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The Guyana Update -- December, 1997. |
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has announced the approval of US$41 million loan for Guyana which will be used to improve the main road system by rehabilitating bridges connecting the main population and economic areas.
According to the project, all 284 bridges and culverts along the road from Timehri through the capital, Georgetown, to Rosignol will be upgraded. This will be an improvement for economic development and safety for roughly 70% of the country's population who live in the region.
"In addition, the project will provide a rapid surface link between the capital, the international airport and the agriculture center in the east," said the IDB.
"The resources will help finance institutional planning to develop a comprehensive road safety program, as well as a feasibility study for the proposed Berbice River bridge. Ferry service now serving the crossing will be improved," it said.
The project will be carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Communication and will cost about US$45.6 million. The IDB loan is for a 40-year term, with a 10-year grace period, at an interest rate of one per cent during the grace period and two percent thereafter. Local counterpart funds total US$4.6 million.
In 1992 the IDB approved a US$23 million loan for the main road rehabilitation program.. This new project will be a continuation of the main road rehabilitation program.
The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) has announced that so far this year all eight sugar estates have produced 254,000 tons of sugar. "And with four weeks of grinding left for the crop, sugar workers are assured of earning at least 19 extra days, for a production target of 266,000 tons which is available," stated GUYSUCO.
While production booms, the corporation continues its proactive marketing strategy and has confirmed a contract to supply Trinidad and Tobago with some 5,000 tons of
sugar. Already 4000 tons have left Guyana for the twin-island republic.
This is the first time in many years Guyana is exporting sugar to Trinidad and Tobago, and GUYSUCO says "there are plans to develop this market further in 1998."
Jamaica has also shown some interest in GUYSUCO's sugar. Guyana plans to ship about 22,000 tons to CARICOM this year and some 16,000 tons have already left the country.
Chief Justice Desiree Bernard ruled in favor of the Minority People's National Congress (PNC), forcing the Elections Commission to change the PPP/Civic designation on the ballot paper for this month's general election to PPP/C.
The PNC moved to the court to stop the commission from naming the PPP/Civic as the "PPP/Civic" on the ballot paper. Attorneys for the PNC argued that the word "Civic" on the ballot paper violated certain parts of the Representation of the People Act.
The Chief Justice decided that the PNC was right and that "PPP/Civic" should be cut to read PPP/C on the ballot paper. Lawyers representing the Elections Commission and the PPP/Civic said that after the elections they will challenge that ruling. The ruling also affected two other parties, A Good and Green Guyana and the Justice For All Party. Their designations on the ballot will now be AGGG and JFAP, respectively.
After years in the dark, Ituni's 1,200 inhabitants began receiving electricity with the installation of a $6.4 million power generator there by the privately-run Linden Utility Services Cooperative Society Limited. They have also begun receiving potable water at the end of November. Government is in the process of conferring "Neighborhood" status on Ituni, 105 miles up the Demerara River, to qualify it for state funding for socioeconomic projects and to place it in line with Linden and Kwakwani for a special incentive regime designed to transform the entire area into an industrial center.
Guyana's first locally-built asphalt plant was commissioned at an industrial site in Beterverwagting, nine miles east of Georgetown. Prime Minister Janet Jagan praised IDI Engineering Inc. for diversifying from a purely mechanical engineering business just when Guyana needed additional asphalt to keep up with the surge in road construction taking place all over the country. The plant was constructed at a cost of $126 million.
A new water supply system was commissioned recently at Charity. The system costing about $34 million will benefit the village of Charity and neighboring villages. Four miles of new pipelines were also laid, and assistance for this component came from the Social Impact Amelioration Program.. Very shortly another new water supply system will be opened at Ithaca, West Bank Berbice.
The Guyana Elections Commission has contracted a Trinidad firm to print ballot papers for Guyana's December 15 general elections, following the refusal of a trade union to accept a compromise package to end its dispute with the state-owned Guyana National Printers Limited, the company previously hired by the commission to print the ballot papers in Guyana. The Commission is catering for an electorate of 460,000 Guyanese.
The Governor of the Brazilian state of Roraima, Neudo Rieiro Campos, visited Guyana recently for talks with Guyanese officials on the deepening of sociocultural ties between the neighboring republics. Brazil has undertaken to build a bridge across the Takatu River to facilitate overland travel between the two countries, and to promote substantial investments in Guyana's Rupununi region.
Guyana's Geology and Mines Commission has signed contracts with two companies to explore for oil on Guyana's continental shelf. These companies are Maxus Energy, a company based in the Cayman Islands, and Century, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands. According to the agreements Maxus Energy will explore for oil in a 13,000 square kilometer area off Guyana's eastern shore, while Century will carry out explorations off the north-western coast. Both companies have agreed to a profit-sharing process with the Commission if their explorations yield commercial reserves of natural petroleum. Century is affiliated to three US companies currently carrying out off and on-shore exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.
Guyana and seven other Amazonian countries have rejected calls by environmentalists for the world's largest remaining tropical forest to be turned into a "natural mega-reserve." Instead, Guyana and its Amazonian partners -- Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Suriname -- agreed at a three-day 'Amazon 21' conference in Brasilia recently to promote sustainable development in the Amazon making good use of the area's unequal biodiversity and realizing plans for strict conservation.
A student of Queen's College has been charged with arson in the blaze that razed part of Queen's College on Sunday, November 16. The fire, which shook the nation, left an estimated $500 million worth of damage in its wake and temporarily displaced the school's 950 students. A fund set up by Queen's College Old Students' Association has since realized $5 million in pledges to rebuild the destroyed sections of the 153-year-old institution. The student was placed on $100,000 bail after appearing in court in Georgetown on November 21. Guyana's top secondary school formally opened on August 5, 1844, became a government institution in 1876, and was permanently sited on Camp Street and Thomas Lands in 1951.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo, at the commissioning of the new $70 million Kitty Primary School, at the end of November, announced that the Government will next year rebuild Queen's College. He welcomed fund-raising and other efforts for the rebuilding but said the Administration has the responsibility to provide education for the people of Guyana.
The Guyana Water Authority has contracted three private companies to lay a total of 47.3 miles of (polyvinyl chloride) pipelines in order to facilitate the pumping of safe drinking water to several villages on the East Coast of Demerara. The contracts are part of a $13 billion program designed to ensure the delivery of potable water to every Guyanese home by the year 2002.
Eight of the ten political parties contesting the upcoming elections have agreed to abide by an electoral Code of Conduct. The ruling PPP/Civic alliance, the PNC, The Alliance For Guyana, and The United Force signed the code on November 11. The Guyana Democratic Party, God Bless Guyana, Justice For All Party, and the National Democratic Front signed on November 19. The National Independent Party and the Good and Green Guyana have so far refused to sign. The code admonishes poll contestants to focus on issues rather than on personalities, and to refrain from any action meant to create feelings of animosity towards an opposing member, or trigger violent responses by any party operative.
Demerara Investment Company Limited and the Ministry of Tourism have unveiled a plan to restore the resort at Mainstay, Region 2 (Pomeroon/Supenaam) from the ruins it has been languishing in over the last ten years, and to upgrade it into a highly-competitive tourism facility. The Tourism Ministry has leased the resort to Demerara Investment Company for 20 years. The firm, in turn, will refurbish the facility at a cost of $250 million, adding lawn tennis courts, a golf course, and state-of-the-art telecommunications and television systems to its grounds.
Mr Ali Hassan Mwinyi, former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, will head a 21-member team of Commonwealth observers coming to monitor Guyana's December 15 elections. The team is expected in the country on December 7.
Guyana and the State of Bahrain have established diplomatic ties, fully committing themselves to collaborative efforts in the strengthening of world peace and security in an agreement signed by the two countries in New York on Wednesday, November 19. Guyana has now formalized relations with 113 countries, including all of the Gulf states.
Guyanese Ganpat Sahai, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works and Communications, has been named chairman of the Board of Directors of Guyana/Suriname Ferry Company Incorporated. Two other Guyanese and a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat representative will sit on the Board, which will assume overall responsibility for the operation of the US$20 million ferry service between the two neighbors. The service goes into effect in December.
Jeweler Indarjeet Heeralall recently presented Prime Minister Janet Jagan with a Cheddi Jagan gold medallion in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of her husband's entry into Parliament. The 22-karat coin bears a profile and lifespan of the late Guyanese President, and the words "First Democratically Elected President of Guyana."
A local enterprise, Edward B. Beharry and Company Limited, is in the process of installing US$13 million worth of new, high-tech machinery to produce curry powder and confectionery for export to the Caribbean, North America and Europe. Managing director 'Chico' Beharry says the company's new production line will also provide employment for an additional 400 persons
Guyana participated at the annual World Travel Market fair in London on November 17 to 20. Guyana's booth was manned by representatives of the Tourism Ministry and the Tourism Association of Guyana. Together, they disseminated information about Guyana's economic policies, promoted Guyana as an emerging eco-tourism destination, strengthened contacts, and provided avenues for further business ventures. Guyana's participation in the prestigious show was facilitated by the European Union (EU), through its Caribbean Regional Tourism Sector Program under the Lome IV Convention between EU member states and their former colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
The Ministry of Agriculture is expected to receive ample assistance from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for the establishment of a fresh water fish culture station in Guyana. The station, to be set up next year, will include facilities for aqua-culture research, fingerling breeding and public demonstrations.
The five companies which applied earlier this year for forest concessions in Guyana's species-rich hinterland will likely receive their leases by January. Berjaya Berhad, Solid Timbers, Kwitaro Investments of Malaysia; Case Timbers, a Guyanes/Malaysian firm; and Buchanan Forest Products Limited have indicated their intention to invest a total of US$400 million on multiple-species harvesting on their exploratory leases.
Rice exports are on the rise, the result of an intensified campaign to find new markets following the European Union's imposition of a 50% levy on rice exported to EU member-states through a previously arranged Other Countries Route (OCR). Exporters have sold 20,000 tonnes in Peru and 2,500 tonnes in Nicaragua, adding to 33,000 tonnes sold to other new markets in October. Guyana is also exploring the market potential available in Africa.
Harris Paints (Barbados) Limited is considering the establishment of a plant in Guyana following an evaluation of the country's business climate by managing director David Tindale. "We're pleased that over the last two years things have settled down in Guyana," said Mr Tindale after a visit. As a result of his assessment, Barbados' largest paint maker is likely to set up a manufacturing plant in Guyana within a year. Paint sales by the company have doubled since it opened a wholesale outlet in Guyana in 1993.
The agricultural sector is being geared to lead Guyana's efforts to meet the challenges of globalization. Agriculture, buoyed by a governmental injection of $4 billion in the last five years, accounts for 38% of Guyana's Gross Domestic Product and about 43% of its foreign exchange earnings, with agricultural GDP growing at the rate of 10.78% annually. That quantum of spending and output growth will be increased significantly, says Agriculture Minister Reepu Daman Persaud, in order to facilitate the kind of multi-sector development that is necessary for Guyana to grapple with global free market trends.
Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo has sent a message of congratulations to the President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Dr Enrique Iglesias, on his re-election to the IDB presidency. Jagdeo has described Dr Iglesias, who was unanimously elected to a third term on November 3, as an impressive leader and visionary and the ideal person to guide the multilateral-nation-friendly institution into the 21stcentury.
The IDB is currently supporting major developmental projects in Guyana in cooperation with the Guyana government and the Guyanese private sector.
The Guyana Electricity Corporation (GEC) is accelerating its conversion of Georgetown's power supply output from 50 Hertz to 60 Hertz, in pursuit of a massive program to conform Guyana's electrification system to internationally standardized modes. The GEC, expected to transfer from public to private management soon as part of Government's deregulation policy, is also upgrading line hardware from 11 kilo-volts to 13.8 kilo-volts.
Private developer Imax has expressed satisfaction with the response it has been getting from Government to facilitate its construction of a township called Enterprise Gardens at Enterprise, a village in East Demerara, Coast, about 14 miles from Georgetown. The Managing Director of the company, Rohan Lachman, says governmental support is allowing Imax to jump bureaucratic hurdles and move the $5 billion project apace. The township project includes the construction of 200 houses, a 35-bed hospital, a modern gas station, a community shopping center, a social services center, a nursery school, playground and recreational facilities, and a network of roads, drains and water and electricity supplies.
Ten of the 12 political parties that submitted candidates for Guyana's December 15 general elections have been declared by the Elections Commission to be qualified to contest the polls. Commission chairman Doodnauth Singh says the Guyana National Congress and Horizon And Star, two previously-unknown groups, failed the Commission's verification checks on the authenticity of their candidacies and were struck off the list of contesting parties.
A new Government led by the PPP/Civic alliance will seek parliamentary approval early next year for legislation guaranteeing non-collateral mortgages to loan applicants. So says Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo. The measure will amend the New Building Society Act to allow the country's premier mortgage bank (the New Building Society -- NBC) to accept a Letter of Guarantee from Government as insurance for mortgages.
The Organization of American States (OAS) will be fielding a 15-member mission headed by Assistant Secretary General Christopher Thomas to observe Guyana's upcoming elections. The Coordinator of the OAS team, Ambassador Dr. Joseph Edmunds, arrived in Guyana at the end of November.
Meanwhile, the Carter Center will not be sending an observer mission. The Carter Center says its decision sprung from the fact that other international organizations will be monitoring the polls, and from funding unavailability at the Center "to achieve adequate coverage of polling sites on election day." The Center nonetheless "maintains a deep interest in Guyana's democratic development and is encouraged thus far by the elections preparations by the Guyana Elections Commission and the Inter-Party Committee on Electoral Reform."
The Venezuelan Government has delivered on its promise to donate US$101,000 worth of fuel and lubricants to help the Guyana Elections Commission reach out to the country's hinterland and riverain inhabitants. Financial and technical assistance to the Elections Commission from overseas governments and agencies now total US$1.9 million. Government itself has contributed G$700 million separate from that total, to facilitate the forging of an electoral process in accordance with democratic norms.
The Heads and staffers of Guyana's eleven diplomatic missions abroad are expected to vote on December 3 and 6, ahead of the December 15 poll date. These are the only non-resident Guyanese who will be voting away from their country. The Disciplined Services -- Army, Police, National Service -- will vote on December 10.
A Jamaican company, Commodity Trading, has joined with a local firm, El Dorado Trading, in purchasing the state-owned National Edible Oil Company Limited (NEOCOL). Commodity Trading is also bidding for 35% of the shares in Guyana Stockfeeds Limited, another state-run corporation being sold by the Finance Ministry's Privatization Unit under Government's deregulation program..
The Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Ministry of Information, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched the Sustainable Development Networking Program for Guyana (SDNP) on November 17. The program will allow Guyanese to disseminate and access sustainable development information on the Internet.
The Guyana Government has named an Environmental Assessment Board. According to the Environmental Protection Act, the Board will review and pronounce on environmental impact assessments. The Board will be chaired by Dr David Singh and its members are Sherone Wickham, George Simon, James Singh and an engineer (to be named). Names were also approved for the Environmental Appeals Tribunal, which is to chaired by a Judge to be named by the Chancellor of the Judiciary. Members named are: Charles Ramson, Bud Mangal, Robeson Benn and Denise Browman.
The family of the late President Cheddi Jagan has donated a hand-carved replica of Guyana's Harpy Eagle to the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, as a gesture of thanks for the excellent attention Center staffers gave to the late Guyanese leader. The gift was presented to Brigadier General Michael Kussman by Guyana's Ambassador to the US, Dr Odeen Ishmael, "in appreciation of the tireless efforts of the medical care for Dr Jagan" during his hospitalization there from February 16 to March 6, when he died from heart failure. The replica was carved in mahogany by Guyanese Winston Craig. At the presentation ceremony, two staffers were presented with special US Army medals for their efforts to save the life of the Guyanese leader.
Guyana's Tourism Ministry was assured of assistance from Barbados, Brazil, Suriname, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago for its scheduling of a two-day cultural fiesta as part of Tourism Awareness Month. The fiesta took place on November 28 and 29 at the Sophia Exhibition Center.
Guyana's Customs & Excise Department has implemented a simplified system of barrel clearance to avoid a pile-up of incoming cargo during the Christmas season. Officials expect the influx of containers, barrels and boxes this Christmas to give the Department the $4 billion it needs to reach its 1997 revenue target of $16.9 billion.
Executive Director of SIMAP, Harrinarine Nawbatt recently handed over to the Ministry of Education a building which will be used as a Nursery school and for Community purposes for the people of Kairuni and Silver Hill on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway. The project which cost $250,000 was constructed by residents as part of SIMAP's quick response project.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Janet Jagan in mid-November opened the new Stewartville Primary School, the 413th to have been built or rehabilitated by the PPP/Civic Government since 1992.
The Patentia Primary School was also commissioned recently by Public Service Minister George Fung-On. This new school is one of 15 that will be completed by December through the Primary Education Improvement Program (PEIP).
Hundreds of landless and homeless residents of Linden received titles for their house lots in mid-November at a special ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Janet Jagan.. The titles are for the new housing area established at Amelia's Ward, Linden. The new house-lot owners now join the more than 1,000 Lindeners who have received low-income house lots since 1992. Throughout the country, more than 16,000 house lots have been distributed to tackle the acute housing shortage in the country.
Central Government continues its program to restore basic infrastructure in Georgetown. A $14 million project will commence to improve the drainage structure between Independence Boulevard and Mandela Avenue. Another $100 million program is being undertaken to reactivate the Laing, Sussex Street, Princes Street and Cummings canals. In addition, the two major outfalls for the city's drainage system are also being rebuilt. Currently, a $12 million drainage program for internal drains in the Albouystown area is being implemented.
The Guyana Oil Company (GUYOIL) is establishing another fuel outlet on the Essequibo Coast. This is to cater for increasing prosperity in that region. The new station will provide fuel for the growing numbers of vehicles on the Essequibo Coast.
The Guyana Elections Commission has identified over 1800 polling booths across the country and has so far approved more than 90% of these. Political parties are expected to field polling agents and other workers at these booths.
A plaque was unveiled to mark the reopening of the rehabilitated science laboratories of the North Ruimveldt Multilateral Secondary School. The school which was without the science facility for over ten years, will once again offer science subjects to its students. The project was done at a cost of over $1 million.
Construction of the new Goed Fortuin Nursery School, West Bank, Demerara is pacing ahead and will soon be completed.
Recently $6 million was released for the upgrading of the community roads in the Lima and Bush Lot Housing areas on the Essequibo Coast. Another project is to be commenced that will lead to better accommodation for vendors at the Charity Market .
Another set of titles of land were distributed to farmers on the Essequibo Coast. The distribution also marked an end to a long-running land-ownership dispute between farmers and the Sparta Cooperative Society. More than 70 farmers have benefited from the recent distribution of the plots.
Nine more new schools are to be opened during the next couple of weeks. These schools constructed under the government's Primary Education Improvement Program (PEIP), are scattered across the country. The schools listed for commissioning are Stewartville, Sarswat, 8thof May, Buxton, Regma, Kitty, South Ruimveldt, St Therese's and North Georgetown Primary Schools. Under the PEIP, some US$53 million will be spent to construct 19 new schools, 17 of which have been handed over already.
The Government has commissioned another fish complex in Guyana, this time at No 43 village, in Berbice. It is owned by Samomar Fishing Corporation, a consortium of overseas-based Guyanese who have returned home to invest. Last month a massive fish complex project at Morawhanna, North West District was commissioned by President Sam Hinds. Before that another complex was opened in Rosignol.
Prime Minister Janet Jagan flew to Canada for a three-day visit to that North American country. As part of her schedule, she met with Guyanese in Toronto and nearby cities and spoke with the Canadian media on Guyana's upcoming general elections
Through government funding, the Town Council of Anna Regina was able to purchase a new tractor and trailer to be used for garbage disposal.
A total of 900 students received degrees, diplomas and certificates at the University of Guyana's 31st graduation exercises held in mid-November..
A team from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)was scheduled to arrive in Guyana for a mid-term review of the rehabilitation and expansion of Georgetown's water supply system. The IDB is contributing US$13.5 million in credits to the US$15 million program, due to conclude in November of 1999, with government providing US$1.5 million in counterpart funding.
Police have arrested five persons, four of whom attempted to sell their voters identification card on Avenue of the Republic and Robb Street. One other man attempted to purchase cards in the Georgetown Hospital. The five were eventually charged by the police. Meanwhile, the police and the Guyana Elections Commission are requesting persons with information about voters attempting to buy or sell the cards to report this immediately.
Guyana's youth, whose votes can count for more than half of the Parliamentary seats, were urged by the Guyana Elections Commission and the Interim National Youth Council to ensure that they participate in the electoral process. This call was made at a workshop for youth leaders held in Georgetown on November 8.
The Region 6 administration is moving ahead with the implementation of its works program for 1997 and hopes to complete all its projects by the end of the year. The Region, headed by Chairman Rohit Persaud, has targeted roads, educational, health and administrative structures in its works program.
Prime Minister Janet Jagan has declared that the Government would be moving soon to address issues relating to the upgrading of the Ogle airstrip to a municipal airport. She was at the time commissioning a new aerial spray plane acquired by a local company.
For information on Guyana, INTERNET users may check the WEB SITE on GUYANA NEWS AND INFORMATION at: http://www.guyana.org. This site is also linked to other useful Guyana sites. The Embassy's E-mail addresses are GuyanaEmbassy@hotmail.com and Guyanaem@erols.com
REMINDER TO GUYANESE NATIONALS -
Please ensure that your PASSPORTS are VALID. Do not wait until emergencies arise before you check these documents.
The Ex-GDF Association and The ACG Presents their Second Annual Old Years Night Ball & Dinner at La Fontaine Bleu, Dec. 31, 1997 from 9:00 p.m to 3:00 a.m
$60.00 per person, $110.00 per couple
Call (301) 277-8736 or (301) 735-1533