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The Guyana Update -- November, 1997. |
Guyana's next general elections will be held on Monday, December 15. Nomination Day, when the competing parties are to submit their list of candidates to the Elections Commission, is Wednesday November 5. In announcing the election date at the signing of a proclamation order on October 29 dissolving Parliament, President Samuel Hinds said he hoped the 23 parties planning to contest the polls will agree to an Electoral Code of Conduct being considered by an Inter-Party Committee on Electoral Reform and observe proper standards of conduct during the course of the election campaign. General elections were last held on October 5, 1992 when the PPP/Civic Government was elected. The general elections of that date heralded the return of democracy to Guyana after a 24-year absence.
Marking 505 years since Columbus set foot in the Americas, the Organization of American (OAS) held a special (protocolary) meeting of the Council at the OAS building in Washington DC on October 12. Speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Nations at the session, to mark the date that Christopher Colombus set foot, in 1492, on what is now part of the Bahamas, Guyana's Ambassador to the United States of America and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, Dr Odeen Ishmael, brought renewed attention to the need for "a new global human order," declaring it necessary "to combat the crippling effects of poverty and hunger and for sound all-round human development".
Noting how radically that event changed the course of history, the Guyanese envoy drew attention to some of the "negatives associated with the explorations and colonization efforts initiated by Columbus," but acknowledged those initiatives had set in motion as well the opening up of what was until then the unknown Americas.
Expanding on the global human order proposal, the Guyanese Ambassador told the council of ambassadors and member state representatives that it also called for good governance and for people's participation on decision-making to solve basic human needs in health, education, housing and the right to productive employment for all.
Ambassador Ishmael used the opportunity to reiterate a proposal the late President of his country, Dr Cheddi Jagan, had put forward for a regional integration fund. He also raised the matter of making the Caribbean a pollution-free zone, a proposal that is intended to be formally moved at the Summit of the Americas in Chile next year.
Guyana's National Assembly on Tuesday October 28, passed a historic bill to entrench the right of workers to belong to a trade union of their choice. Known as the Trade Union Recognition Bill, the unanimous passage of the Government-drafted measure capped a 44-year attempt by the ruling People's Progressive Party to give workers a dominant say in having a union of their choice represent their interests at the bargaining table.
Prime Minister Janet Jagan, whose late husband, Dr Cheddi Jagan, was head of government in 1953 when a suspension of the country's constitution killed the first chance of the then Labor Relations Bill, summed up the mood of her colleagues over the passage of the bill, saying, "Despite all our differences, I am happy that we will close this sitting of Parliament on a level of unanimity in the interest of the workers of this country.
Minister of Agriculture Mr Reepu Daman Persaud, speaking at the opening of an exhibition to mark World Food Day 1997 reported to the nation on the advances made in the sector.
"We have invested wisely and this is substantiated by the figures. Sugar production increased from 160,000 tons in 1991 to 275,000 tons in 1996, an increase in excess of 70%. Rice production has also risen to unprecedented levels, from 151,000 tons in 1991 to 332,000 tons in 1996," he reported.
"We are self sufficient in vegetable and fruit production and closing in on the gap for poultry and milk," he said.
"Poultry production has expanded substantially over the last five years from 5.3 million to 38.1 million eggs and from 1,500 to 10,700 tons of meat. Agro-processing is a must for Guyana's agriculture and is a targeted priority for the future."
Guyana's unicameral National Assembly recently approved three measures to give Government the green light to privatize the state-run Guyana Electricity Corporation (GEC). The passage of the Public Utilities Commission Bill, the Electricity Sector Reform Bill 1997 and the Guyana Energy Agency Bill 1997, endorses Government's sale of 50% of the assets of the GEC to SaskPower Commercial Incorporated of Saskatechewan, Canada, and SaskPower's management of a new GEC.
All but one member of the parliamentary opposition walked out of the Assembly in protestagainst the tabling of the Public Utilities Commission Bill, arguing that it would give too many concessions to SaskPower. But PNC Parliamentarian Philip Bynoe, who remained and supported the measures, said he was doing so in recognition of the importance of the Bills in attracting foreign investments to revitalize Guyana's rundown energy sector.
A sea defense project a La Belle Alliance, on Guyana's Essequibo Coast, was handed over to Public Works Minister Anthony Xavier, in the presence of US Ambassador James Mack and Regional Development Minister Harripersaud Nokta. The 870-meter long structure, handed over by contractor B&K International, was built at a cost of $270 million, paid partly from the US PL--480 Food Aid Program.
Ambassador Mack lauded the contracting out of the sea defense job to private enterprise as a "strong" testimony to government's encouragement of private investments. "The administration's facilitating of the development of Guyana's private sector sends a very strong signal to investors, both domestic and foreign, who may be contemplating investing in Guyana," said the newly-accredited envoy at the handing over ceremony.
Two new companies have set up business in Linden, taking advantage of government's designation of the mining town as a tax-free industrial zone. Guyana Cement Incorporated is opening Guyana's first cement plant in a US$7.5 million investment that will create 936 jobs at the start of operations in December. Eborabo Enterprises is producing lumber products, and currently employing 55 workers at its US$350,000 factory.
Case timbers, a Malaysian/Guyanese company (US$40 million, and Wrays Enterprise, a local firm (US$7.2 million), are already operating in the industrial zone.
The Organization of American States (OAS) is sending a mission to Guyana to observe the country's upcoming general elections, the first time the OAS will be fielding an observer team in any elections, in an English-speaking Caribbean nation. Dr Bruce Rickerson of the OAS Unit for the Promotion of Democracy, former OAS Director in Guyana Paul Spencer, and consultant Ms Maria Bertha Carrillo, visited Guyana to examine logistical matters in advance of a larger party which will arrive days before polling day.
Re-migrant Keith Moonasar recently opened a $100 million plant at Rosignol, about 69 miles east of Georgetown, aiming to process 5,000 pounds of fish a day for export to the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.Star Sea-foods Fish Processing Plant, the company Mr Moonasar founded and heads as managing director is located ideally near the Berbice River, where Government plans to establish a sea port to facilitate exports from Guyana's eastern region.
The Ministry of Agriculture is studying how a Canadian model of crop insurance can be adopted in Guyana to the benefit of Guyanese farmers. The plan will provide farmers with insurance coverage to help them recover quickly from the destruction of their produce by floods, disease and other natural disasters.
United Nations Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, says he is satisfied with discussions taking place among the UN, Guyana and Venezuela to resolve a long-standing border issue between the South American neighbors. Speaking at a meeting on September 26 with Foreign Ministers of Guyana and Venezuela, Mr Annan urged officials of the two countries to continue peaceful efforts to reach a satisfactory settlement of the controversy.
A month after it began the test transmission of its third radio station, the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation formally launched '98.1 Hot FM,'. The new station aims to promote the corporation's goal of piercing the barriers of literacy, language and limited transmission to Guyana's outlying communities in imparting information and ideas to, and soliciting participatory support from, the Guyanese citizenry. Under a project being funded by UNESCO, residents in 50 Amerindian communities will be given short-wave radios to access the new station.
Amerindians trained in communications skills will also receive television sets, VCRs and tape recorders as a means of promoting community involvement in decision making and development projects.
First Lady Yvonne Hinds attended the 7th Conference of Wives of Heads of Government of the Americas, held in Panama City, Panama, from October 7 to 10. It was Mrs Hinds's first engagement abroad since her husband, Samuel Hinds, became President.
A secondary school has been opened at Santa Rosa, an Amerindian community in Guyana's north west region, as part of a US$19.5 million education improvement program being co-funded by the Inter-American Development Bank. The school and a dormitory were built at a cost of $8.6 million.
The Guyana Manufacturers' Association (GMA) hosted an international symposium at the Pegasus Hotel on Monday October 6, to sensitize manufacturers and exporters to the implication of globalization for Guyanese and Caribbean entrepreneurs. Speakers included Ms Susan Cronin, Director of the US Trade Representative's Office for Central American and Caribbean Affairs; Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Dr Edwin Carrington; and Sir Shridath Ramphal, CARICOM's Chief Negotiator.
Government has undertaken to help private airlines transform the Ogle Aerodrome into a municipal airport. Prime Minister Janet Jagan gave that affirmation when she launched Kaieteur Affordable Tours, a special travel package in which Roraima Airways will fly tourists to Guyana's world-renowned Kaieteur Falls at US$80 per person.-- half the regular fare.
Guyana assumed the chairmanship of CARIFORUM from Grenada on Wednesday October 15, when the grouping's members convened in Georgetown for their seventh meeting. Among other agenda items, CARIFORUM, a grouping of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ForeignMinisters that formulates a common regional position on international issues for articulation at global forums, evaluated the implementation of regional programs under the 1st Financial Protocol of the Lome IV Convention and rice and sugar exports to European Union markets.
The English-speaking Caribbean's largest commercial bank, Republic Bank Limited concluded an agreement with government on October 13 for its purchase of 47.5% of shares of the National Bank of Industry and Commerce (NBIC). The privatization deal, struck between Republic Bank and Guyana's Privatization Unit and worth $2.8 billion, gives the Trinidad and Tobago-incorporated bank a controlling interest in the NBIC. Republic Bank is expected to inject a total of US$27 million, or US$5.5 million in excess of the shares value, in the Guyanese economy over the next five years.
Guyana's unicameral National Assembly on October 13 approved a government-drafted bill to weed out discrimination of all forms in Guyana. The passage of the Prevention of Discrimination Act, which will have an immediate effect on attempts by Government to guarantee fair workplace practices, fulfills a 1992 campaign promise by the PPP/Civic alliance to pass a law prohibiting discrimination of any kind in every sphere of life in Guyana. The legislation was passed unanimously.
Auditor General Anand Goolsarran handed over his Department's 1996 annual report to finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo saying government accountability has improved significantly since 1992. "This is the fifth consecutive year that we have completed an audit of government's accounts," pointed out Mr Goolsarran, "and things are improving." Until 1993, the Auditor General's Department had not managed to produce an audited report on government's accounts for the previous ten years.
The Head of South Africa's Council for Geo-Sciences, Dr Nok Frick, has recently concluded a four-day visit to Guyana to assess the country's investment climate on behalf of a wide spectrum of South African entrepreneurs. Dr Frick left "very excited" about investment prospects in Guyana's mining industry and will convey his findings to the heads of Goldfield, Anglo-American and Gencor, three of south Africa's biggest gold mining firms.
The Deputy Director General of the European Commission, Mr Athanassios Theodurakis, has assured African/Caribbean/Pacific exporters that their rice quotas to the European Union remain intact. Mr Theodurakis, who addressed a meeting of CARIFORUM member countries in Georgetown, said the Commission is well aware of the importance of rice export to the ACP, a grouping of former colonies of EU member states, and has reached a compromise agreement favorable to ACP rice exporters.
The Social Impact Amelioration Program (SIMAP), buoyed by credits from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank's International Development Association, is intensifying its assistance to rural inhabitants in a community outreach initiative geared to accelerating grassroots development and the thrust against poverty. With US$10.3 million from the IDA, US$32 million from the IDB and 'food-for-work' support from the United Nations World Food Program, SIMAP is encouraging more rural folks to access its funds for community projects.
The Guyana National Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Guyana Chronicle and Sunday Chronicle, inaugurated a share ownership plan that allows employees and newspaper vendors to buy 10% of the assets of the state-owned company. The plan, approved by Government in keeping with a commitment to empowering state company workers, was announced at a function described by Prime Minister Janet Jagan and Information Minister Moses Nagamootoo as a "revolutionary and joyous occasion."
Almost 4,500 rural residents, many of them for the first time, are now receiving potable water from a $51 million pumping system commissioned at Canal Number 2 Polder, a West Bank Demerara district about 19 miles south-west of Georgetown. The system is one of 125 earmarked for refurbishing under a US$110 million program projected to deliver an adequate and reliable flow of drinking water to 500,000 rural householders by 1999.
Guyana's hospitality industry added a boost to eco-tourism and the country's economy on October 12, when Mr Christopher Kissoon, a member of the wealthy Kissoon family, opened a US$3 million hotel in central Georgetown. Called the Main Street Plaza the five storied hotel comprises 35 self-contained apartments, a conference room and a reception hall.
The Ministry of Finance has denied rumors of an impending devaluation of the Guyana dollar, saying it does not subscribe to calls for a 'modest' spiral of the dollar to enhance the competitiveness of Guyanese commodities. Guyana operates a floating currency exchange regime under which the rate of the Guyana dollar to the US dollar is determined by market forces. The dollar has remained stable over the last two years, allowing for the continued growth of the country's economy, which propelled by 6.1% for the first half of 1997, with exports increasing by 2.5% and merchandise imports expanding by 6.3%.
The United Nations Development Program on October 9, agreed to provide $37 million to the Guyana government in support of its initiative to promote gender equity in Guyana. The money will finance the establishment of a women's leadership institute and a resource and documentation center -- facilities intended to build the administration's capacity to empower women to participate in all aspects of societal life as do their men folk.
Foreign Minister Clement Rohee is representing Guyana at the ACP summit in Gabon fromNovember 4 to 7, following his participation in the Commonwealth conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. Among other things, the summit in Gabon is expected to map out a common strategy for the ACP's upcoming negotiations with the European community on a trade-aid pact to replace Lome IV, which concludes at the turn of the century.
Government has waived consumption tax on fertilizers as an incentive to boost output and reduce the cost of rice farming in Guyana. The measure, to take effect next spring, is meant to bring some redress to rice farmers who have experienced a significant decline in the price for their rice in the last year.
Fix-It-Hardware, a new private enterprise, began operation as Guyana's first authorized agent and distribution center for Black & Decker and Dewalt tools, joining a new wave of domestic private investors that have been investing at least US$100 million each year in the Guyanese economy.
Peruvian and Ecuadorian investors have agreed to buy paddy and rice from Guyana, amid the intensification of efforts by industry officials to secure new markets for Guyanese grain. A Peruvian company, Interloom, is expected to seal a deal with Guyanese exporters, while Ecuadorian Gustavo Amador I, has ordered a shipment of 4,000 tonnes of paddy and 500 tonnes of rice bran.
President Samuel Hinds on October 23, accredited Mr Luis Guillermo Martinez Fernandez as Colombia's new resident Ambassador to Guyana. Mr Fernandez replaces Mr Juan Sanchez, who served for 18 months in Guyana.
Guyana's health care system will be bolstered by the deployment of eight specialist medical practitioners from China over the next two years. The doctors will be placed at public hospitals in Georgetown and Linden on their arrival in the country in early December.
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has agreed to write off US$8 million of Guyana's debt to that institution. The Bank says it will write off Guyana's stock of Ordinary Capital Debt contracted before 1988 under a formula it is devising along the lines of the World Bank/IMF's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative.
Guyanese and Surinamese officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Berbice paving the way for the inauguration of a ferry service between their neighboring countries. The service, made possible by US$20 million in funding by the European Union, is expected to become operational in December.
A 12.8 mile canal rehabilitated by Government at a cost of $238 million at Torani, in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), and commissioned in October, will irrigate up to 83,000 acres of sugar cane, rice and nontraditional agricultural produce in the region.
The New Building Society, one of Guyana's more popular commercial banks, has reported lending $1.5 billion to 625 new house applicants in the first nine months of 1997. NBCaccountant Maurice Arjoon said "it was easily the highest amount of loans we have approved in the history of the NBC, and that makes 1997 quite a huge year for housing in Guyana." By contrast, the bank disbursed $956 million to 444 loan applicants in 1996.
Lord Carrington, the President of Britain's Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), says the organization is committed to sharing the skills of its specialists with Guyanese and to helping Guyana recover from the brain drain it has suffered over the past two decades. The VSO, which resumed operations in 1994 after being banned in 1970, the year the country became a republic, has 35 members working in Guyana's health, education and agricultural sectors. A next batch of volunteers is expected in the country by February.
Guyana and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have agreed to co-fund an initiative by Government, with a donation of US$129,000, to identify indicators of poverty and take action to eradicate the scourge from Guyana.
Banks DIH Limited opened a new $25 million branch at First Avenue, Bartica. The new complex has a large bond, a cash and carry section, and staff facilities.
A consortium of Amerindian loggers and small-scale timber operators in Berbice, eastern Guyana, has struck a deal with an American company, PNS International, to supply exportable logs to that firm. The consortium exported a shipment worth US$1.2 million and bound for China to PNS International in mid-October.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) along with the Social Impact Amelioration Program (SIMAP) distributed a number of household articles to community groups in New Amsterdam, Berbice to accelerate feeding and training program in that community
A river embankment of 4,335 feet in length 6 feet high and 20 feet wide was recently completed at Edinburgh, East Bank Berbice.
Three major secondary schools and the entire residential drainage system of Lancaster/Hogg Stye/Manchester/Liverpool areas in Region Six have been recently rehabilitated. Other projects in progress include the rehabilitation of Berbice High School, No 72, Tain and New Amsterdam Multilateral Schools. Currently Guy Park and Islington Streets are being resurfaced with burnt-earth and bauxite capping.
A massive drainage program has been undertaken in Met-en-Meerzorg West Squatting Area, West Coast Demerara. The program will also lead to an improvement in drainage of residential areas in the location.
Work is in progress on the construction of a new nursery school at Anna Regina. The school, when completed will cost $2.8 million.
The Region Two Land Selection committee has distributed one-acre plots to 125 farmers in Bush Lot, Essequibo Coast. The lands to be used for cash-crop cultivation were given to landless persons interested in farming.
Ten private firms began the surveying of lands in the country's hinterland in late October preceding demarcation of the boundaries of 75 Amerindian communities in conformity to a 1969 Amerindian Lands Commission recommendation.
The Venezuelan Government has donated 50,000 gallons of fuel, 50 drums of No. 40 oil and 150 barrels of light aircraft fuel to Guyana's Elections's Commission to help the commission effectively manage Guyana's upcoming general elections.
United Nations volunteer, Czech-born Dr Ladislav Meznik, arrived in Guyana for a one-year stint with the Ministry of Health. Dr Menznik, who specializes in psychiatry, is working under a UN Volunteer Program that solicits the services of experts to boost the growth and development of Guyana's socio-economic sectors.
A nursery school, to accommodate more than 200 students is currently under construction at Bush Lot, Central Corentyne. The school should be completed in November at a cost of $8 million by the Region Six Administration. In addition a new $7 million primary school is also to commence at Rose Hall while another new school at Devonshire Castle, Essequibo Coast will be commissioned soon.
Food for the Poor (Guyana) recently handed over some $145 million worth of textbooks to the Ministry of Education for onward distribution to school across the country.
A contract was signed and the sod turned for the building of a $53 million primary school at Hosororo, Barima/Waini.
The Guyana Water Authority (GUYWA) says it has been able to complete the installation of 70 new electrically-operated submersible well pumps and that another 55 pumps are to be installed shortly and will form part of the national rehabilitation efforts aimed at upgrading water supply to some 400,000 consumers. Meanwhile, Dr Henry Jeffrey officiated at the ceremony for the commissioning of another three new water pump stations at Timehri, East Bank Demerara.
The new Lachmansingh Primary School at Bush Lot West Coast Berbice, built to accommodateover 840 students, was commissioned recently by Minister of Education Dr Dale Bisnauth. The new school was built at a cost of $96.6 million.
A consortium of three local aircraft companies has won accreditation by Cessna Aircraft of the United States as sales and maintenance agent for Cessna planes. President Samuel Hinds attended the ceremony at which the consortium's accreditation was announced.
The United Nations will be setting up a Secretariat in Georgetown to coordinate the work of foreign missions going to observe Guyana's December 15 general elections. UN electoral expert, Frenchman Jacques Carrio, arrived in Guyana to head the Secretariat.
SaskPower Commercial Incorporated is sending a team to Guyana next month to sign an agreement with Government on the company assuming the management of the Guyana Electricity Corporation. The two sides had been negotiating the privatization of the GEC in January for a 50% equity interest in the company.
About 100 street vendors in the municipality of Anna Regina on the Essequibo Coast are relocating to stalls in the new municipal market constructed by the Anna Regina Town Council.
The prolonged dry season, resulting from the El Nino phenomenon, has led the Guyana Water Authority to take steps to reduce wastage of water by consumers. Consumers were advised not to leave their taps flowing and not to pump directly from the mains.
The Mahaicony Primary School is being rebuilt under the Ministry of Education Primary Education Improvement Project (PEIP).
The Region Six Administration commenced the construction of two new community development projects in Port Mourant/Johns area. The first project, involves the rehabilitation of a $2.5 million community road in the location.
Another 439 house lots were made available in Region Six to the homeless and under-privileged residents. Successful applicants received house lots at Albion, Cumberland, East Canje and Tain on the Corentyne.
A $105.5 million contract has been signed to fix a five-mile farm to market road from Supenaam to Charity on the Essequibo Coast. Work has also started on the access roads in the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary Scheme in Region Five
Ministry of Health Gail Teixeira formally opened the repaired Mumaka District Hospital and training Complex. The $17 million project was funded by Government and the European Union.
Mexico's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Sergio Gonzales Golves, visited Guyana recently to discuss bilateral and international issues and a timetable and agenda for the visit of Mexico's Foreign Minister to Guyana next year.
The Ministry of Education and Cultural Development recently inaugurated an awards program to reward secondary school students who perform creditably at Secondary Schools Entrance, Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CXC) and Advanced and General Certificate of Education (GEC) examinations. Nine of the 142 students who wrote the examination in 1997 and thirteen 1996 Guyana scholarship winners received top prizes at the awards ceremony at the National Cultural Center.
Seereeram Brothers Limited, a Trinidadian company contracted to rebuild Guyana's 37-mile Soesdyke/Linden highway, has begun using a $35 million US-made slurry seal machinery to enhance its implementation of the $920 million job. Seereeram Brothers will overlay 30.8 miles of the super highway with slurry seal as part of its two-year contract.
Guyanese businessman Vickram Oditt has been named by Malaysia as its Honorary Consul in Guyana to strengthen trade and economic ties between the two countries Among other things, Mr Oditt is chairman of the Guyana Sugar Corporation and Vinelli Industries Limited and a director of the Institute for Private Enterprise Development.
A contingent of 125 British army servicemen is in Guyana to take part in a month-long training exercise with their Guyanese counterparts commencing on October 22. The troops will be utilizing the Guyana Defence Force's training facilities at Makouria..
Government is devising a framework to facilitate the creation of a private 'development' bank that would promote long-term saving and intensify entrepreneurial investments
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VACANCIES
The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security has vacancies for the following positions:
Chief Probation and Family Welfare Officer;
Deputy Chief Probation and Family Welfare Officer;
Chief Social Worker; Deputy Chief Social Worker.
All applicants must have Degrees in Social Work or Sociology. Further details of these positions may be obtained from the Ministry. Applications should also be sent to the Ministry at Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown, Guyana.
(Fax: 592-2-53477)
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