– PM Nagamootoo looking into the return of Komal Chand’s remains from Cuba

THE door is still open for the Carter Center Observer Group to re-apply to enter Guyana to observe the national recount of the March 2 General and Regional Elections votes, but it must comply with the COVID-19 measures implemented, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) Secretariat, Joseph Harmon, said on Saturday.
“I believe so; I think that they can apply to come if they go through the correct procedure,” Harmon told reporters when asked if the Carter Center can reapply to enter Guyana in light of the closure of the airports.

He noted, however, that the centre’s observers must comply with the established regulations. “First of all if you are coming from overseas you have to be tested there, you have to have a certificate that is valid for at least seven days or so; if you do not have that, and get permission and you come here, you have to be quarantine for 14 days,” the NCTF Secretariat CEO explained on the sideline of his visit to the Arthur Chung Conference Centre – where the national recount is taking place.

Days before the national recount commenced, the Carter Center had sought permission from the authorities to fly one of its representatives from the United States to Guyana to observe the national recount. It was hoping to have at least one of its observers return to Guyana on an Eastern Airlines flight destined to Guyana from Miami on May 4.

“When the application was made, the application was made for an aircraft to come, and then at the last minute we were advised that the Carter Center team will be on the aircraft, we didn’t say take them off, we didn’t say that they should come,” Harmon said while noting that the National Task Force subsequently learnt that the observer(s) was not on the flight when it arrived in Guyana.

He made it clear, however, that the authorities here had granted approval for the Eastern Airlines flight to come to Guyana, in addition to the crew. The pilot and flight attendants, however, were mandated to comply with COVID-19 measures.

“COVID-19 conditions are not things that you should take lightly, you have to ensure that people, when they come here, they are properly tested and all of that,” the NCTF Secretariat CEO said while making it pellucid that the Guyanese Government has nothing against the Carter Centre.

Permission to enter and depart Guyana is needed in light of emergency measures instituted by the government to prevent the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The country’s international airports – Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Eugene F. Correia International Airport – have been closed to regional and international travel since March 18, 2020.

The NCTF Secretariat CEO noted that while President David Granger and Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, had agreed to a CARICOM high-level team securitising the national recount, the three-member delegation was mandated to comply with Guyana’s COVID-19 measures.

The CARICOM officials were mandated to undergo the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19 before arriving in Guyana. It was only after the tests were conducted that the officials arrived in Guyana.

On another issue, Harmon noted that Chairman of the NCTF, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo is looking into the request for the body of Veteran Trade Unionist, Komal Chand, to be flown to Guyana from Cuba.