GO-INVEST projects more investments this year

The Guyana Office for Investment (GO-INVEST) is projecting more than US$200 million in investments this year in Guyana mainly from foreign companies.

Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Geoff DaSilva, on April 5 said the expected investments are nearly five times the US$46 million made last year.

One encouraging aspect about the expected investments is that firms are moving in the direction of diversification and value-added products, he reported. He said this will serve the local economy well as Guyana's thrust has to be export-oriented because of the smallness of its domestic market.

In this regard, DaSilva said Guyana will be participating in several trade exhibitions in North America and the Caribbean during this year to promote local products and woo investors. He said among trade shows are one in Barbados in May; another in Nickerie, Suriname, in August; Paramaribo, Suriname, and Toronto in September and New York in September/October.

In the forestry sector, DaSilva said the Barama company will be investing an estimated $32 million while the Jiling Company is investing US14 million and US$4 million at Port Kaituma and Linden respectively.

Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL) and its sister company Rich Resource Incorporated will be expanding their operations with infusions of US$10 million and US4 million, respectively, he reported.

Mining and mineral exploration will see significant investments with the Russian aluminium manufacturing company, RUSAL, injecting US$20 million into the bauxite industry and Omai Bauxite Mining Company putting in a further US$40 million to meet sharp increases in the demand for its products.

In addition, CGX in collaboration with the Spanish company, REPSOL will venture into a US$9 million oil exploration project in Berbice and Pomeroon.

The telecommunications and information technology sector will also benefit from substantial inflows, with the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) company investing US$15 million and Cell*Star another US$11 million of an intended US$20 million over a two-year period.

Da Silva added that several local investors have established call centres and a Canadian-based company, Guytech International, will set up another during this year.

He noted too that in tourism, the construction of the Lakeview Hotel at Liliendaal will realise about US$14 million in investments, while nine companies (seven local and two foreign) are involved in the housing sector.

Two of the foreign firms will be making significant investments. Canadian-based World Homes is expected to invest more than US$3 million (G$600 million) while New York-based Everest Construction Company will inject G$1.4 billion in expansion programmes, he said.

One of Guyana's leading furniture manufacturers, Guyana Furniture Manufacturing Company, will also be investing US$1 million to expand its operations.

Guyana’s condolence on death of Pope John Paul II

The Government and people of Guyana expressed sadness on the death of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 3 noted:

“His Holiness was undoubtedly one of the most important and impressive personalities of our time. For a quarter of a century, he shepherded his flock with a sure and steady faith towards the ideals and values which he and the Church represented. His moral authority, though stern and uncompromising, earned him widespread admiration and respect.

“As a leading actor in international affairs he was an outspoken champion of the poor and the downtrodden. His unfailing advocacy for human rights, social justice, peace and development did much to advance the welfare of the world. Humanity will therefore remember him with great affection.

“At this time of general mourning, the Government and people of Guyana wish to convey to the Holy See and Catholic Church everywhere their profound respect and condolence.”

Increase in non-traditional exports

Exports of non-traditional commodities increased significantly during the period 2001-2003 reaching an unprecedented 3,843.47 tonnes compared to 1,884.26 tonnes during 1990-1992. This represents an increase of 104 percent.

During the early 1990s, Guyana's exports of non-traditional commodities were higher within the region, but from the late 1990s the situation changed whereby extra-regional exports became substantially higher than regional exports.

Regional exports increased from 1,0577.47 tonnes during 1990-1992 to 1,717.35 tonnes during 2001-2003, representing an increase of 63 percent, while extra-regional exports for the same periods were 833.7 tonnes and 2, 126.12 respectively, an increase of almost 155 percent.

Among the extra-regional exports contributing to the increases was heart of palm which provided a significant proportion of Guyana's total exports.

Commission finds: No credible evidence against Gajraj

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry set up last year to look into allegations that Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj was linked to extra-judicial killings has found no credible evidence against him, Chairman Justice Ian Chang said on 4 April.

Mr Chang said the basic finding of the commission was that there is “no evidence of a credible nature” to implicate Gajraj or to link him to extra-judicial killings.

He reported the finding shortly after he presented the final report of the Commission of Inquiry to President Bharrat Jagdeo at the Office of the President in Georgetown.

Following widespread allegations of the minister’s involvement in the operations of an alleged “death squad’, President Jagdeo last year appointed the commission to probe the claims. Gajraj denied the charges against him. The alleged squad was blamed for killing several known and dangerous criminals during the crime wave about two years ago.

On May 14, 2004, President Jagdeo appointed the three-man Commission – Chairman Justice of Appeal Chang, former Army Chief of Staff, Major General Norman McLean, and former Chancellor of the Judiciary Keith Massiah – to conduct the inquiry.

It was to look into whether and to what extent there was evidence of a “credible nature” to support the allegations that Gajraj was involved in “promoting, directing or otherwise engaging in activities which have involved the extra judicial killings of persons”.

The commission invited the general public to submit information that could help its investigations.

The appointment of the commission on May 14 followed Gajraj’s public announcement a week earlier (May 7) that he had requested from President Jagdeo, permission to proceed on leave to allow for an impartial investigation into claims that he knew about the operations of an alleged death squad.

The main opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and other groups had demanded Gajraj’s resignation as the allegations swirled and groups picketed his home and office to back the calls.

Minister Gajraj resigning

Minster of Home Affairs Mr Ronald Gajraj announced on April 20 that he asked President Bharrat Jagdeo to be relieved of “the responsibility as Minister of Home Affairs” by the end of May 2005.”

In a statement broadcast simultaneously on television and radio, Mr. Gajraj said he was of the view that his continued service in Government as Minister of Home Affairs may not be in the best interest of the Government and people of Guyana “having regard to the unilateral, unreasonable and irresponsible positions taken by some”.

He said: “Since I resumed office there have developed some new dimensions which I think are designed and calculated to embarrass the Government and may inure to the prejudice and detriment of Guyanese and the development of Guyana.

“The PNC/R and others opposed to this Administration, conveniently forgetful of their own actions, continue to level spurious allegations against me and the Government. Unfortunately, the position of the PNC/R appears to have been adopted by representatives of some countries and agencies who want to bring undue pressure to bear on the developmental programmes spawned by this Government.

“It is interesting to note that among those who criticise the Commission and its work and, by extension, impugn the character of the Commissioners, are persons who had agreed to the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry and its Terms of Reference. One wonders what would have been their position with respect to the same Commission if the findings and conclusions were different. . . .

“I shall continue to support His Excellency, President Bharrat Jagdeo, and his Administration and the policies aimed at bringing betterment to the people of Guyana. I consider it a distinct honour to serve the Government and people of Guyana and I am thankful for the opportunity….”

Uphill anti-malaria battle continues

Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy has reported that, while the number of malaria cases has dropped significantly in recent years, there is still a long road ahead in the battle against the deadly disease.

The average number of infected persons in the last three years was 25,000, he declared and stressed that malaria continues to be a major public health problem. Guyana is, however, fortunate that malaria has not reached the stage as in some African countries where thousands of people die daily because of the disease, he said.

While there have been successes in dealing with the disease, there have also been setbacks and the Health Ministry has not been able to reduce the number of cases below 25,000. Ramsammy announced that the ministry’s short to medium term goal is to reduce the number of malaria cases to 10,000 by 2008.

He said 85 percent of Guyana’s malaria cases are due to mining and forestry, explaining that when miners excavate the land they leave huge pits, which serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, leading to the high prevalence of malaria in the hinterland.

A massive fogging operation is planned for the interior to help eradicate mosquitoes and this will be a totally different exercise to the type of fogging done in Georgetown, Ramsammy said.

Ramsammy explained that decentralising the malaria programme will significantly reduce the problem. The ministry has recognised that there is need for a new strategy to deal with the issue, he said. He pointed out that the current plan was vertical with treatment for malaria centred at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) but this will soon change and local health personnel will be trained to treat and diagnose persons with malaria at a community level.

He announced that an intensive training programme starting this month will target local health workers to make them internationally certified in testing and diagnosing malaria. The process will be comprehensive and officials from Georgetown will frequently visit other areas to monitor the trained health personnel to ascertain effective diagnosis and treatment procedures, Ramsammy told the agency. He said this would be achieved through clinical audits.

Technical Institute for Region Five

President Bharrat Jagdeo has announced that a Technical Institute is in the making for students of West Coast Berbice (Region Five).

During the Cabinet outreach to the Region on April 10, the Head of State said that neighbouring Region Six now has two Technical Institutes, New Amsterdam and Corriverton, and one at Linden and another at Essequibo.

“I think it is time we have a Technical Institute in Region Five so our children could go there. We have been thinking about this for sometime and we have to do it,” he told residents during a community meeting at Bush Lot, recently.

According to the President, this is one way of equipping young people in the Region for job opportunities.

Region Five is predominantly an agricultural area and jobs are not readily available. Also Government has had difficulties in convincing investors to start ventures in these far reaching areas.

The President noted that this highlights the need for a technical training centre and it will be built. The Regional Administration has to identify a central location to house the technical institute.

Support for Amerindian communities

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, during visits to several communities in Region Nine during the Pakaraima Mountain safari from April 6-10, urged residents to take advantage of productive opportunities the road linking the villages provides.

He said that the road improves village-to-village contact and trade. The Prime Minister said that the roadways in the hinterland should not be important only to people from the coastland and tourists visiting the interior. Amerindians must see the road as important to their own development.

“The roads must be important to the people of this region to promote social and economic interaction”, he said.

The Prime Minister said that he made the journey to show that many parts of Guyana that were once inaccessible can now be reached by road. He said that history is repeating itself since roads were developed on the East Coast, Demerara in the same manner when a governor ordered that all the villages develop the roadways that linked them.

He said that the Government would continue and support Amerindian communities as they develop the roadways. He said that agricultural production has the potential to expand and be profitable.

He told residents of Karasabai that they are in a good position to supply food items to the land-locked communities in Region Eight now that a roadway through the Pakaraima Mountains is being developed.

The Prime Minister visited Woweta, Toka, Aranaputa, Annai, Tipuru, Rukomoto and Karasabai.

Barama forges ahead

An investment of US$25 million this year and an additional US$10 million to US$12 million by the Barama firm in 2006 is expected to transform Buck Hall on the Essequibo River and provide at least 500 residents of the community with guaranteed employment.

At a time when many are complaining about lack of investments, Barama says it will significantly expand its operations to establish in the community a state-of-the-art sawmill, kiln drying facility, veneer and finishing plants, and a co-generating power plant to further boost economic growth. Equipment for the sawmill has already been purchased and ground preparations completed for its establishment.

Barama has been in operation in Guyana since 1993, starting with an initial investment of US$80 million. Today the company is valued at about $125 million, not taking into account the planned investment.

It started first with ply-board manufacturing, producing for the United States, Caribbean and European markets, and later moved into exporting logs.

Ply-board manufacturing still remains the base of the company’s operations with its markets basically the same, but production has increased significantly. The company, through an aggressive marketing strategy, was able to survive the slump in world market for ply-board and is now supplying Lowes stores and Home Depot, household names in the United States.

During its early years, the company had some teething problems, including transferring the technology needed for the production of top quality ply-board.

With the expansion of its operations at Buck Hall, the company is expecting that 500 new direct jobs will be created. The labour force will be drawn from the community and surrounding villages and training will be done on the job. This should create a number of other new indirect jobs, especially as the company will be producing wood products for furniture components.

The company also plans to increase its harvesting to include other species of wood not being harvested from its concessions. Markets have already been secured.

This is not expected to cause any environmental concerns as the company will still be within the purview set by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) for harvesting lumber.

Electricity for several unserved areas in Berbice

Parts of Berbice will benefit from the government’s Unserved Areas Electrification Programme (UAEP) later this year. Progress is being made now with the government paying Guyana Power and Light (GPL) G$1.2 billion or US$6 million to provide electricity to some 12,000 households this year.

About 900 residences in Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and about 4,000 in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) are expected to receive electricity under the UAEP. Works have already commenced at Bath Settlement, Region Five and will start in Black Bush, Region Six in June.

This is part of the US$27 million Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan to the Government of Guyana of which US$20 million is to provide electricity to unserved areas. The government and GPL will contribute US$5.5 million to this project.

The cost to supply electricity to each household is estimated at G$60,000 and while the government is providing a subsidy of G$50,000, residents are asked to pay G$10,000 per household.

Elections Commission working towards free and fair 2006 poll

Despite continued criticisms of the voter’s registration database, the Guyana Elections Commission is working to ensure that Guyana is ready for free and fair regional and general elections in 2006.

But Leader of the Opposition Mr. Robert Corbin continues to attempt to discredit the Guyana Elections Commission’s voter’s registration database. On April 11 in Berbice, he said the voters’ list is highly padded and unless there is house-to-house registration elections cannot be held.

However, the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Donald Ramoutar said that the PNC/R is bent on disrupting the preparations for the 2006 elections. He said, “Every allegation made since 1997 Elections was found to be false and without foundation”.

The General Secretary said, “The tactics of the Opposition seem to be geared to disrupt the work of the Commission and to prevent the preparatory work from being done”.

During a press conference on February 18 Chairman of the GECOM Dr. Steve Surujbally said that the Commission has established a list of 180 activities for Elections 2006 and has completed major repairs to its information technology system and this should dispel concerns by several political parties contesting the elections.

There will be legislative changes made. According to the current laws pertaining to the registration of persons, there are provisions for national registration to be conducted periodically. In order to facilitate the institutionalisation and implementation of continuous registration, the Commission has developed a proposal for relevant legislative amendments.

The Commission has developed a proposed set of rules to govern the effective and efficient conduct of the process. The proposed rules for this process are currently before the Commission and the Parliamentary political parties for scrutiny.

US increases AIDS aid

The United States on 20 April bolstered its support for the fight against the dreaded HIV/AIDS pandemic with US Ambassador Roland Bullen saying his country will not cut aid to Guyana.

His comment came as the two countries formally amended a bilateral grant agreement for HIV/AIDS care, treatment and support.

Under the terms of the amendment, Guyana will benefit from a grant of US$8.1 million from funds under President George Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. This plan strengthens the ongoing commitment of the US government to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic and will provide the support required to prevent more than 15,000 new infections, treat 1,800 HIV infected people and allow care and support for 9,000 HIV positive individuals and orphans.

At the signing ceremony at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Bullen observed that Guyana has made progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Ministers note positive South American integration movement

The recently concluded first Ministerial Meeting of the South American Community of Nations (SACN) has noted positive movement towards integration in the region, said Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Rudy Insanally, who represented Guyana at the April 18 and 19 caucus in Brazil.

He said a number of important concepts for the purpose were discussed but recognition that member countries are at various levels of development was of special importance to this country.

Insanally said the acknowledgement in South America was much the same as in the European Union (EU) which catered for those lesser economies within. According to the Minister, a commitment was given at the Brazil forum that special attention would be paid to smaller economies regionally.

Insanally pointed out that, in the international trading arena, Guyana has made consistent calls for special and differential treatment and a Regional Integration Fund.

He said the primary task of the recent meeting was to prepare for the summit of Presidents of South American nations, scheduled for later this year, but the delegates realised the necessity for further prior discussions.

• Farmers in the Watooka, Linden area are now benefiting from the rehabilitation and extension of the West Watooka road. The road was formally handed over to residents and farmers of the area on April 21 at a ceremony in Linden. Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, addressing residents, challenged them to use the road to generate business that will improve their lives and contribute to the further development of the road. The 1.3 mile road, which existed before was upgraded to an all-weather road. In addition, the road was extended by 1.8 miles into the upper West Watooka, opening 700 acres of prime agricultural land. The road work was completed at a cost of G$38 million. The Government/European Union project was executed through the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP).

• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) representative in Guyana, Mr. Sergio Vargas Olea, is optimistic about the future of Guyana noting that it is a country with an incredible potential. He said that economic development poses a major challenge but can only happen with political and macroeconomic stability. Guyana, he said is “a young democracy” and the programmes on stream in Guyana are moving in the right direction, adding that Guyana has a rich culture and diversity and a high level of education in comparison to many developing countries.

• The Habitat for Humanity Guyana (HFHG) group received a cheque donated by Prince Charles to help its low-cost housing programme. Prince Charles, on learning of the deplorable conditions on the East Coast Demerara due to the recent floods, wrote President Bharrat Jagdeo indicating his intention to make a financial contribution to assist HFGH in its flood damage relief operations.

• President Bharrat Jagdeo and Leader of the Opposition Robert Corbin have begun consultations on the appointment of a new Chancellor of the Judiciary. The consultations will continue and Chief Justice Carl Singh will act until an agreement is reached. In keeping with the Constitution with Chancellor Desiree Bernard demitting office, President Jagdeo invited Mr Corbin to commence consultations on the appointment of a Chancellor and subsequently on the appointment of a Chief Justice.

• Business groups in Guyana and Russia on April 20 moved towards closer ties with the signing of a cooperation agreement. The memorandum of understanding was signed between the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. Officials said it aims to explore investment and trade possibilities between businesses and entrepreneurs of the two countries. The agreement was signed by GCCI President Gerry Gouveia and Russian Ambassador to Guyana Vladimir Starikov at GCCI office in Georgetown.

• Forty farmers in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) participated recently in a field day on the use of plastic mulch for controlling weeds among vegetable crops. The exercise, in Lower Pomeroon, was arranged by Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Regional Administration. About 500 pepper plants are currently being monitored for the purpose in an experimental plot with black and white plastic coverings.

• Cataract surgeries are being successfully carried out at the New Amsterdam Hospital with more than 18 done on a daily basis. The ophthalmologists at the hospital aim to complete 1,600 surgeries per year.

• The Kids First Fund recently received three containers of flood relief items from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Utah, United States. Head of Kids First Fund, First Lady Varshnie Jagdeo, said the supplies include food items, clothing and medicines. She said the church group had earlier sent medical supplies and generators in response to the flood relief programme. The additional supplies will go to various communities in the ongoing flood relief efforts.

• The Health Ministry with help from a Canadian group yesterday formally launched a scheme to help others better care for those living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB). The local programme was developed with support from the Canadian Society for International Health. It is centred on five modules of nursing guidelines for care in the home and community especially as it relates to persons living with HIV/AIDS and TB. The programme, part of a public health strengthening in Guyana project, is being funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and seeks to provide a set of guidelines for home care nursing practice in Guyana.

• South African President Thabo Mbeki has bestowed national honours on independence heroes on the late President Cheddi Jagan and India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He also honoured Indonesia's founding leader, President Sukarno. The awards, presented twice yearly, go to South Africans and foreigners for outstanding service to their country.

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

Compiled and edited by Evangeline Ishmael