MotP’s ex-army officers assume COVID-19 fight’s draconian powers

…as Granger upends control of task force
…hands responsibilities to Harmon, lets Nagamootoo keep title

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was first confirmed in Guyana on March 11 and as part of Government’s response, caretaker President, David Granger appointed a National Task Force, assigning his ‘caretaker’ deputy, Moses Nagamootoo to chair that body.

Caretaker President David Granger

In an address to the nation at the end of last month, Granger announced that the Task Force had drafted a National Strategic Master Plan that “will guide our approach to combatting the novel coronavirus disease.”
Granger has since had to intervene and overturn some decisions taken by the Nagamootoo-led Task Force and on Friday he convened a meeting of that body where he directed that Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP), Joseph Harmon, carry out the functions of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NCTF.
As a result, Harmon, a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Guyana Defence Force, will now be responsible for the setting up of a permanent National Task Force Secretariat in addition to assigning permanent staff to manage the national campaign.

Caretaker PM, Moses Nagamootoo

MoTP in a statement to the media noted that the Task Force under Harmon would also be responsible for creating preventive measures against the disease to safeguard citizens’ health and collaborate with regional task forces and stakeholders to safeguard citizens’ health.

Joseph Harmon

Additionally, MoTP stated that the CEO is now responsible, “for directing the NCTF operations and restarting interrupted activities; all important logistics measures necessary to prevent the disease from spreading further, directing rapid responses to unexpected and emergency incidents; developing short-term plans for disease prevention and safety of the people and communicating directly with agencies, Ministries, regional task forces, agencies and stakeholders”.

Harmon, as CEO, will also be responsible for disseminating accurate information with regard to

Lawrence Paul

COVID-19 to the public.
Meanwhile, Granger also announced that retired Colonel of the GDF, Lawrence Paul, Senior Executive Director of the Bertram Collins College of the Public Service has been seconded to the Task Force.
Dr Mark Kirton will assume Colonel Paul’s post, the statement said.
MoTP said too that similarly, Director of Public Information and Press Service (PIPS) Unit, Mark Archer has relinquished his appointment and will work with the NCTF on a full-time basis. Ariana Gordon was announced as his successor.
The intervention by Granger comes on the heels of a recent widely reported incident where he amended orders made by the then Nagamootoo-led Task Force.
That Task Force had ordered that the officials re-invited to the country by the Guyana Elections Commission to observe the recount of the national elections would have to be subject to two weeks of quarantine.
This is in addition to restricting the hours of work by the recount officials to within the national curfew and as such, were not granted any exemptions as compared with those considered to be providing an essential service.