A commencement date for the National Recount is hinged on the arrival of a high-level team from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Elections Commissioners said on Wednesday but the arrival date of the team is unknown at the moment.

It was earlier reported that the CARICOM officials were due to arrive in Guyana today April 30) but when the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) met on Wednesday, the Chairman, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh indicated that she had no such information.
Guyana Chronicle was reliably informed that the officials were not scheduled to arrive today, since it is today that they are expected to receive their results from their polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19. Outside of GECOM’s Headquarters on Wednesday, Commissioner Vincent Alexander assured reporters that once the Secretary-General of CARICOM, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque communicates the team’s arrival date to the Elections Commission, a commencement date will be set and order issued to trigger the process.

Commissioner Sase Gunraj, in an interview with reporters, said from all indication the commencement date is firmly hinged on the arrival of the CARICOM official. “Once we have that, I believe that we can move very quickly to insert the start date into our procedures and have that,” Gunraj posited.

The high-level CARICOM team is expected to scrutinize the National Recount.
On Monday, GECOM Public Relations Officer (PRO), Yolanda Ward disclosed that Ambassador LaRocque sought approval for the departure of a chartered flight from Guyana to collect the high-level officials, and for its return the very day. The CARICOM Secretary-General has also asked that a similar arrangement be put in place for the return of the officials upon the completion of the exercise. Those requests were approved by the NCTF.

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.

Ambassador LaRocque, in his communication with Prime Minister Nagamootoo, also indicated that the high-level officials will undergo the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19 before arriving in Guyana.

He noted that arrangements would be made for the officials to be tested in their respective country, however, he requested that the WHO approved PCR COVID-19 test also be administered to the team before they depart Guyana. Nonetheless, even as it awaits an arrival date from CARICOM, GECOM’s Secretariat is putting all systems in place to facilitate the National Recount of the March 2 votes.