THE Shipping Association of Guyana is the most recent business to have come out against the Private Sector Commission (PSC) for the publication of a statement which does not align with the views of the association.

The association took ill with the PSC’s statement titled ‘Business, religious, labour petitions Inter-American Human Rights Commission to avert political disaster in Guyana,’ in which the commission advocated for pressure to be put on Guyanese authorities to commence a recount of votes cast in the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

At the time, the matter was before the court and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was awaiting the ruling of the court prior to its decisions on moving forward. It is only the commission that has the Constitutional right to conduct national elections in the country.  “The Shipping Association of Guyana (SAG) wishes to advise that we did not participate in that statement nor did the SAG agree for its name to be included in the publication of same,” the association said on Wednesday.

The PSC Chairman, Captain Gerald ‘Gerry’ Gouveia, had placed on the petition the name of 27 organisations.  Earlier this week, Kalibur Security, which forms a part of the Guyana Association of Private Security Organisations (GAPSO), also stated that it did relay to the PSC its non-endorsement of the letter to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.
“Kalibur Security was never consulted by the Private Sector Commission to be part of this mischievous letter signed by Gerry Gouveia. I spoke to the Operation Manager for Sentinel Security and he doesn’t know about it. He told me that he spoke to Mr. John Mortley, who is the president of GAPSO and Mr. Mortley said that he doesn’t know how GAPSO’s name could be used in that letter and that he’s taking action to ensure that the public is informed that GAPSO was never really part of this venture,” said owner and managing director of Kalibur Security, Col. George Gomes.

He referred to Gouveia as a “PPP surrogate” which is only seeking to bring Guyana into chaos for their own political benefit. He said: “The Private Sector under Gerry Gouveia is a mouth piece for the PPP and as the Managing Director of Kalibur Security, there is no way I would ever entertain being associated with any venture started by Gerry Gouveia and the Private Sector Commission. You cannot use the name of an organisation of which my company is a apart without us agreeing for that to be done; without us being consulted.”

It is unclear how many other organisations may not have given their endorsement for the letter. This is not the most recent hot-water fiasco for the PSC — which has been accused of being pro-opposition —, as the commission received public backlash on Monday when it switched gear and referred to the conduct of a national recount as “a waste of time”.

The statement came in a release as the collective view of the PSC but just days earlier, the likes of Gouveia and other private sector members such as Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer, Kit Nascimento and Deodat Indar, had called numerous times for a national recount.

“Plain and simple. Count every single vote in every single box in every single region in a transparent manner under the supervision of international and local observers,” the PSC head wrote on his Facebook page on April 5, 2020 and above an article from the Guyana Times captioned ‘Every vote must be counted for transparent, credible results – Canadian diplomat’.

Responding to the disparity on Tuesday, Gouveia told the media that he was in favour of the national recount but some others apart of the PSC are not. Even so, the statement sent out referring to the exercise as a “waste of time” did not indicate that it was not a collective view of the commission. Questions have now been raised about the motive and authors behind the switch.

Responding to the criticisms on Wednesday, the PSC —- in another collective statement — argued that all other parties, including GECOM, had no contention with the votes counted in other Regions. “The Private Sector Commission reiterates its position that it has absolutely no interest in which of the contesting political parties is elected to govern Guyana,” the PSC said.

“The PSC recognises that it is the duty and responsibility of GECOM to administer a recount of the election results in whatever manner and by whatever method it chooses to do so, within the law, with complete transparency, under local and international observation, but without further delay, certainly, not another five (5) months. The PSC will support GECOM in doing so.”