—- says businesses suffering without national budget
ALTHOUGH it has been deemed unsafe for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to further increase the number of counting stations in the recount centre, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has nonetheless expressed its disappointment that more stations were not added.
On Monday, the commission announced that the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) had given clearance for the establishment of only two additional workstations due to situational findings that the centre was non-compliant with a number of COVID-19 precautionary measures.
The Elections Commission had hoped to receive approval for an additional five-six workstations at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) but the number now stands at 12, which will see more than 400 persons on average at the centre on rotation.
In denying the additional stations, the Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC) of the NCTF, during a recent re-visit to the ACCC, noted that: two designated handwashing areas were without soap and one was without hand towels; on rapid inspection, 19 persons were observed without face masks or not adequately wearing them; multiple persons observed were not practicing adequate physical distancing; all head tables inspected were clustered and in non-adherence to physical distancing and representatives observing the recount were not seated with adequate physical distancing at eight recount stations.
The HEOC lead team is of the view that the previous guidelines are not being adhered to which increase the probability of the spread of infection at the already-congested center.
However, in a release on Tuesday [May 19], the GCCI contended that the increase will not be favorable to the 25-day recount timeline and will further affect the country which has been without a budget since 2018.
“The GCCI would like to remind GECOM that it has been 79 days since the General and
Regional Elections were held, and it is imperative that the recount process be concluded within the 25-day time frame as the country needs a new government sworn in to put policies in place to combat the coronavirus’ economic impact,” a release from the Chamber stated, adding:
“Currently businesses and citizens are suffering, investments have slowed down, jobs are being lost and more companies are closer to bankruptcy as their cash flows dwindle.”
The GCCI also put forward that the government has been unable to access international financing and the situation is harming the nation both on a micro and macro level.
As such, it stated: “The only way forward to help steer the economy in these troubling headwinds is to complete the recount quickly and credibly, otherwise, businesses and livelihoods will continue to suffer.” Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the commission successfully operationalised the two workstations and has since committed to correcting its shortcomings in the areas highlighted by the HEOC.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_e-paper_5-20-2020