Shuman, Ramkarran, Gouveia, appointed Govt advisors

In an effort towards inclusive governance, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has announced that Private Sector Commission Chair, Gerry Gouveia; Leader of the Liberty Justice Party (LJP), Lenox Shuman, and Senior Counsel, Ralph Ramkarran, have all been appointed advisors.
This announcement was made by the Office of the President in a statement on Saturday.

Gouveia has been appointed as National Security Advisor to President Irfaan Ali. Shuman, a licensed pilot, was named Advisor to the Minister of Public Works on Civil Aviation.
Meanwhile, Ramkarran, a former Speaker of the National Assembly, was appointed as Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Border Issues.
Captain Gerry Gouveia is a veteran airline transport rated pilot with 40 years of service in the aviation, security and tourism sectors in Guyana. He is a former military officer with an excess of a decade of service in the Guyana Defence Force where he served as the Chief Pilot of the army air corps.

Captain Gouveia graduated from the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. In addition to his wealth of knowledge and expertise, he has formal training from institutions such as the NTSB Academy in Washington, DC, in Aircraft Accident Investigations; George Washington University in Virginia, USA, in Aviation Safety and Security, and the Center for Hemispheric Defence Studies in the National Defence University, all in Washington DC, in the area in of National Defence and Security. He is also a fellow of the Center for Hemispheric Defence Studies in the National Defence University in Washington, DC.
Meanwhile, as a licensed pilot, Shuman has a wealth of aviation experience. An old student of the North Georgetown Secondary School, Shuman furthered his studies in Canada where he gained his piloting qualifications and experience.
His 8000 hours of flight experience was garnered through his flying of the following types of aircraft – Pa-31; NMK-II: C-172, 180, 185, 206; Pa-34; Beech Baron: DHC-2, 3; Be-18, 100, 200, 1900D; DHC-8Q400; B738, 757,767. He is the holder of Canadian and US Airline Transport Pilot License with Single and Multi-Engine Land and Sea Aircraft ratings.

No stranger to service, Shuman served as Toshao for Pakuri/St Cuthbert’s Mission from 2015 to 2018 and Vice Chairman of the National Toshao Council (NTC). He then moved into the political scene and launched his own political party, LJP, in January last year to contest the March 2020 elections. His party secured 2657 votes at the elections and Shuman will be serving as a parliamentarian for two and a half years in accordance to an agreement he made with two other parties to form a joinder arrangement. LJP along with A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and The New Movement (TNM) together as joinder parties secured one seat in the National Assembly.
On the other hand, Senior Counsel Ramkarran, who founded ANUG along with others, is no stranger to the Guyana-Venezuela territorial dispute. From 1994, Ramkarran was appointed Guyana’s facilitator in Guyana-Venezuela Border United Nations (UN) Good Offices process. He also continued to serve on the ministerial team for the Guyana-Venezuela Border Dispute from 1994 to present.
Ramkarran also served as Speaker of the National Assembly from 2001 to 2011. After founding his own party, he contested the March 2 elections as the Presidential Candidate for ANUG. The party obtained 2313 votes and will have a representative serving two years in the National Assembly as part of the joinder agreement.