The government will spend some $G240M on 14 projects for the remainder of the year. The areas earmarked are infrastructural works on school buildings, pure water supply systems and health projects.
In the health sector $39M will be spent to upgrade health centers at Craig, Long Creek, Parika and Anna Regina. A health project has begun at Cumberland, East Canje, and will continue for three years. This project provides food supplement and drugs to residents in nearby communities. Similar programs have also begun at Kwakwani, Ituni on the Berbice River and Craig on the East Bank of Demerara.
In Region 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) some $G52M will be spent to rehabilitate the Yakusari Primary School, East Canje Secondary School and Cumberland Health Center.
Proposals for potable water supply systems for residents in Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice) and Region 2 (Pomeroon/Supenaam) are being considered.
Several other projects also have been approved. These include the rehabilitation of the Huis't Dieren Nursery School, Essequibo Coast; Laluni Primary School, Soesdyke Highway; Little Baiboo Primary School, Mahaica Creek; and Coomaka Primary, Upper Demerara River.
Ambassador explains about:
On a regular basis, the Embassy and the Consulate in New York receive applications for new passports to replace ones which have been lost. These applications are treated differently to those which are made solely for new passports to replace expired ones or for renewals.
Normally, it is an easy process to issue new passports or renewals at the Embassy or the Consulate, but when it comes to issuing of replacements for lost passports, the situation is different. The person who has lost a passport must make a sworn declaration explaining how the passport was lost and, at the same time, submit an application for a new passport. Details, including the number of the lost passport, must be provided. The information provided by the applicant is then sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs where it is checked for verification, and when that Ministry is satisfied that the applicant had indeed been issued a passport, the Embassy or the Consulate will be directed to issue a replacement passport. Normally, a replacement for a lost passport takes a maximum of six months to be effected, but in most cases, this is done in a much shorter time, particularly when the passport number and the correct name of the holder are provided.
Unfortunately, some of our nationals living in the USA feel that the Embassy or the Consulate must issue a replacement passport to them immediately after their applications are submitted, and some of them become very abusive to the consular staff, even when the regulations are explained to them.
For Guyanese in the USA, the best way to avoid this problem is to be very careful with your documents. You must protect your Guyana passport in the same manner you protect your green card or your US passport.
Ambassador Odeen Ishmael
Guyana's non-traditional agricultural exports almost trebled to 346 million dollars (one Guyana dollar - 0.007 US cents) last year, according to annual report of the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC).
Non-traditional exports brought in 140 million Guyana dollars in 1993. GMC said that in 1994 Guyana exported to the Caribbean and beyond more than 4,637 tonnes of 80 types of produce, including copra, heart of palm and pineapple.
Trinidad and Tobago accounted for 52 per cent of Guyana's trade with the Caribbean Community. Some 72 per cent of Guyana's exports to extra-regional countries went to France, a large importer of the heart of palm.
Fresh produce made up in excess of 1,000 tonnes, worth 50 million Guyana dollars.
According to GMC report, encouraging market expansion trends were noted in Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
The report stated that in relation to copra, GMC concentrated on stimulating growth on plantations on the East Coast of Demerara and in the northwestern riverain areas.
The Ministry of Agriculture has been working with GMC to help the agency forge greater links with producers, exporters and buyers in the agro-processing industry.
GMC is also working to provide opportunities for farmers, processors and exporters and representatives of financial agencies to work together to facilitate the increase of non-traditional exports over the next two years.
GMC says it wants to see an increase in Guyana's production of avocado pear, cashew nut, coffee, mango, cherry and passion fruit for a lucrative regional market.
The names of persons who comprised the Commission of Enquiry into the August 19 cyanide waste spill at Omai Gold Mines, were released on October 7, by Prime Minister Sam Hinds.
Former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Mr Kenneth George, has replaced Chief Justice of the Bahamas, Mr Telford George who was initially to head the probe team.
Others who were appointed include Senior Manager, Corporate and Management Services, National Bank of Industry and Commerce, Mrs Yolande Foo, and former Magistrate Mr Hanoman Singh. Guyana Defence Force Colonel Mr Michael Atherly, and retired Administrative Manager, Seals and Packaging Industries Limited, Mr Ishmael Bacchus.
Legal Officer, Geology and Mines Commission Mrs Rosemary Benjamin-Noble had been appointed Secretary of the Commission. The hearings to be held in public began in the week of October 23.
Education Minister Dr Dale Bisnauth on October 3, announced the names of the 21-member Council for the University of Guyana. The members of the new council are: Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Chancellor of the University of Guyana Rudy Insanally, UG Vice Chancellor Dr Dennis Craig, Mel Sankies, Deryck Archer, Rudolph Davis, Jonathan Adams, Dr Adiola James, Hydar Ally, Mahase Pertab, Moses Nagamootoo, Lloyd Joseph, Savitri Balbahadur, Bijulee Moti, Pauline Sukhai, Maniram Prashad, Lincoln Lewis, Bayney Karran, Dr Hughley Hanoman, Dr Vibert Shury, Steven Chang and Dr Martin Boodhoo.
Gold Probe Upgraded
The probe into large quantities of gold smuggled from Guyana to the United States has reached an inter-governmental level, with the US government pledging full co-operation.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) and Secretary to the Defence Board, Dr Roger Luncheon, said that the probe has moved out of the realm of the Ministry of Finance and the US Customs Department to the inter-governmental level.
Dr Luncheon added that the Cabinet-appointed inter-agency committee, chaired by the Office of the President, met in mid-October with the US Embassy's Charge d'Affaires, Mr Christian Kennedy. The senior US official has pledged his government's co-operation to help Guyana protect its revenue and has promised to provide all available information.
The HPS has also indicated that the team's probe has widened significantly.
A batch of untrained teachers from Regions Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) have begun a unique distance education course to upgrade their academic qualifications and teaching skills.
Requiring mainly home study, it is called the Guyana Distance Education Project and is scheduled to last two years.
It was designed by the National Centre for Educational Resource Development of the Ministry of Education (NCERD). The NCERD plan is aimed at upgrading the qualifications of the beneficiaries without them having to leave their communities or neglect their routine duties.
This is a pilot scheme and when it is completed successful trainees will be appropriately recognized not only in terms of emoluments but suitability for more advanced courses in formal training institutions.
A newly built $7M two-storey social services center, funded by Futures Fund, was handed over to residents of Bartica on October 14.
The Dorcas Community Services Center in Region 7 will be used to promote vocational programs such as handicraft, knitting, cookery and nutrition. It will also be used to provide specialist assistance to residents such as marriage counseling, career guidance and other skills.
A $10.9M Artesian Water Supply Project, funded also by Futures Fund, was welcomed by residents. Meanwhile Futures Fund has also approved $G7.4M for a complete rehabilitation of the Bartica Secondary School.
Some $3.9M has already been spent to provide adequate seating accommodation for the school's library and to refurbish the Home Economics and Industrial Arts Departments.
Over $40M is being expended to rehabilitate the Bartica abattoir, refurbish primary, secondary and community high schools, transform the Mazaruni Prisons bakery/scullery/kitchen block, build access bridges and roads at Agatash/Quitaro to link the communities to Bartica, and to sponsor Youth Exchange Projects.
The present sugar production level is over 15,000 tonnes below the targeted amount of 190,800 tonnes. This shortfall comes at a time when workers on two of the Guyana Sugar Corporation estates went on strike.
The militant union, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union called its field members at Uitvlugt and Skeldon out on strike to protest recent measures by the estates' management.
Some 1,000 workers went on strike on October 13, to protest the Uitvlugt estate's move to institute a 'turn-system' of allocation job work. This system entails the issuing of numbers of gangs that jobs will be allocated to in numerical order. The workers are calling for the existing 'first come, first serve' system employed by many of the estates to remain.
At Skeldon the workers went on strike against management's refusal to adhere to their extra-pay demand of $250 a row. The estate management offered $30.
Copies of government's recommendations for the establishment of National Housing Fund have been sent to various agencies, including the trade union movement, the employers association, various private sector bodies and other interest group.
According to the Housing Ministry's proposals, ' the fund should cater for contributions from employees and employers and could also include self-employed persons and should not be a voluntary contribution scheme.'
With the NIS record of 119,313 employees enjoying income of about $1.3 billion a month, it was suggested that employee and employer contribution should be 2% and 3% respectively adding up to $65.1M a month for the Fund.
It was recommended that the Fund would easily be able to accommodate 3,500 borrowers per year at $1M per project and the lending period not exceeding 20 years, at interest rates ranging between 5% and 7%.
Dr Jeffrey emphasized that if government's low-cost housing drive is to gain momentum, the country will have to establish its indigenous means of financing. The country, he said , cannot only depend on international help for the government's housing drive.
President Cheddi Jagan on October 5, acknowledged continuing problems in the electricity sector but said efforts are being made to redress the situation.
The President said that while his administration has striven to do all that is good for Guyana 'our labours have not always achieved the desired result'.
Speaking at the investiture ceremony for recipients of national awards for 1995, the President said 'there are continuing problems with electricity. We have made progress but not enough.'
He said before the Christmas season Government would be entering into a special short term arrangement to boost power generation. In this respect, the Government has concluded negotiations with the Machinery Corporation of Guyana firm to lease four 1.5 megawatts generator sets which should reduce the spate of 'blackouts' dogging Georgetown and its environs.
The President contended that his administration has been doing a lot the past three years, citing financial stability at the macro- economic level, an upswing in production, and major works on health, education, water and transportation.
He listed a number of areas which he said are still cause for concern and these include the crime situation, corruption, tax evasion, lawlessness on the roads and environmental protection.
The Ministry of Education is moving swiftly to ensure that the nation's children are adequately accommodated within the school system. This was expressed by Senior Minister of Education Dr. Dale Bisnauth on October 19, at a signing ceremony of two contracts for the construction of two new primary schools.
The contracts for the new schools are worth some $117M. Funding for the new structures had been provided by the IDB, through a soft loan agreement with the Government of Guyana.
Also $120M has been allocated by the Primary Education Improvement Program for the rehabilitation of 12 primary schools in various parts of the country. Meanwhile, an additional 51 schools have been identified to be refurbished under the Primary Education Improvement Program.
During the past three years 100 new or rehabilitated schools have come on stream.
Dr Martin Budhoo has been unanimously approved as the University of Guyana's new Pro-Chancellor. At the newly composed UG Council's first meeting, Dr Budhoo was the only nomination for the position.
One of the new council's first tasks will be to facilitate the presidential Commission of Inquiry which was announced in August.
Meanwhile, the University's Vice- Chancellor, Professor Dennis Craig, has indicated that he would be vacating office before his contract expires.
One of Guyana's state-owned bauxite entities, the Berbice Mining Enterprise (BERMINE) has completed a deal with the Canadian multinational Alcan Aluminum Company to supply between 240,000 and 300,000 tonnes of metallurgical bauxite. The contract was secured by the Bauxite Industry Development Company (BIDCO), the marketing agent for BERMINE, and covers a three-year period beginning March 1996. For the bauxite industry, the Alcan deal is particularly welcome since the demand and prices for bauxite have been depressed for many years.
Trade union stalwart, Gordon Todd, capped a two-decades bid for labor's top position with a historic victory for the Presidency of the Trade Union Congress(TUC). The race for TUC President went right down the wire with Todd's two rivals waiting until the last minute to pull out of contention, allowing him to be declared the movement's first ever consensus candidate.
With the expansion of the economy and more investments pouring in, more Guyanese are being employed thus causing a dent in the ranks of the employed. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) recently reported that the unemployment figures in Guyana had dropped considerably and were now below 11 percent. Finance Minister Bharat Jagdeo has also revealed that since October 1992, a total of 26,282 jobs have been created, while 1,915 new companies or employers have been registered since 1993.
President Cheddi Jagan has sent personal letters of congratulations to the ten top students who have passed the CXC examinations. In his letter to Fay Allicock, who obtained the best results, the President noted: "Your success is a testimony of what youths are capable of achieving.... youths like yourself can become role models for others."
He also indicated to the other students that Guyana is in need of qualified personnel, and the more qualified Guyana's youths become, would mean that Guyana's recovery from the brain drain experienced over the years would be closer.
The World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank have given assurance of financial support to Guyana's re-defined Primary Health Care Project until June 1996.
A further US$130,000 has also been allocated for the training of personnel and the certification of equipment to be utilized in the new Ambulatory Care Unit of the Georgetown Hospital. Guyana has also arranged for US$10,000 through the World Health Organization to fund continuing technical support for the re-writing of health legislation
Guyanese Dr Arlington Chesney has been appointed Director of the Caribbean Regional Centre of Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. IICA aids Organization of American States (OAS) members with technical assistance, consultation and administration of agricultural programmes.
As Regional Director, through the representatives of various countries, Dr Chesney has responsibility for the operations of every IICA project in the region and the safeguard of all the institute's assets.
NewsgramNewsgram
...Five local firms have been awarded contracts to renovate eight magistrates courts and the High Court Law Library under a United States aid programme.
...The United States Agency for International Development has signed a US$3M agreement to cover a project aimed at strengthening democracy in Guyana.
...The hunt for oil in Guyana is on again, after several aborted attempts in recent years. Government on October 7, signed an agreement with the US firm, Petrel, giving it exclusive rights to off-shore oil exploration, 20 miles east of Guyana's coastline, for the next six months.
...President Cheddi Jagan on October 8, confirmed Mr Bharat Jagdeo as Senior Finance Minister and announced former Information Minister, Mr Moses Nagamootoo's return to the Cabinet. He now heads the new Local Government Ministry.
...Forty-two new subscribers in Bartica have received telephone service. Among the areas which now have phones are First Avenue to Seventh Avenue, Bartica Housing Scheme and Carabese Hill.
...Residents of Bel Voir Court in Georgetown now have a $1.2M recreational park, developed by the Demerara Lioness Club with financial assistance from Banks DIH. It was formally declared open by First Lady Janet Jagan on October 7. The square has several swings, a slide, seats and toilet. Other amenities will be put down soon.
...The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a US$38M loan to Guyana on concessional terms to improve the financial system and boost its competitiveness.
...Official gold production continues to drop with some 35,819 ounces reported sold to the Guyana Gold Board for the second quarter of this year, against the budgeted 49,500 ounces.
...Some 20,000 acres of rice and cattle land at Manarabisi, Canje River, will benefit from increased water supply and improved drainage with the installation of an irrigation pump. The $32M project was funded by the Guyana Government.
...Some $G1M has been allotted towards desilting of canals and drains, procuring two brush cutters, construction of three access bridges, and the rehabilitation and purchasing of furniture and equipment for the Local Council Office in Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara.
...Two community High Schools were commissioned on October 13. These are Plaisance Community High School and the Dolphin Community High School. Meanwhile the Ministry of Education has allocated $7.2M for the rehabilitation of the Christ Church Secondary School in Georgetown.
...Ambassador Odeen Ishmael visited Atlanta, Georgia in early October and held discussions with officials of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center and the Carter Center. He also met with directors of Georgia Pacific, and with officials of Emory University and Clark-Atlanta University.
...Blairmont Primary School was formally handed over by the SIMAP to the Ministry of Education on October 4. The rehabilitation was funded by the Inter-American Development Bank at a cost of $16.9M through an agreement with the Government of Guyana. The school will now be able to accommodate 350 pupils.
...In mid-October President Cheddi Jagan was awarded the Francisco Gomez Award, the highest award of the State of Porlamar in Venezuela by the State Governor, Dr. Andreas Velasquez. President Jagan was at the time visiting Venezuela.
...Guyana celebrated the Hindu festival of Diwali on October 23. Diwali is a national holiday. The highlights of this year's celebration were large colorful motorcades in various parts of the country.
...President Cheddi Jagan visited Cleveland, Ohio on October 22 where he gave a feature address at Baldwin-Wallace College. At the College, the President was presented with a mamogram machine for the Georgetown Hospital. The Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Akron also announced the donation of 100 textbooks on electrical engineering to the University of Guyana.
...The 23 working groups on the government's National Development Strategy met on October 25 to review their progress.
Miss Guyana Queen of Queens Pageant
Saturday, December 2, 1995 at Klitgord Auditorium, New York City Technical College
So far, competing Queens are Miss Regatta, Miss Georgetown, Miss Guyana African Heritage, Miss Metropolitan Washington DC, Miss Guyana-Connecticut, Miss Guyana-Florida, Miss Guyana-New Jersey, Miss Guyana-New York, and Miss Guyana-UK.
For details, contact Negla Brandis 718-527-0033
For information on Guyana, INTERNET users may check the WEB SITE on GUYANA NEWS AND INFORMATION at:
http:/www.wam.umd.edu/~swi
Our E-mail address is: MAOIshmael@aol.com
Maryland Hindu Milan Mandir
808 Forest Glen Road,
Silver Spring, MD
Services - Sundays 9.30 a.m.
Pandit Sase N. Sharma 301-593-7638
Islamic Society of the Washington Area
Principles of Islam
3rd Saturday every month
Dr. S. Hassan 301-384-7268
Hindu Dharmic Sabha
3909 53rd St., Bladensburg
Services Sunday 10.00 a.m.
James Beharilall 301-699-9573
THE WORKING DAY AT THE EMBASSY WILL END AT 4.00 P.M.
If you want to use this forum to inform the community of your group's activities, FAX the information to 202-232-1297 or call 202-265