The US Virgin Island Division of Festivals recently announced the St. John Celebration performance line-up. Taking place 10 June – 4 July, 2023, on the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands, this year’s celebration marks the 69th occurrence of this cultural tradition spotlighting the food, music, and resilient people of the region.
Grammy Award Winning Jamaican Singer Koffee
Reggae, Dancehall & Soca Lineup
Leading this year’s village line-up is Grammy-award-winning Jamaican singer-songwriter Koffee alongside renowned Reggae artist Sizzla, Soca phenoms Voice, Skinny Fabulous and Nailah Blackman. In addition, Virgin Islands natives R. City, Adam O, Cool Session Brass, and Pressure will represent the territory throughout the weeklong village nights concert series.
“We are excited to continue elevating our carnival celebrations with premier performances representing the best of the Caribbean,” explains Ian Turnbull, Director of Festivals. “This year’s St. John Celebration will surely be the best yet.”
“I am elated to experience this year’s festivities as the entire Division of Festivals team has worked tirelessly to bring the theme ‘It’s A Colorful and Cultural Jamboree for St. John Celebration’ to life,” said Joseph Boschulte, Commissioner USVI Department of Tourism.
“We invite visitors and locals alike to converge on the island of St. John to join us for an unforgettable month of events.”
Carl Subarattie, a boat captain who left his Palmer’s Point, Lower Mazaruni, Region Seven home and never returned, was found on Thursday in an advanced state of decomposition.
The Guyana Police Force in a statement said the 61-year-old man’s body was discovered at about 12:00 hrs, just below the Marshall’s Falls, Lower Mazaruni River.
The man was reported missing on June 19.
“Several bruises and lacerations were observed about the body which was in an advanced state of decomposition,” the release noted.
The body was taken to the Bartica Regional Hospital where the captain was officially pronounced dead and later transported to Memorial Gardens Funeral Home for the post moterm examination.
There are 84 public officials, including 10 Opposition Parliamentarians, who failed to declare their assets to the Integrity Commission and Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo says the public servants who do not declare their assets will be asked to leave their jobs.
The Vice President, while engaging reporters on Wednesday, acknowledged that a number of government officials and senior public servants have been identified as defaulters by the Integrity Commission.
No Government Parliamentarian is, however, in default.
As such, Dr. Jagdeo said the Ministers of Government have been asked to engage the public servants attached to their ministries to declare their assets at the earliest. If they fail to do so, he said those workers will be asked to leave their jobs.
“They have to comply or leave the job, that’s the law of the country.
“You don’t have the right to pick and choose which law you follow,” Jagdeo said.
The Opposition Parliamentarians who did not declare their assets are former Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon, Khemraj Ramjattan, Dawn Hastings- Williams, Dr. Nicolette Henry, Dr. Karen Cummings, Sherod Duncan, Shurwayne Holder, Deonarine Ramsaroop, Vinceroy Jordan and Devin Sears.
Dr. Jagdeo commented on the non-submission from these Opposition Parliamentarians, accusing them of avoiding measures that are in place to promote accountability. He pointed out that members of the opposition, for years, have not been making submissions to the Integrity Commission.
Meanwhile, a number of government officials have also failed to declare their assets.
Director of the Local Content Secretariat, Martin Pertab; Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Narine Singh; Solicitor General, Nigel Hawke; Director of Culture, Tamika Boatswain and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Ryan Toolsiram are some of the officials who did not declare their assets.
Additionally, Guyana’s Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), George Talbot; former High Commissioner to India, Charrandass Persaud and Consul General in Suriname, Mitradevi Ali among officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who did not submit their declarations.
In its new notice naming defaulters, the Commission said the 84 officials are asked to submit their 2022 Declaration Form on or before July 31, 2023.
If the officials continue to fail to submit their declarations, persons can face a $25,000 fine alongside six to 12 months imprisonment. Further failure constitutes a continuing offence and the person will be fined $10,000 for each day the offence continues.
The government has awarded a US$184 million contract for the new four-lane highway which will stretch from Sheriff Street in the city to Mahaica, East Coast Demerara. It is expected to be completed in two and a half years.
The contract has been awarded to China Railway First Group Limited, the Chinese construction firm that worked on the four-lane expansion of the East Coast Demerara public road, which straddles the Atlantic ocean.
Indigenous communities across Guyana—more than 200—should receive 15% of the money Guyana makes from selling its carbon credits.
And Toshaos, who are Indigenous leaders, seem intent on using the funds allocated to their communities to implement much-needed plans and programmes.
Karrau, a riverside community in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), needs income-generating ventures to help boost people’s livelihoods. A huge chunk of its GY$24 million (about US$114,000) will be used to expand logging and sawmilling.
“Logging is a major area for us.
“Most persons do logging but we want to convert the logs to lumber,” Karrau’s Toshao Shane Cornelius said, adding that logging is one of the community’s main economic activities.
Karrau has a population of over 500 people. Cornelius estimates that about 20 households are involved in logging. Sawmilling, however, would help the villagers earn more.
“With the sawmilling, the Village Council will be doing it as a business and we intend to buy logs from loggers hence maintaining the circular flow of income,” Toshao Cornelius explained.
The trees that will be used to help Karrau earn more are among Guyana’s forest resources, helping it earn these carbon credits in the first place.
Indigenous communities are regarded as the custodians of Guyana’s vast, intact forests. Many of these communities are found in forested areas and help authorities monitor activities, be it logging or mining, that impact the forests.
Deforestation in the country, over the past decade, has ranged between 0.02% to 0.06%; it is among the lowest rates in the world. And Karrau believes it will be able to continue aiding the sustainable management of Guyana’s forests even as it intensifies logging and sawmilling.
Toshao Cornelius believes the direct allocation of funds from the carbon credits deal is one that helps to reward Indigenous communities for their environmental stewardship.
“As Indigenous peoples, I think we are being rewarded for our stewardship.
“I await other companies to buy the remaining carbon credits so that we can continue bridging the gap that exists between the coast and the hinterland,” the Toshao said.
Guyana’s first and only carbon credit deal so far, brokered after the country got special carbon credits issued to it last December, was executed with Hess Corporation, a US oil giant and one of the companies searching for and producing petroleum in the country’s nascent oil and gas sector.
A carbon credit, generally, is a kind of tradable permit or certificate that represents the removal of a certain amount of carbon dioxide from the environment. Since carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas that harms the environment, it is tracked and traded like any other commodity.
Hess, an oil company, hopes these credits will help improve, or at least offset, its environmental actions. The oil industry is notorious for emitting harmful greenhouse gases.
By the end of 2030, Guyana should amass at least US$750 million from the deal inked with Hess. Of that sum, Indigenous communities, altogether, should receive at least US$112 million—that is, their 15% direct cut as stipulated by Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
Concerns about the carbon credit venture were, however, raised by at least one Indigenous rights organisation.
The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), in a statement issued last December after the Hess deal was announced, questioned how the authorities arrived at the 15% revenue allocation figure, contending that there were not adequate consultations on this.
Guyana’s authorities maintained that enough consultations were done when the government was updating the LCDS, and earlier this year, Guyana received the first tranche of payments from Hess.
The process of disbursing funds to Indigenous communities then got underway.
But before the communities got the money, they were required to open a new bank account for their funds to be deposited into. Additionally, they had to create Village Development Plans that outline how the money will be spent. Ideally, those plans were created after in-village consultations.
Toshao Cornelius, for example, said Karrau’s projects were identified by villagers and included in the community’s development plan. The community also plans to purchase a boat and engine to help transport children and other residents, as well as a generator for electricity.
Communities elsewhere are pursuing similar initiatives.
In the South Pakaraima area of Region Nine (Upper Takutu- Upper Essequibo), the Karasabai sub-district is set to receive GY$35.8 million (roughly US$170,000).
Regional Councillor for the subdistrict, Vania Albert, highlighted some plans several communities in the subdistrict have.
Rukumuta, for example, will upgrade the Corona Falls trail in an attempt to attract tourists there. Other infrastructural works, such as constructing community bridges, building a fuel depot, and expanding the village shop, will help the village cater to tourists.
Tigerpond, Albert shared, hopes to expand agriculture; a banana farm is in the works. Other projects in this community include purchasing sewing machines for the local women’s group and reforesting water cedar plants.
The community of Pai Pang hopes to invest in equipment that will help villagers process cassava grown there; the community will also spend on maintaining internal roads and purchasing solar-powered street lights.
Among the plans for Kokshebai, according to Albert, is to purchase pigs, sheep, and chickens so that the community can get into animal rearing on a larger scale. With these plans, Kokshebai will also invest in fencing the animal-rearing and farming areas.
And the story repeats itself in other communities. Toshaos, the Village councils, and the residents themselves are exploring how they can earn more while upgrading their communities’ environment.
Guyana’s Vice President, hours before announcing how the first tranche of funds would be divided among the indigenous communities, said the government hoped the communities would spend their allocations, at least in part, on income-generating ventures.
He, however, noted that the government did not want to dictate how the funds would be spent. Instead, he said community consultations were needed.
The Toshao of Bethany in Region Two (Pomeroon- Supenaam), Sonia Latchman, explained that the residents in her village identified six areas they wanted to focus on: health, education, nature and the environment, governance, livelihood development, and culture and tradition.
“Having come up with those projects, the village decided to look at the priority projects.
“These projects were passed by a village general meeting,” she said.
Bethany, like Karrau, got GY$24 million. Toshao Latchman said the community wants to boost poultry production, so it is investing in birds and developing the pens and stations needed. Bethany will also invest in a tractor to aid in ongoing farming and logging.
At a recent press conference, Vice President Jagdeo confirmed that the funds designated for Indigenous communities have been deposited into “over 240” bank accounts.
“Some have already started to draw down; I am aware that we are making progress in this regard,” he said.
This story was published with the support of the Caribbean Climate Justice Journalism Fellowship, which is a joint venture of Climate Tracker and Open Society Foundations.
Carl Subarattie, a boat captain who left his Palmer’s Point, Lower Mazaruni, Region Seven home and never returned, was found on Thursday in an advanced state of decomposition.
Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo met and engaged directly with residents and vendors of the community of Plaisance (Photo: Facebook/June 28, 2023)
Vishani@newsroom.gy
View of the rainforest from Guyana’s Kaieteur Falls (Photo by Dallas Reeves on Flickr)
Toshao of Karrau, Shane Cornelius (Photo: Guyana Chronicle)
Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo engaging over 200 Toshaos at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Georgetown (Photo: News Room/ February 15, 2023)
On June 24, 2023, the National Toshaos Council (NTC) provided this update on the disbursement of payments to Indigenous communities. Based on information obtained by the News Room, a total of 242 Indigenous communities will receive varying allocations out of a GY$4.7 billion sum following the payment of the first tranche of payments from Hess
