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The Guyana Update -- September, 1997. |
This issue of Guyana Update marks the beginning of the fifth year of its publication. The first issue rolled off the press in September 1993, two months after I took up my post in Washington. The Guyanese community in the Washington Metropolitan area was very supportive of our effort which initially was spearheaded by one of their own, Errol Arthur, who volunteered his time and effort to ensure that the newsletter was edited, printed and circulated to US Government agencies and to centers of higher education, individuals and Guyanese community groups in the United States. Because of the dearth of information about developments in Guyana within the United States, the Guyana Update rapidly became a publication in great demand. Guyanese in various localities have continued to reprint their copies and circulate them to other Guyanese, and today the newsletter has firmly established itself as a reference tool for journalists and researchers.
Since then two Guyanese newspapers, Stabroek News and Chronicle have established online editions, but their presence has not lost the Guyana Update any of its popularity.
Since the beginning of the 1993-94 period, we have expanded our mailing circulation appreciably. We have also utilized the expansion of technology by having an Internet edition which is being read all over the world. We thank our numerous readers in various parts of the world who e-mail their comments to us.
As we enter our fifth year of publication, we pledge to continue to improve on the quality of presentation as we try our best to provide the world audience with reports of events and developments taking place in Guyana. We urge our readers to assist us by sending their comments, suggestions and constructive criticisms on a regular basis.
Government and SaskPower Commercial Incorporated of Canada have set September 30 as the new date for the successful conclusion of their talks on SaskPower's acquisition of 50% of the assets of the Guyana Electricity Corporation (GEC). The two sides say the extension from their August 31 deadline will allow for the closing of mutually satisfactory deal.
The extension was agreed to in talks in mid-August with the Deputy Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, Mr Dwaine Lingenfelter, and SaskPower Commercial president, Mr Michael Hogan. The company, a subsidiary of Saskatchewan Power Corporation, the lone power utility in Saskatchewan, is ironing out a management contract and the rate of return, two outstanding issues from negotiations that have been taking place between SaskPower Commercial Inc. and the Guyana Government since the company won a US$22.6 million bid for a 50% equity interest in the state-run GEC.
One major agreement reached in their latest round of talks was that a privatized GEC will not be increasing electricity rates for the first three years of its operation.
Mr Lingenfelter, who was on a 'due diligence' mission to Guyana in response to a visit to Saskatchewan in July by Prime Minister Janet Jagan, described the rate of Guyana's economic growth as "staggering." At a news briefing recently, he said he has been impressed by IDB/World Bank reports on the performance of the Guyanese economy, and the upsurge in construction he saw while in Guyana reminded him of the Asian economic tigers just before their boom.
The signing of a GEC privatization agreement between Government and SaskPower Commercial Inc. is expected to lead to great opportunities for investments in Guyana and to closer Guyana/Canadian ties.
Meanwhile, Government is seeking a commitment by SaskPower to work toward satisfying the energy requirements of householders and industry within two years, and toward the electrification of the whole of Guyana by early in the 21st century. The PPP/Civic administration has managed to increase electricity generation from 45.7 megawatts in 1992 to 109.5 megawatts today, but the sector needs massive funding and high-tech inputs to raise the standard and reliability of the GEC.
Successful candidates are being trained to help the Guyana Elections Commission manage voting during the country's upcoming polls. The training program, being implemented in 48 locations over a six-week period, aims at providing the Elections Commission with 8,000 field personnel to oversee polling station activities on Election Day.
Guyanese have been voting in their country's general elections since the 1940s, when local politicians began running for high public office. But the training of returning officers and other Election Day personnel is big news in Guyana because the country is preparing for only its second democratic polls in almost three decades. The four elections from 1968 to 1985 were all rigged , negating the requirements for professionalism, fairness and transparency in the voting process, until 1992, when international community sanctions, particularly aid withdrawals -- the result of vigorous campaigning by the now ruling PPP/Civic alliance -- pressured the PNC regime into freeing up the electoral process.
The trainees will be expected to demonstrate a working understanding of the duties and responsibilities they are required to discharge in ensuring the smooth running of the elections.
Guyana's late President , Dr Cheddi Jagan has been presented with the Freedom 50 Award by the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO). The posthumous award for "Political Leadership" was presented at a ceremony held by the organization at the New York Hilton Hotel on Saturday, August 30, during activities celebrating the 50th anniversary of the independence of India
The Award, in the form of a plaque, was presented on behalf of the organization by India's Minister of Human Resource Development, Somappa Bommai, who participated in the evening's activities. Receiving the Award was Ambassador Odeen Ishmael, who represented Prime Minister Janet Jagan at the ceremony.
On receiving the award the Ambassador stated that he was accepting it "on behalf of the people and Government of Guyana, and on behalf of all the toiling masses everywhere, for ultimately it was for their betterment that he (Dr Jagan) struggled, lived and died".
Government has invited Beal Aerospace Inc., of Dallas Texas, for talks on the construction of a satellite space rocket launch station in Guyana's hinterland. The talks will focus on Beal's construction, shipment and assembly of the space station, and the possible inauguration of space rocket launching at the station by fall of 1998.
Guyana is reportedly ranked high among countries for the setting up of communication satellite launching stations because of its close proximity to the Equator. President Sam Hinds sees Guyana as becoming the "space port" of the 21stcentury and onwards.
If Beal Aerospace Inc. gets the job, the commercial satellite launching project will be funded by Beal Bank in Dallas owned by the firm's head, Andrew Beal. It will be a major plus for Guyana's economy, its growth rate one of the highest in this hemisphere but still restrained by a foreign debt overhang of some US$1.4 billion
Canada has agreed to give the Guyana Elections Commission Cn$300,000 worth of supplies for use on Polling Day in Guyana's upcoming general elections. The money, provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), will assist in financing a supply of ballot paper, ballot boxes, electoral ink and election kits for the elections.
Guyana has joined 32 other countries that can now access international information on environmental protection, pollution control and natural resources management on the Internet. Guyana's Information Ministry acquired Sustainable Development Networking Program (SDNP) nodes from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in late July. The establishment of the SDNP in Guyana, the result of an initiative by late President Cheddi Jagan at the 1996 Hemispheric Summit on Sustainable Development in Bolivia, will boost efforts by Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency to develop managerial professionalism in the protection of the nation's environment.
Prime Minister Janet Jagan on August 4 received UNESCO's highest award, the Gandhi Gold Medal, becoming the first Guyanese, first woman and first Caribbean national to have been so honored. Convened in Georgetown's picturesque Promenade Gardens next to a statue of India's disciple of peace, Mahatma Gandhi, the ceremony paid glowing tribute to Ms Jagan, whose arrival in Guyana in 1943 with her returning dentist husband, Dr Cheddi Jagan, has transformed the country's political and socioeconomic landscape.
Seahawk Minerals, a Canadian mining company registered in Colorado, USA, plans to renew its three-year licenses and increase investments in its three large concessions in Guyana's gold-rich hinterland. The company, a subsidiary of Pegasus Gold International, a million-ounce-a-year gold producer, has so far invested US$1.4 million on exploration activities, saying it is encouraged by Guyana's investment potential and by the lucrative prospects of its concessions in the country.
Work began in August on the construction of two farm access roads to increase the capability of rural farmers to market their produce. A local company has been hired to build the all-weather roads in Berbice at a cost of G$174.5 million.
The contracts are the first of six that are being given out by the Ministry of Agriculture under a US$4.7 million IDB co-funded program designed to build 32.4 miles of roads in Guyana's major food-producing zones.
The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Sir George Alleyne, has commended the Guyana Government on the efforts it is making in improving the country's health conditions after years of decline. Sir George spoke during a two-day visit to Guyana in August, and announced that PAHO would give Guyana additional technical assistance to improve health sector data collection and help it win certification as being free of foot and mouth disease.
PAHO provides Guyana with some US$400,000 each year in technical assistance and funds consultancy visits in Guyana by medical experts.
A Trinidadian firm, Seereeram Brothers Limited, has begun repairing Guyana's Linden/Soesdyke Highway, the thoroughfare that links the country's coastal and sandy and hilly regions. Supervised by SNC Lavalin International Incorporated, Seereeram Brothers is repairing the 37-mile highway, at a cost of G$920.5 million.
Barama Company Limited is investing another US$7 million in Guyana this year to boost sustainable forest harvesting in its hinterland concessions. Barama, owned, by a consortium of Malaysian and Korean investors, began operations in Guyana in 1993. The company plans to double its production of 1,500 cubic meters of sawn lumber per month and increase its plywood lines from four to twelve by the turn of the century.
Guyana's 65-member unicameral National Assembly has passed a Government-drafted Bill to exempt Guyanese and Caribbean artists from entertainment tax and to legalize the granting of tax relief to certain categories of Guyanese workers. The Bill, supported by the three opposition parties in the Assembly, authorizes Government to raise the income tax threshold to reduce the tax on persons who earn $134,000 a year from 33% to 20%, and to exempt another 11,000 workers from paying income tax.
Caribbean Telecommunications Limited (CTL), a company formed by three New Jersey-based Guyanese, has inaugurated a cellular service in Guyana in August, one year after heeding Government's repatriation call and investing US$2 million in this once unchartered venture. CTL will cater initially to 600 business community subscribers, providing them with a call range of up to 42 kilometers with cellular phones manufactured in New Jersey by Verma Laboratory, a patented company run by Guyanese Dr Shiv Verma, CTL's Engineering Department head.
CTL plans to relocate Verma Laboratory in Guyana within two years and to manufacture some 200,000 cellular phones a year for sale in Guyana and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Guyana Government has succeeded in winning multilateral debt relief support since assuming office in October of 1992, resulting in the country's foreign debt being reduced from US$2.1 billion in 1992 to US$1.4 billion at the end of June, 1997. But vigorous efforts by Government to qualify for even more significant debt relief under the IMF-proposed Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) could write off another US$292 million from the country's bilateral account.
A HIPC mission report on Guyana's economy and debt-to-revenue ratio is due for discussion at an IMF board meeting soon. Guyana is one of five countries that have been identified by the IMF and the World Bank for priority consideration for debt relief under the Initiative.
The National Assembly has passed legislation, the Shops Miscellaneous Enactment Amendment Bill, permitting business places to open on Sundays and to extend their opening hours from 5:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m to facilitate the upsurge of business activity in the country, and to cater to the needs of people who work beyond 4:30 p.m. Labor Minister Dr Henry Jeffrey says his ministry will soon address business hours for night clubs.
A visiting dairy mission from New Brunswick, Canada, has recommended the establishment of mini pasteurization plants in Guyana's milk catchment zones in order to increase production and achieve nation self-sufficiency in fluid milk output. The six-member fact-finding mission, led by Mr Robert Goggin, says precursor of the mini plants should be a prototype operation to demonstrate the viability of such a plant and to use that plant as a training resource for other ventures to follow.
The recommendations appear in a 36-page report compiled by the mission after conducting a one-week study in Guyana in March to find ways to stimulate the development of Guyana's dairy sector, identify opportunities in the sector to promote trade between New Brunswick and Guyana, and explore the possibility of joint ventures in the country's fertilizer sector.
The New Brunswick Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, through NB AgriExport Inc., is willing to establish a joint venture company with a local entrepreneur and provide the equipment and technical expertise to build the model mini pasteurization plant, estimated to cost US$325,000 to US$500,000. Annual milk consumption in Guyana is 15 million liters, but 8 million liters of this amount is imported as powder.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has commended the Guyana Government on its management of Guyana's economy, saying it is impressed by policy measures the PPP/Civic administration has been adopting to rebuild the country's shattered economy. The latest edition of the Bank's newsletter, The IDB, says programs drafted by the administration and co-funded by the Bank have led to unprecedented output in the country's rice and sugar industries and to the all-round growth of the country's economy, which "seven years ago was in shambles."
Thanks to timely IDB loan disbursements, rice and sugar production has increased by more than 260% since 1990.
The People's Republic of China has agreed to give the Guyana Government US$1.9 million in credits to allow for the purchase of a polypropylene bag factory by Guyanese entrepreneur Mervin Wray. An on-lending loan agreement signed recently by Foreign Affairs Minister Clement Rohee and Chinese Ambassador Wang Fuyuan enables Government to facilitate Mr Wray's acquisition of the US$5 million factory and the start of production of polypropylene bags for local and foreign markets.
Work is continuing apace on a US$15 million project to refurbish Georgetown's sewage and water supply systems. The project, which is being funded jointly by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Guyana Government, and on which more than G$500 million was spent last year, aims at replacing equipment installed in the city in 1951 and improve the quality and reliability of the city's water and sewerage services.
The Georgetown Sewerage and Water Commission, which provides both services, recently opened a new G$23 million administrative building, from which it hopes to address the concerns of citizens more efficiently.
For many years, Georgetown has been affected by a poor and dilapidated water and sewage disposal systems.
A new airline, GT Air International, will inaugurate a weekly service between Timehri and New York from August 29. The airline, created by a consortium of Guyanese nationals in Canada and registered in Toronto, will operate a Boeing 727 jet with a seating capability of 170 passengers.
Manager Wendell Nelson says the establishment of GT Air International demonstrates growing investor confidence in Guyana's economy and in the governance of the PPP/Civic alliance among Guyanese in North America.
A bill tabled in the Guyana's National Assembly proposes the depositing of a non-returnable sum of G$1 million to the National Elections Commission by parties wishing to contest the country's upcoming general elections. The measure also proposes the submission of no fewer than 400 signatures by contesting parties in support of their list of candidates to qualify to contest the polls.
The bill is coming up for debate during the acceleration of efforts by the Elections Commission to call the elections in 1997 poll and amid the arrival of a tamper proof ID Card machine that will provide identification cards for voters.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has given the Guyana Government a grant of US$3 million to finance the rehabilitation and restoration of the country's historic High Court in downtown Georgetown. Government is contributing US$1 million in counterpart funds. The High Court, on premises covering an entire block, was built in the 19th century from design by Dutch hydraulics engineer Baron Hora Siccama. Rehabilitation work on the building is due for completion by September of next year.
Guyana has been promised funding by the cooperation Program for Investigation and Transfer Technology for the South American Tropics, or PROCTROPICOS, to promote the development of its eco-systems. The pledge was made by a three-member PROCTROPICOS delegation headed by Jose Roberto Peres, president of the Program's Board of Directors, during a two-day visit to Guyana recently.
Dr Peres, PROCTROPICOS secretary Dr Waldo Espinoza, and International Program director Dr Jamil Macedo, said Guyana will be included in the agency's 1997-2002 Plan of Action, likely to be funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). It aims at forging sustainable technological innovations in farming, ranching, agro-industrialization and forestry development in the savannahs of South America.
Guyana's National Agricultural Research Institute sits on PROCTROPICOS' Board of Directors.
Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo returned from a two-week trip to several African countries in which Guyana's draft National Development Strategy served as a model they can adopt to lead their peoples into the 21stcentury. Mr Jagdeo traveled to Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and the Ivory Coast with two members of the Carter Center at the initiative of former US President Jimmy Carter. Mr Carter was instrumental in having the Carter Center co-draft Guyana's National Development Strategy in partnership with the country's PPP/Civic-led Government
Guyana and Suriname are examining a third draft of their Memorandum of Understanding to find a legal compromise that will allow for the inauguration of ferry service between their ports by early in September. The service, made possible by US$20 million in funding by the European Union, is to be run by a company that will be established on a 50-50 basis by the neighboring countries.
Guyana hosted an international seminar on the 20/20 Compact at the Ocean View Convention Center recently, with Prime Minister Ms Janet Jagan telling participants that Government was motivated to allocating 20% of its budget to social sector growth more by its commitment to human resource development than by trying to woo a corresponding level of international aid. "In a real sense our Government is interested in having its entire budget focus on the development of our people," Ms Jagan said in her keynote address to the seminar, convened with support from the United Nations Development Program. Government has allocated approximately 18% of this year's G$49.9 billion budget to social services spending. Ms Jagan said that percentage should raise to 20% in the next year as Government accelerates the realization of its goal of rebuilding the country's rundown social infrastructures and raising living standards. But she also acknowledged the importance of aid flows to Guyana and hoped the international donor community should respond accordingly to the country's specific needs.
India Offers Guyana Eco-Tourism Aid
India has offered to help develop Guyana's emerging eco-tourism sector. In a speech in Guyana recently, opening a mini exposition showcasing Indo-Guyana trade in commemoration of India's 50th anniversary of independence, acting High Commissioner Satya Kanjlia said India is willing to help Guyana build the types of infrastructures that are necessary to attract tourists and develop Guyana's capability in eco-tourism management.
The draft of an Occupational Safety & Health Bill has been submitted to Labor Minister Dr Henry Jeffrey after three years of consultations with trade union and corporate leaders and International Labor Organization (ILO) consultant Dr Shal Gewurtz. The Bill which will soon be discussed by Cabinet, is designed to replace a 1947 Act that confined the promotion of health/safety practices to factories.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has assured the Labor Ministry of support for Occupational safety and Health legislation and for the modernization of worker safety practices in Guyana.
The administration of the Iwokrama International Center for Rain Forest Conservation and Development is trying to raise US$15 million to promote its program as a model of rain forest conservation over the next four years. Approximately US$8 million of that sum will be used to build a complex at Turkeyen, three miles east of Georgetown, and US$1.6 million will go toward the development of a detailed management plan for the international center.
The program was inaugurated in 1996, three years after the Center received US$3 million in seed-funding grants from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and established a site at Iwokrama to facilitate research by scientists.
The program seeks to promote the management of tropical rain forest sustainability on 360,000 hectares (900,000 acres) of prime rain forests in Guyana's hinterland, demonstrating to the world that the socioeconomic dimensions of forest utilization can be balanced with bio-diversity conservation.
Foreign Minister Clement Rohee attended the Rio Summit in Paraguay as Guyana's Caribbean community (CARICOM) representative on the Rio Group. The summit discussed issues such as defense and democracy, education for democracy, integration and globalization, and the environment and sustainable development.
At the conclusion of the summit, Mr Rohee traveled to Brazil, at the invitation of his Brazilian counterpart, Mr Luis Felipe Palmeira Lampreia, and discussed with him and other ministers a wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues.
Mainstay Tourist Resort for Rehabilitation
Government is fine-tuning a plan for the rehabilitation of Mainstay Resort, on the country's Essequibo Coast, as part of its goal of facilitating the growth of the nation's emerging tourism industry. The resort, once the hallowed destination of holidaying Cabinet Ministers and visiting dignitaries, will be refurbished at a cost of G$200 million.
The Tourism Ministry is currently negotiating a tripartite arrangement with a private company and the Mainstay village council to lease the complex.
Guyana's Ambassador to the European Union (EU), Dr Havelock Brewster, has been accredited by Holland as this country's envoy to The Netherlands. Meanwhile, Dr Festus Brotherson has been appointed as Guyana's Honorary Consul in Ohio, USA. Government has also named prominent Dominican businessman, Dario Lama Reyes, as Guyana's Honorary Consul in his native Dominican Republic.
The New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NGMC) has extended its services to cash crop farmers and consumers in the Upper Corentyne. A 25 by 40 foot building was constructed by NGMC for this purpose. It is expected that the project will attract more consumers with lower prices and will at the same time create more employment and reduce the importation of more food items.
Information Minister Moses Nagamootoo recently commissioned a $8.8 million back-hoe for residents of Rosignol/Zeelust area, along the West Bank of the Berbice River. This is expected to end the flooding woes of the residents in that area. At the commissioning of the back-hoe the Minister announced that Government has increased its subvention to each Neighborhood Democratic Council from below $500,000 to $5 million this year.
Regional Chairman Jeffrey Fraser expressed optimism that the Rosignol area will become a township at the present pace of development. Already there are port facilities for the rice, lumber, fish and sugar industries at the mouth of the Berbice river and soon a new modern market site at Rosignol will be developed.
A major sea-defense project for Region 6 has been completed at No 77 - 79 Villages in Corriverton at the sum of $191 million. The rip-rap construction contracted to the Guyana Construction Company, a local firm, entailed the removal of the previously broken-down infrastructure and replacing it with 20,000 tons of sand, 272,000 square yards of geo-textile filter fabric and 20,000 boulders.
There will be a tremendous boost for the health sector in Bartica with the building of a $35 million hospital, being financed by the Basic Needs Trust fund, nearing completion. To facilitate health delivery for the out-lying areas, a Land Rover and a 75HP outboard engine were recently purchased. In addition, Government is completing the rehabilitation of a number of education facilities in the Region. Travelers are also being facilitated by the rehabilitation of rest houses at Kamarang.
Guyana's High Commissioner to London, Laleshwar Singh, represented the Government and people of Guyana at the cremation of the late High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Narendra Kumar in New Delhi, India. Kumar, 55, died in Guyana after suffering a heart attack at the beginning of August.
Regional Inspector of the British Civil Aviation Authority, Mr Peter Stovold has completed his probe of the problem-hit GAC Boeing 757 jet. Passengers traveling to Toronto, Canada were stranded for three days in Puerto Rico after the jet developed oil pressure problems.
One of the worst prison riots in Guyana's history erupted in the Mazaruni jail on Thursday night, 7 August, leaving one inmate dead, two dormitories gutted by fire another building badly burnt. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs has begun short-listing contractors to rebuild the Mazaruni Prison blocks destroyed by the fire. Minister Feroze Mohamed who briefed senior opposition members of Parliament on the recent prison disturbance said the situation was " back to normal'.
Four hundred and one persons were charged up to August 2 in the countrywide traffic correction operation 'Tractor' launched by the Police recently. The various traffic offences included dangerous driving, unlicenced driver, breach of insurance, uncertified motor vehicles and failing to confirm to signs.
The Guyana Water Authority has imported 120 submersible cost effective electric pumps and other related parts to upgrade its water supply systems as part of a $53 million countrywide program. Sixty of the pumps have been installed.
The Government of Japan has given the Guyana Government a grant of one billion Japanese yen or US$8.6 million to boost industrialization in Guyana in support of the country's structural adjustment program. The grant is to be used to facilitate the establishment of turnkey industries by private enterprise.
The Guyana Rice Producers' Association (RPA) plans to launch an import/export company by year-end to assure the availability of husbandry inputs for farmers and the reliability of payments for their rice. The decision comes amid growing access of Guyana's white and parboiled rice to markets in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. From an output of 168,000 tons and the export of 90,000 tons of rice in 1992, the industry produced 334,000 tons and exported 262,000 tons of rice in 1996.
Work has commenced on the World Bank-financed rehabilitation of Essequibo's main roadway, eight months after Government signed a contract with Greek firm, Technodomi. The company is rebuilding the 37-mile Essequibo coast road at a cost of US$6.3 million.
Public servants will begin receiving G$333 million in bonus payments next month as promised them by late President Cheddi Jagan. The announcement by Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo has been welcomed by the Guyana Trades Union Congress, whose leaders sat on a tripartite committee appointed by Dr Jagan in February to identify ways of improving the wages and salaries of public servants.
A vessel from Japan arrived in Guyana with plywood-making machinery and equipment valued at about US$28 million, and consigned to Case Timbers Limited, a Guyanese/Malaysian joint venture.
Region 6 Administration in conjunction with the Central and Planning Authority have made available more than 2,000 house lots in East Berbice. Government is trying to free up state lands especially for the underprivileged. Thousands of house lots have been distributed to the landless since 1993.
The Guyana youth cricket team won the regional competition for the sixth year in a row, after defeating the Leeward Islands in their final match of the tournament played in Guyana.
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
VIDEOS OF FUNERAL OF PRESIDENT CHEDDI JAGAN
1. Farewell Great Warrior and 2. State Funeral of President Jagan -- $19.95 each, plus $3 S&H. Phone 1-800-797-6844 or 1-954-797-6844 for credit card and other orders.
RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES
Hindu Dharmic Sabha . (301) 699-9573
Maryland Hindu Milan Mandir. Call (301) 593-7638
Islamic Society of the Washington Area. Call 301-588-3650.
GUYANA MEDICAL RELIEF of Los Angeles California will hold its 13th Anniversary Fund Raising Dinner Dance on Saturday October 4 (8 p.m. to 1.00 a.m.) at the Club Oasis, 2435 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, California. Donation: $35. (During 1997, six hospitals in Guyana received shipments of medical supplies and equipment to the value of US$959,651 through the assistance of Guyana Medical Relief) -- Phone: 213-936-5745
REMINDER TO GUYANESE NATIONALS -
Please ensure that your PASSPORTS are VALID. Do not wait until emergencies arise before you check these documents.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
GUYANA CONSULATES AND HONORARY TRADE REPRESENTATIVES
NEW YORK : Mr. Brentnol Evans, Consul-General
Tel: (212) 527-3215,
Fax: (212) 527-3229
CALIFORNIA :Mr. Joseph D'Oliveira, Honorary Consul,
Tel and Fax: (310) 320-3370
FLORIDA : Mr. Hilton Ramcharitar, Honorary Consul,
Tel: (954) 797-6844,
Fax: (954) 797-7603
TEXAS: Ms Terry Reis, Honorary Consul
Tel: (713) 497-4466,
Fax: (713) 497-4476
OHIO: Dr. Festus Brotherson, Honorary Consul
Tel: 216-891-6828
TEXAS: (Houston) Mr. Jai Sharma, (Trade Rep)
Tel: (713) 847-5800 Fax: (713) 847-3210
(Woodlands) Mr. Robert (Bobby) Gocool
Tel: 281-367-1205
(Midland) Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh
Tel: 915-682-9850
GEORGIA: Mr. Neilson Wray (Trade Rep)
Tel: 770-469-3337 Fax: 770-469-1915
MINNESOTA: Mr. Earl Singh, (Trade Rep)
Tel: (612) 332-0351, Fax: (612) 342-2399
MISSOURI: Mr. Antoine Solomon, (Trade Rep)
Tel: (314) 830 - 2376 Fax: (314) 830 -1998
OHIO: Mrs Nazima Ahmed (Trade Rep)
Tel (216) 752 - 8746 Fax: (216) 752 - 1070
All payments for services officially rendered by the Embassy must be made in cash or by money order, bank draft or certified check. Personal and company checks are not acceptable.
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Embassy of the Republic of Guyana
2490 Tracy Place NW
Washington DC 20008
202-265-6900/FAX 202-232-1297
(After hours and holidays, FAX 301-365-9467)