FIND THE LATEST NEWS UPDATED EVERY DAY AT CARIBBEANLIFENEWS.COM
Vol. 31, Issue 10 QUEENS/LONG ISLAND/BRONX/MANHATTAN March 6-12, 2020
ELECTION
RESULTS
DELAYED
Guyanese still await results
four days after voting
By Bert Wilkinson
Four full days after Guyanese
voted in general elections,
the embattled elections
commission (Gecom) is yet to
announce even preliminary
results especially after the governing
multiparty coalition
pointed to alleged discrepancies
in statements of polling
and amid allegations of multiple
voting by opposition supporters
along the eastern seaboard
officials claimed Thursday
.T
he delay in announcing the
results of Monday’s elections
has led to a significant slowdown
in commercial activities.
Thousands of parents
have kept their children home
from school fearing that rising
tensions could spill over into
clashes between rival groups.
Some shops and stores have
also closed, fearing looting and
other possibilities.
On Thursday as well, Minister
of Telecommunications,
Catherine Hughes took
to Facebook to make some
sweeping allegations about the
electoral process, questioning
whether it was free and fair as
most people seem to think.
The senior minister even
implied that Guyana has
apparently become a victim of
American style Russian interference
in the electoral system,
noting that authorities were
forced to deport several Russians
and other foreigners who
were rooming at the Marriott
Hotel and who were suspected
of trying to electronically
interfere with the process.
“Included in the team were
four Russians who arrived
on Saturday, Feb. 29 just two
days before our election under
the pretense of being observers.
Security personnel at the
direction of Minister of Public
Security, Khemraj Ramjattan
directed immigration to detain
and question these individuals.
Cyber equipment was seized
and three of the four Russians
were found and deported.
The fourth Russian operative
has still not been located,” he
said in a startling social media
posting.
Have the Russians influenced
our election process?
Did they interfere? Why? He
Senator Roxanne J. Persaud. Photo by Jordan Rathkopf
Underrepresented teachers get senate support
By Nelson A. King
New York State Senate on
Wednesday passed Brooklyn
Sen. Roxanne J. Persaud’s bill
that seeks to attract and retain
underrepresented teachers
within underrepresented
schools across New York State.
“This legislation will help
retain these teachers by providing
grants to schools for
recruiting and providing
financial incentives to underrepresented
teachers,” said the
Guyanese-born Persaud, whose
19th Senatorial District in
Brooklyn encompasses Canarsie,
East New York, Brownsville,
Mill Basin, Sheepshead
Bay, Bergen Beach, Marine
Park, Flatlands, Mill Island,
Georgetown, Ocean Hill and
Starrett City.
Persaud said an underrepresented
teacher is defined as
one who holds a permanent
or professional State-teaching
certificate, and has participated
in a school district/
post-secondary partnership
“grow your own” initiative,
My Brother’s Keeper, Teacher
Opportunity Corps program,
higher education opportunity
program, education opportunity
program, or other similar
program.
Underrepresented schools
are defined as schools having
an underrepresentation
of underrepresented teachers,
Persaud said.
In pointing to a recent State
Education Department report,
Continued on Page 12 Continued on Page 12
/CARIBBEANLIFENEWS.COM
