and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) engaged stakeholders with the aim of providing efficient service within the sectors.
Several initiatives were adopted which were welcomed by stakeholders. The meeting was held at State House Anna Regina on October 16 and was attended by Regional Chairperson Vilma Da Silva, Regional Vice Chairman Humace Oodit, GFC Commissioner (ag) Gavin Agard, GFC Deputy Commissioner Tasreef Khan, and Manager of Mines Division GGMC Krishna Ramdass.
Further, these efforts by the Natural Resources Ministry through the GFC and other natural resources regulatory agencies are in keeping with the Minister’s commitment to contribute to the development of rural and hinterland forest communities through Sustainable Forest Management.
