International Conference Centre opened

The US$6.5M Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) was formally inaugurated on February 16 paving the way for the country to host international conventions.

At the opening ceremony, Minister of Foreign Trade & International Cooperation, Clement Rohee, said that the Centre signals Guyana's entry into the world of modern conferencing. He stated "we are now part of the network, and now in a position to provide an appropriate venue to host conferences of an international and domestic nature."

He indicated that a number of recommendations were made to the government for consideration after the just concluded 6th Meeting of the Oversight Committee of the GICC.

China's Ambassador to Guyana, Shen Qing, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, Jennifer Webster and Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Public Works & Communications, Walter Willis were among those present at the meeting.

The Centre was constructed through a US$7 million grant aid from the Chinese government. Its design was created by China Southwest Architectural Design & Research Institute. The design portrays a two-storey building with a total architectural area of 3,550 square metres. The centre of the GICC's main conference hall is octagonally shaped with 386 seats in a circular layout that rises up to 25 metres high. Among the departments that will be housed in the Centre are the business and media centres, the secretariat, the kitchen, dining room and banquet facilities. The complex also has a modern appearance with a substantial part formed by the connection of a glass body on the main elevation.

The Centre will provide state-of-the-art conference support facilities for meetings hosted by the Government of Guyana and the CARICOM Secretariat as well as local, regional and international organisations.

RUSAL in bauxite feasibility study at Bamia

Russian aluminium company RUSAL began drilling for bauxite on February 19 at Bamia in Region Ten, kick-starting a feasibility study, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced during a recent visit to the region.

The President expressed optimism that the drilling would be successful and Guyana would have the much-needed investment.

"The feasibility study for the aluminium plant has started. If this is feasible after their work, we would have a US$1B investment, the biggest ever in the history of our country, here in Linden. They now have to prove that the reserve is there and the depth of the overburden, etc," Jagdeo said.

The feasibility study is being conducted by the company for the construction of a US$100 million alumina plant.

The Government of Guyana and RUSAL signed a US$80 million agreement for the privatisation of Aroaima Mining Company (AMC) in the Berbice River.

One of the features of the agreement is the sale of over two million tonnes of bauxite to the company over the next 20 years. RUSAL will formally take over the operations from March 30. The company will be investing US$60 million of the US$80 million in facilities for shipping and barging bauxite.

The privatisation deal also provides for the transfer of the bauxite business and some assets from AMC to RUSAL, while government will retain 10 percent holdings.

This revival of the Berbice bauxite operations is expected to help in the resurgence of the communities in the vicinity, providing employment and ancillary businesses.

Guyana to access third threshold of Millennium Challenge Corporation

A team from the United States Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has discussed with local officials the establishment of an acceptable action plan that will see the implementation of benefits for Guyana under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).

Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon said since Guyana’s access to the Threshold Programme of the MCA, the administration has established a focal node to interact with the MCA team to complete the country plan.

The node includes the heads of the entities involved in the three areas of interest: improving revenue collection; enhancing the management of public expenditure, and extending fiduciary oversight.

Last September, the MAC provided US$6.8 million to produce an action plan for implementation.

Ophthalmology centre at Port Mourant Hospital

A team of Cuban personnel, including an ophthalmologist, arrived on February 7 in Guyana to begin the conversion of the Port Mourant Hospital in Region 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) to Guyana's first ever ophthalmology centre.

The Cuban government will provide the equipment and staff. Some of the services offered at the hospital will be retained, but the centre will be expanded to accommodate the ophthalmology services. A specialist is expected in Guyana to start the conversion process.

According to the Cuban package, the centre will render services to Guyanese free of charge, as well as to citizens from other countries, particularly Suriname.

During the latter half of last year Guyanese patients began accessing health care in Cuba, and to date more than 2,000 Guyanese have had eye surgeries, mainly for cataracts, through the “Miracle Mission”.

It is estimated that the centre will have a capacity to exceed 10,000 surgeries yearly. The specialists to operate the centre will be provided by the Cuban government and would be resident in Guyana.

Caribbean Union College opens branch in Georgetown

A branch of the Trinidad and Tobago-based Caribbean Union College (CUC) has been officially launched in Guyana.

Education Minister Dr Henry Jeffrey who was at the ceremony promised the full support of the government once CUC is committed to developing the education sector.

CUC Vice President of Academic Administration, Dr Hamil Tobias, told the audience at the Josel Education Institute in Queenstown, Georgetown, the institution will specialise in Bachelor Degrees in Education for teachers. The college is to be housed at the Josel Institute.

He pointed out that the college will in no way be competing with the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), but instead would like to contribute to teacher development.

According to Tobias, teachers can do the first two or three years at the CPCE, then move to the CUC for an additional two years, working towards their first degrees.

Another programme scheduled to be on stream at the college this year is a Bachelor of Science in Behavioural Science and an Associate of Science in Business Administration.

Tobias said the expansion of the programme will depend on the kind of response it receives.”

CUC will also be offering degrees from the Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA, to which it is affiliated.

The programmes will be offered at a reduced cost in Guyana, officials said.

GUYSUCO turning to alcohol fuel

Under threat from price cuts and faced with the critical need to diversify, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) is moving towards producing ethanol – a clean-burning, high-octane alcohol fuel.

Chairman, Mr Ronald Alli, has announced that the corporation is planning to produce 120 million litres of ethanol annually to be sold primarily to markets in the United States and Europe.

The industry, he said, has to diversify and to counter, wherever possible, the consequences and impact of the draconian sugar price cuts being imposed by the European Union (EU).

The production of ethanol by the corporation will not only address the issue of rising fuel costs but will also be one of the strategies to compensate and make good the loss of revenue from the EU price cuts, he said last week.

“This will obviously generate new jobs and within our action plan we have initiated the programme of a 25,000 hectares plantation and a factory capacity that can produce 120 million litres of alcohol ethanol,” Alli said.

“We also recognised that we may be able to work with local agencies to have about 10 percent of that used in the local market as a mix at some suitable point with fuels”, he said, projecting that this could cut actual fuel purchases by some 10 percent.

He explained that the balance of 110 million litres of ethanol could be exported in markets primarily in the EU and the US.

East Bank massacre linked to Agricola beheading gang

Police are looking for two men they believe can assist them with their investigations into the recent massacre of eight persons which has now been linked to the gang that carried out an equally chilling triple murder last year.

The Police on March 3 announced they have been able to determine that spent shells found at the Eccles gas station attacked matched shells found at the scene of the execution of three persons in Agricola, East Bank Demerara, last year.

The lab tests have also confirmed that guns used in the attack on an East Bank Demerara gas station, which left four men dead, were also used in the slaughter shortly after of four persons, including two women, Police reported.

“In effect, it has been established that some of the same firearms were used to fire some ammunition at all three scenes,” the Police noted.

Spent shells found at the same shooting at the Two Brothers Gas Station, where the mayhem started on the evening of February 26, matched .45 spent shells found at the scene of murder of David Barrow and two others in Agricola, during 2005, Police announced.

Missing army weapons -FBI officer aiding probe

An officer from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on March 7 began working with the police/army team attempting to recover the 33 AK-47s and five pistols that were discovered missing from the storage bond at the army headquarters recently.

Colonel Wilbert Lee of the GDF said that the FBI officer visited the storage bond at Camp Ayanganna and met with the investigating team and he will continue working with it. The officer's work with the investigating team is a direct result of the government's request to the US government seeking assistance in the recovery of the weapons.

GAP and ROAR to contest next elections on joint slate

GAP and ROAR, both small parliamentary opposition parties, have agreed to contest the next general elections on a joint slate to promote their vision of Third Force politics, leaders of both parties have announced.

ROAR leader Ravi Dev would be backing GAP leader Paul Hardy as the presidential candidate while the door remains open for a prime ministerial candidate.

Dev said that ROAR feels that, "GAP as a hinterland party gives Guyana the opportunity to break the political logjam by moving the centre of gravity of our politics away from the Afro/Indo competition on the coast." In addition, Dev said, the constituency that GAP represents gives the coalition a head start in creating economic linkages with Brazil and the rest of the South American community.

New UN action plan for Guyana

Guyana and the United Nations on February 20 signed a new five-year action plan which could see up to US$10 million spent on programmes in disaster reduction and management, poverty reduction and social cohesion and peace building.

Signing the 2006-2010 Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) were Finance Minister, Saisnarine Kowlessar and UNDP (UN Development Programme) Resident Representative Youssef Mahmoud.

The UN Representative said that while the UNDP core funding for the programme is US$2 million, it would garner additional support from international bodies that would see the dollar value mount to some US$10 million.

“The complexities of Guyana’s development challenges, compared with UNDP’s limited resources, make resource mobilisation and cooperation with other partners critical to the achievement of the country programme,” Mahmoud said after the signing ceremony at the Ministry of Finance.

The CPAP component in capacity building will target the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) which coordinates disaster management and preparedness in the country.

The CDC is tagged as the lead agency in responding to natural disasters and its role has assumed greater importance since the devastating January 2005 floods that hit the coastland.

The programme aims at achieving sustainable economic growth of 6 percent per annum and making the private sector an engine of growth and sustainable development.

The new CPAP envisages that by 2010 there will be a reduction in poverty by 28 percent, and at least a 10 percent increase in the proportion of Guyanese accessing quality services in education, health, water and sanitation and housing.

German aid for Guyana protected areas system

The German Government is financing a 2.93 million euros project to further ensure sustainable management of selected conservation areas under the Guyana Protected Areas System (GPAS)

The documents for the project were signed recently at the Office of the President in Georgetown by the stakeholders, including the governments of Guyana and Germany, and officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development.

The agreements signed would see three components of the project being executed – financing (2.56 million euros), training (370,000 euros), and a small grant facility (US$180,000 maximum) for collaborative management projects dealing with Amerindian communities.

The 2.56 million euros will specifically support ecosystems conservation initiatives and stems from a co-financing agreement between the Guyana and German governments signed in the early 1990s.

US$ 4.3M grant aid for development of Guyana's economy

The development of Guyana's national economy has come in for significant attention by the international community with assistance being provided by two of the world's largest nations.

Japan on February 17 added $5 million Japanese yen (approximately US$4.3 million) towards Guyana's development thrust, complementing the recent Chinese US$1.2 million grant for the said purpose.

Signing the documents for the exchange of notes for the Japanese non-project grant aid were Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation Clement Rohee and Counsellor at the Embassy of Japan in Trinidad and Tobago and Charge d'Affaires interim, Mr. Kaoru Tsurita.

“This assistance is a reflection of the Japanese Government's move to aid economic development in Guyana and reduce poverty,” Minister Rohee said.

He cited a number of areas in which Guyana has benefited which includes the fisheries, agriculture and health sectors.

“Today's signing ceremony is certainly evidence of our strong ties and I welcome the opportunity to further enhance such bonds in the spirit of goodwill and mutual respect,” Counsellor Tsurita said

He said the grant has been provided to Guyana to promote its domestic economy.

“Such non-project grant aid will be utilised for the importation of natural resources, raw materials and other products for the purpose of enhancing the country's economic structural adjustment,” he said.

OAS to send observer team

The Organisation of American States (OAS) is contemplating sending a team of observers to monitor the upcoming General and Regional Elections.

Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Albert R. Ramdin, made this known to Chairman of GECOM, Dr Steve Surujbally, when they met at GECOM's offices during mid-February.

Discussions at the meeting focused on GECOM's state of preparedness for the elections and the need for foreign observer teams. Notwithstanding the continuous impediments being confronted on a daily basis, Dr. Surujbally reported that the Commission and its Secretariat are working assiduously towards the holding of the elections by the constitutionally due date.

Ambassador Ramdin requested and was given copies of documents associated with preparations for the elections. These include the Elections Project Plan and the Rules of Procedure for the operations of Long Term Observers as well as samples of the various forms associated with the registration process.

Parliament approves Amerindian Bill

The long awaited Amerindian Bill was passed in the National Assembly on February 16 following its third reading which was preceded by the tabling of the report of the Special Select Committee established to fine-tune the bill.

However, the report was subject to a lengthy exchange between government and opposition parliamentarians, with the latter indicating they still have reservations about the legislation.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Ms Carolyn Rodrigues, who tabled the report, informed the House that the legislation saw wide consultations with members of the Amerindian communities. During November last year, she said, the Special Select committee met on 11 occasions, receiving written and oral submissions from 32 individuals and organisations.

Some of the reviews supported the bill while others were not so supportive, but the discussions were conducted in an open and accommodating atmosphere, she reported.

She added that the work of the committee was a good example of how members from both sides of the House could work together for the common good.

Kaieteur Park set to grab tourist dollars from World Cup fans

Guyana’s part-hosting of the biggest showcase event – Cricket World Cup 2007 – will present an ideal, multi-faceted opportunity to showcase Guyana’s national treasure and the world’s highest single-drop waterfall – the majestic Kaieteur.

Chairman of the Kaieteur National Park, Mr. Shyam Nokta, said the huge anticipated influx of tourists, foreign journalists and others to Guyana for the 2007 Cricket World Cup event is a “must be taken” and “can’t allow it to slip by” opportunity to showcase Kaieteur Falls – regarded as Guyana’s “crown jewel”.

Nokta noted that the hosting of the mega-event here next year will no doubt bring a tremendous surge of tourism dollars; and while there are numerous tourist sites, places and facilities to see and visit, Kaieteur Falls is expected to feature very prominently in that overall tourism package for Guyana.

Prime Minister opens Joint Research Station at UG

The University of Guyana on February 10 has launched a Joint Research Field Station on its Turkeyen Campus.

The station is a collaborative effort between the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Natural Sciences and Technology.

The facility is expected to increase the research capability of the university and it is hoped that it would encourage more research by lecturers and students in the science faculty of the University.

Chairman of the University’s Research and Publication Department, Al Creighton, in his address at the launching, emphasised that research is important as it contributes to national development and problem solving.

He said, “Even though money available for research in not adequate, every year funds are set aside for research at UG”.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who commissioned the research station, was in high praise of the effort and emphasised the need for its resource to be fully utilized fully

Iwokrama, private firm in sustainable forest management pact

The Iwokrama International Centre has recently signed an agreement with a private timber company to seek market opportunities for investing in Iwokrama Timber.

The agreement is between Demerara Timbers Limited and Iwokrama Timber Inc. (ITI), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Iwokrama International Centre. Under the agreement, the joint company will selectively harvest and process timber within the Iwokrama Forest over the next three years. The agreement will be followed by the finalisation of a joint venture contract over the next 45 days, for commencement of timber harvesting immediately after the signing of the contract.

The signing represented the first phase of a long-term controlled activity, in which an appropriate model for sustainable utilisation of tropical timber resources is being developed, refined, and promoted, for the use of the Guyana Forestry Commission and the international community.

The entire process is to test the Iwokrama model of sustainable forest management, gain the experience in setting up and operating a sustainable timber operation, and address one of the principal commercial values of a tropical rainforest.

G$2.5B boost for secondary towns

Earmarked by the government to be designated “secondary towns”, the thriving Charity, Supenaam, Parika and Bartica communities have been given a major infrastructural boost following the formalisation of about G$2.5 billion in contracts under a Community Services Enhancement Project officially launched on February 8.

The signing and formal handing over of the six contract documents to the contractors took place at the Finance Ministry in Georgetown recently.

The total cost of the Community Services Enhancement Project is US$16.3 million (about G$3.3 billion).

• The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) has contributed more than $2.5 million towards medical assistance for four persons with heart ailments. The patients will be sent to India to undergo surgery since the costs there are much lower, CIOG President, Mr. Fazeel Ferouz said. He also stated that the money is being sent directly to the hospitals in India.

• In two months, the National Bank of Industry and Commerce (NBIC) Ltd will begin construction of a modern "concrete and glass" facility at Camp and Robb Streets. This building, which is scheduled for completion in September 2007, will house the NBIC Camp Street branch as well as other operations.

• A second batch of 15 patients left Guyana on March 2 for open heart surgery in India under the Kids First Fund’s Heart 2 Heart programme headed by First Lady Varshnie Jagdeo. Six adults and nine children are in the batch.

• A batch of 20 United States Peace Corps volunteers was due in Guyana on March 3. Guyana’s public health sector is expected to benefit when the 20 health educators arrive, joining the 56 Peace Corps volunteers currently in Guyana.

• A 55-member medical team comprising doctors and other medical volunteers from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States recently completed several medical outreaches in Demerara and Essequibo. The team conducted eye-screening exercises, blood tests and sugar tests as well as physical assessments.

• Guyanese cancer patients will have a new lease on life within weeks when they begin benefiting from radiation therapy at the Oncology Unit established at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). The first patient is expected to receive treatment on March 15.

• Roadside vendors of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, will have access to a vendor’s arcade which will be constructed by government this year.

• Residents of D’Edward Village on the West Bank Berbice are benefiting from a multi-purpose community centre designed to provide badly needed recreational and vocational training facilities in the area. The two-storey structure can hold about 200 people.

• Residents of Parfait/Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, the largest housing scheme in Guyana, will soon benefit from improved infrastructure and other services. Government is presently executing massive projects in the water, electricity and drainage and irrigation sectors.

• The Guyana HIV/AIDS Prevention & Control Project (GAPCP) signed a memorandum of understanding to the tune of $68 million with 17 new Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for the implementation of HIV/AIDS sub-projects across Guyana. The 17 new NGOs will join a batch of 11 organisations already funded by the project, bringing the total funding to $121 million.

• President Bharrat Jagdeo has launched a massive drainage and irrigation project, slated to commence March 1, in the mining town of Linden, which will provide employment for 500 residents. The programme, planks of which were recently launched in Regions Five and Six to bolster the national drainage and irrigation system, will employ 3,500 people across the country at a cost of $1 billion annually.

Credits: Stabroek News, Chronicle, Mirror, Kaieteur News, GINA

Compiled and edited by Evangeline Ishmael