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“It will not be a tedious thing to put together results for smaller local authority areas and I see no difficulty in Returning Officers declaring their results before mid-night,” Persaud said while noting that this could be affected by objections.

There is no contest in well over 200 of the 610 constituencies. The 610 constituencies are part of 80 larger local authority areas.

Commenting directly on GECOM’s state of readiness, Chairman (retired) Justice Claudette Singh said the electoral body was fully prepared and she had the confidence that the elections will be implemented in accordance with the law.

“As chairperson, I shall surely guarantee that these elections will be conducted in a free, fair, transparent and credible manner,” Singh said.

Similar assurances were given by the Chief Elections Officer and his Deputy Aneal Giddings.

“I am assuring from the position of the secretariat of our high level of confidence relative to ensuring these elections are conducted in the desired manner not only from our end but in so far as our stakeholders are concerned,” Persaud said.

“We are ahead of the game with the implementation of our listed activities,” Persaud added, assuring reporters that there was 100 per cent staffing in place.

Giddings was directly charged with overseeing the packing of containers and the dissemination of election material for E-Day and he said the secretariat’s work was not lagging in this regard.

Polls open at 06:00 hrs on Monday across the country and citizens will be voting to elect local leaders. A total of 10 local groups have been accredited as observers for these elections.

GECOM says there will be no electronic publication of statements of polls but it will be available at the place of count.

Two of his accomplices were killed after an exchange of gunfire with members of the Joint Services who were in pursuit. Williams was shot dead by a Joint Services team during an exchange of gun fire on Thursday, June 1, 2023, within the 33 Miles, Potaro Road, Bartica area.

Shortly after his death, Williams’ sister engaged the Prison Authorities who informed her that the State will not hand over the body to the family and will take care of the funeral arrangements.

The reasons were provided to the sister. The Prison Authorities and the sister, on behalf of the family, discussed and consensually planned the funeral arrangements. Out of those discussions, it was decided that the funeral will take place at Memorial Gardens, Le Repentir, with an agreed number of family members in attendance and that the family’s Pastor will do the final rites.

As of 8:00am this morning (June 9, 2023). the Director of Prisons and the sister of Williams confirmed these arrangements.

The Guyana Prison Service’s position on this matter is that unless the convictions and sentences imposed upon Williams were set aside or reversed by a court of competent jurisdiction, Williams’s body will remain with the prison authorities, as the law provides.

Appeals filed and pending against his multiple convictions and sentences do not affect this position. The matter is further compounded by the fact that Williams escaped again from lawful custody, aided and abetted by several persons, some of whom were in possession of high-powered automatic rifles, who not only fired upon the pursing ranks but also created general fear and terror countrywide.

Regarding Williams’ criminal record and antecedents, the recent facts and circumstances arising from his escape and considering other intelligence still being received by the security forces. The decision remains that the Prison keeps custody of the body and performs the final rites in the manner identified.

He noted that children are not to be blamed for the responsibilities placed on them by their families. Instead, he said the families must take it upon themselves to ensure that their children have access to a comfortable life and urged the children to refuse the families’ attempts to promote child labour.

“Don’t be afraid to say no. Even to your parents; because of economic issues, they may want to send you to work but you have to say no because if you don’t say no, you will end up being a delinquent, you might end up being a person involved in all kinds of activities and drugs are not left out.”

Guyana has ratified key International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions that guard against child labour and has developed a National Plan of Action geared at eliminating the scourge completely by the year 2025. This is in keeping with the ILO and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF)’s push to end child labour.

Touching on the need for public awareness of child labour and the rights of children, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud urged agencies to spread the message.

“Go back into the schools, do awareness in your schools; teachers and members of staff, organize seminars and activities where children can learn about their rights, learn about what is child labour, how it is defined and what Guyana signed on to and why they should not be part of anything that contributes to child labour,” Dr Persaud urged.

She emphasised that not all work a child is given can be considered child labour but noted that anything that disrupts their development and ability to become educated is.

This year, to further raise awareness and highlight the negative impacts of child labour, the ministry will also visit 25 schools to engage children and educate them of their right to say no and their right to an education.

Already battling space constraints to accommodate students in Georgetown, Manickchand said the fires at schools over the past months have worsened the situation.

“We had serious space constraints that had not been addressed…We were really in a bad place in Georgetown for seats for students. So we really didn’t had enough, literally space…desks and benches for classrooms to fit the children who come to Georgetown,” Manickchand said.

Based on the advice of engineers, Manickchand said the school was designed in a way to allow several contractors to work simultaneously so that the structure can be ready at the fastest possible time.

The new St. George’s High School is expected to be completed between five to seven months.  The project will be executed in six lots by different contractors as listed below:

Lot 1- Construction of Super Structure- BM Property Investment Inc- $113,943,900

Lot 2- Block Works- BM Property Investment Inc-$59,989,500

Lot 3- Plumbing Works- A. Ograsein & Sons General Contracting-$9,651,970

Lot 4- Electrical Works- Cummings Electrical Company Ltd-$$18,720,592

Lot 5- External Works- Superior Supplies & General Construction-$$22,472,560

Lot 6- Finishing Works- Superior Supplies & General Construction-$29,052,600

Manickchand warned the contractors that they are likely to face consequences if they fail to meet the project deadline.

Nine-year-old Anamika Hardat and her three-year-old sister, Shameena Hardat perished after the fire gutted their Lot 60-61 Belmont, Mahaica, ECD house around 13:07 hrs.

“…I deh in a bus…I can’t reach in time. When they call me, they said the fire did just start light…I didn’t know what happen. Like I didn’t believe what they telling me,” the distraught mother told the News Room.

Pointing out that raising her children has not been an easy task, Khan said despite the hardships, they kept her happy.

“I try to be the best and do the best. As a mother with four kids, it’s not easy and I still try…And I still grieve because they is the one that keeping me so happy. I always try to keep me and my kids them safe,” she said as she fought to hold back tears.

The News Room spoke to neighbours, who accused Khan of constantly locking the children in the house and leaving them unattended.

Nesha Singh, a neighbour, said Khan’s brother, who occupied one of the apartments with his family, desperately tried to save the children.

“The brother go, the brother bruk one door, the second door couldn’t bruk. He jump on the zinc, he bruk the window… He cannot pull the child because there was grill and there is fire,” Singh told the News Room.

Khan and her family, as well as the other relatives who were displaced, are now left contemplating their next move.