Agriculture Ministry launches anti-piracy revolving fund
By Tajeram Mohabir
THE Ministry of Agriculture in keeping with its promise to get fishermen affected by piracy attacks back on their feet yesterday launched an anti-piracy revolving fund.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud speaking at the launch held at the Carifesta Sports Complex on Carifesta Avenue which was attended by scores of fishermen, said the fund is a component of new innovative strategies undertaken by his Ministry to control if not prevent the problem.
Describing the sea robbers as “high seas bandits”, Persaud lamented that for decades they have ravaged the lives of fishermen who are husbands, brothers and in some cases the sole bread winners of their families.
He noted that combating the scourge is the task of the law enforcement agency but the issue is being addressed through an inter-agency approach involving the Ministries of Agriculture and Home Affairs and the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard.
The minister contended that even though these agencies have made considerable strides to address the problem much more work still needs to be done and appealed for the support from all stakeholders.
The Ministry initially began tightening the screws on the pirates’ operations in Berbice with the use of communications equipment and Persaud said the technology will soon be extended to the Essequibo regions where fishermen have also suffered numerous attacks.
The intention of these measures he explained is to force the “high seas bandits” to relinquish their illicit trade and perhaps enter a profession that falls within the country’s jurisdiction.
Some 13,000 fishermen are part of the sector of the Agriculture Ministry which earns about $ US 55 M in foreign exchange.
The minister with the agriculture portfolio stressed that government has recognized the contribution of the sector to the economy and has been consistently restructuring its programmes to convert potential to reality.
Apart to work of the coast guards to tackle the problem, government has zero rated VAT on fishing twines, seines and other key equipment to ensure fishermen enjoy a better economic livelihood and more importantly their survival in the ages-old profession.
But Persaud highlighted that while government remains committed in championing the fisher folk’s cause they also have a pivotal role to play by being better organised to make tangible progress. This he underscored is the extended role of the all the Fishermen Coop Society.
Further he pointed out that efforts will be intensified to speed up the processing of firearm’s license for those fishermen who have approached the Home Affairs Ministry.
On this point, he denounced the assertions of an Opposition Parliamentarian who called for a halt in the issuance of firearms by contending that all law abiding citizens who are eligible should not be turned down.
The anti-piracy revolving fund he said will be managed by the Fisheries Advisory Committee and called on all fishermen to support the initiative.
Membership
Administrator of the fund Ms. Rennita Bentick said the scheme is opened to all boat owners who consider themselves possible victims of piracy.
She pointed out interested boat owners must present the following documents upon registration:
* a valid passport or National Identification Card;
* a valid maritime administration (MARAD) registration licence;
* a valid Fisheries Licence;
* proof of ownership of outfit (boat, seine and engine);
* valuation of outfit (boat, seine and engine) by the coop Society and
* proof of address (for fishermen who are not part of a coop society).
The Assistance Package
The assistance Ms. Bentick noted will be given for the reasons mentioned below:
* damage or loss of engines, seines and boats due to piracy and will be up to 20 per cent of the value of the loss;
* persons whose contributions are up to date e.g. a person choosing a particular payment plan will not be compensated for piracy activities that may occur in a default period and
* the assistance will only be given upon the satisfactory review of claims by the Fisheries Advisory Committee.
The administrator explained that persons claiming for assistance must report the attack in detail to the nearest police station and fill out a claim form from the Coop Society they are registered with 48 hours after the report has been made
The Revolving Fund Plan
Ms. Bentick stressed that an examination and evaluation will be done on the fishing outfit and 0.25 per cent of its total value will be charged annual cost for registration. The registration fee can be paid on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annual basis.
However, she clarified that an outfit that is not in good financial standing at the time of the attack will not benefit from the scheme.
Coast Guard Commander John Flores in an overview of the Berbice anti-piracy communication network noted that government last year committed $15M in this regard to tackle the problem.
He explained that $5.3M has been spent to purchase communications equipment which will be installed shortly but pointed out that radio sets have been installed on four coast guard boats and one at the coast guard base at Benab, Corentyne, Berbice.
Another $8.3M the commander said was spent to purchase a boat that will be delivered in another week’s time.
Flores acknowledged that there was some delay in the installation of the communications system at Number 66 Village Corentyne, Berbice but efforts are underway to speed up the process.
He said that each fisherman will have to purchase the submersible radio sets which cost $ 60,000 each and efforts are being made to import them in bulk to ensure a steady supply.
Flores noted that presently there is limited patrolling but two boats have been operating periodically in the New Amsterdam area. This he said will be addressed in another three weeks.
Most of the attacks have occurred east of Guyana’s median line but government has been working with the Surinamese authorities to lend assistance in this regard since they occur outside of the local maritime space the commander added.
Upper Corentyne Fisherman’s Coop Society representative Mr. Bhawise Harpaul lauded government for the initiative and posited it will play a vital role in assisting fisher folks who fell victims to pirates to quickly recover.
Mr. Bisram Samaroo of the Rosignol Fishermen’s Coop Society also voiced similar sentiments.
CARIFESTA MAKES SYMBOLIC HOMECOMING TO GUYANA
- Minister Anthony urges Guyanese not to lose sight of its 'historic significance'
By Tajeram Mohabir
MINISTER of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony said the return of the Caribbean Festival of Creative Art (Carifesta) to Guyana after 36 years is a symbolic homecoming and Guyanese should not lose sight of its historic significant.
He expressed these sentiments on Sunday at the launch of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) City Enhancement Programme for Carifesta X, held at Festival City Entrance, the inaugural venue of the grand cultural spectacle.
Dr Anthony told the gathering of more than 150 – who were all entertained by Calypso star “Young Bill Rogers” and the “Yoruba Singers” - that all Guyanese have a role to play to ensure the event's success.
"Already we have hundreds of persons volunteering in the various sub-committees, at the central and regional level and their ideas and suggestions are being incorporated into the programme," he said.
"Thousands of persons from more than 20 countries are waiting with keen expectation to come to Guyana, to experience our hospitality, our cultural excellence and to join us in this holistic moment of Carifesta X...if we are hotel owners, then we must strive to provide the best possible service; if you are a restaurant owner, then you must strive to make the best food; if you are a volunteer, then the welcoming smile can help Guyana win more friends...and if you are a householder by cleaning and beautifying your yard and house, you would be making our country more beautiful," Dr. Anthony implored.
The minister also pointed out that some communities have already started to identify venues and are working on programmes on how they would interact with the various overseas delegations.
Festival City, the minister said, needs to do the same and noted that they have a historic advantage being the first venue for the mega event.
Georgetown will be a major hub for Carifesta with events slated for the National Park, the museum, the art gallery, the Sports Hall, the Gymnasium, the National Library, the National Cultural Centre, the Theatre Guild, the Guyana International Convention Centre and the Sophia Exhibition Complex.
"Our plan include several art exhibitions, signal events, super concerts, dancing, drumming, music including steel band, poetry, storytelling, book exhibition, symposia, international food and craft fair, fashion and Amerindian Village," he said.
Dr Anthony stressed that a lot of hard work and commitment would be needed in the next 140 days for the event but expressed optimism that as a team, Guyana will be able to surmount the challenges.
"Another important partner, the City Council has come on board. I am sure that the enhancement programme that they have will certainly help to give our city a clean and refreshing look. But it must not stop there, we have to work to inculcate the values of a clean environment, so that what we do now can be sustained," he urged.
Mayor Hamilton Green pointed out that Guyana’s second hosting of Carifesta is an indication that great things are in the making and government must be commended for taking the progressive step.
He noted that the event presents Guyanese an opportunity to put aside their difference and to cooperate and feast together in unity and harmony.
Green recalled that the first Carifesta was the flag-ship that exposed and led to a flourish in paintings, songs, dances and the other forms of art in the region.
Festival City Community Group Chairperson Donna Morgan pointed out that some of their intended activities for the event include the erection of an arch at the community's entrance, the replacement of Festival City sign, the construction of an L-Shape concrete drain in front of the Municipal Clinic and the National Library, the construction of a foot path linking Humming Bird Street to Perry Street, Tucville; an art competition in the Ruimveldt District targeting primary and secondary school students and the renaming of streets.
She said the opportunity to participate in the second Carifesta to be hosted here is a pleasant feeling which words can hardly express.
The M&CC Carifesta City Enhancement Programme is sponsored by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) and Banks DIH limited.
Both entities noted their pleasure to be part of the programme to beautify the city during the Cultural extravaganza.
Guyanese foresight first planted the seed for Carifesta on August 25th 1972. In 1976, the second Carifesta was hosted in Jamaica under the theme " A Hallmark of Cultural Extravanza"; the third entitled "Rainbow of Peoples under One Caribbean Sun" was held in Havana, Cuba in 1979.
The fourth titled "Under the Living Image of the Sun" was hosted by Barbados in 1981. After an 11 year lull, the fifth themed "Together in Strength" was held in 1992 and the sixth "The World's Best Cultural Mix" followed in 1995.
In 2000, St. Kitts & Nevis hosted the seventh Carifesta -"Caribbean Arts and Culture, Reflecting, Consolidating, Moving on".
The eighth event was held in Suriname in 2003 under the theme "Many Cultures: The Essence of Togetherness, the Spirit of the Caribbean".
Thee years later, the last Carifesta - the 1X "Celebrating Our People, Contesting the World Stage’ was again hosted in Trinidad and Tobago.
New campaign to mainstream HIV/AIDS fight at workplaces
By Sarada Singh
THE Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security yesterday initiated an advertising campaign for its Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA), to mark Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Month which begins today.
Themed ‘Managing Risk in the Work Environment’, the slogan for the observance is ‘My life, My Work, My Safe Work’ which spawns a calendar of activities.
Among those present for the occasion, at Hotel Tower, in Main Street, Georgetown, were Minister with the portfolio, Mr. Manzoor Nadir; his predecessor, Dr. Dale Bisnauth, now Director of Industrial Training; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Mr. Trevor Thomas and Chief Labour and Occupational Safety and Health Officer, Mr. Mohamed Akeel.
Bisnauth emphasised the need for developmental skills in the national workforce and congratulated his former ministry for pursuing such a scheme.
Nadir said the Labour Department has embarked on a programme to mainstream the issue of HIV/AIDS in the workplace.
He explained: “While there have been programmes before, the focus now is on mainstreaming this fight against this scourge in our workplaces and society. In this regard, the ministry will begin a series of activities that will promote the achievement of our goals, which include a safe and healthy workforce.”
Nadir said his ministry will soon undertake a project that will see more than $10M committed to it.
He said the objective is to maintain a healthy and safe workforce, by reducing the incidence of HIV/AIDS among workers and the strategy entails mainstreaming HIV/AIDS initiatives in the work of the Labour Department, so as to promote an awareness drive testing and effect behaviour change.
Nadir also outlined some of the strategic initiatives, including promoting the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) among industrial establishments that will get them to sign onto setting up HIV/AIDS workplace committees and adopt a policy inclusive of awareness seminars and pledge not to discriminate against infected employees.
Inspection reports, through which the MOC will be promoted directly by Labour and OSH Officers when they visit and inspect, are another way of providing valuable data on the success of the implementation, he said.
Other aspects of the process are:
* seminars related to HIV/AIDS to deal with workers at their workplaces;
* direct interventions by managers where work will be done by them and the proprietors of businesses to make themselves professionals;
* sensitisation among new and young workers to include work/study students and job seekers at CRMA;
* making available collateral material, comprising safety gear, such as caps and shirts for national labour events like OSH Month and May Day parade and
* mass promotion programmes to use the desire for information on labour and OSH laws to carry HIV/AIDS messages to workers throughout Guyana.
The scheme is being resourced by the local Health Sector Development HIV/AIDS Unit and the Labour Department, the United States (U.S.) Department of Labour/International Labour Organisation (ILO)/Government of Guyana HIV/AIDS Programme and Guyana Chronicle.
Nadir said, during the next six months, the approaches would garner support for OSH Month, advertisement for the CRMA and the promotion of Labour and OSH laws while regulations are crafted, together with the production of collateral material.
The CRMA public relations blitz will see media saturation that begins today on radio, television and in the Guyana Chronicle, he disclosed.
Remanded Hinckson continues bail quest today
By Telesha Persaud
EX-GUYANA Defence Force (GDF) Lieutenant Oliver Hinckson, mired in allegations of sedition and conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, was yesterday further remanded to prison when he made another appearance before Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys.
The 64-year-old Army veteran, of Lot 167 Meadow Brook Gardens, Georgetown, was given his next Court date as April 11.
The charges against him said, last January 31, he advocated terrorism and made a seditious speech to the public and news media, the purpose of which was to solicit hatred and contempt and promote public disorder.
When the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the indictable charges was to begin yesterday, Police Inspector Robert Tyndall, prosecuting, said, based on instructions he received, he could not proceed.
Tyndall said his advice, from the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), was that the lower Court proceedings should await determination of the related matters in the High Court.
The Prosecutor said he was advised that the issues to be determined in the High Court have a bearing on those in the Magistrate’s Court.
One of the Defence Counsel, Mr. Nigel Hughes said there is no application in the High Court to stop the Magistrate’s Court process and he argued that, even if the judge finds that Hinckson’s rights were breached, the cases in front of Magistrate Gilhuys could not be quashed.
The magistrate told Hughes that, as the next High Court hearing is fixed for today, if he continued with the PI yesterday, there was a possibility that he would have done so in futility, once the higher tribunal ruled that the charges were bad.
Hughes maintained there is nothing to compel the staying of the Magistrate’s Court procedure pending the High Court ruling.
He said the magistrate is the only one who could hear the matters and deal with the criminal aspects.
This is a pure fabricated excuse for their incompetence,” Hughes declared, in reference to the contention of the Prosecutor.
Responding, Magistrate Gilhuys said to Hughes: “I want to agree with you. I agree that the Prosecution cannot stand up and say that I can’t proceed because of what is going on in the High Court. But why would a sensible Court decide to proceed, if the matters are likely to have a determination tomorrow?”
He added: “I prefer that the High Court deal with the matter of Hinckson’s fundamental rights. They would also deal with the issue of bail. It’s only fitting of me to hold my hand until the High Court decides whether the fundamental rights of Hinckson have been breached.”
Hughes submitted that the two Defence applications in the High Court do not touch the conspiracy charge, only the sedition, which stems from statements made by Hinckson at the Mayor’s press conference.
Hughes implored the magistrate to consider granting Hinckson bail, as the Prosecution has admitted inability to proceed, which means the accused will not be able to start his defence within a reasonable time.
Hughes said the accused is a University of Guyana (UG) student and should not be denied the opportunity to sit examinations because the Police are not prepared to commence.
Magistrate Gilhuys said he was sure that by the next date the Prosecution would be ready to go on and he wished the Defence team “all the best” in the High Court quest today.
The cases in which Hinckson and other ex-soldier James Gibson are jointly charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition were also called yesterday and the magistrate announced that he was recalling the warrant previously issued for Gibson and proceeding ‘ex parte’ (in his absence).
Police Constable Cleveland Brown then resumed his oath and Defence Counsel Mark Waldron briefly continued cross-examination of the witness.
However, on the resumption at 13:30h, the magistrate said he was adjourning the matter, to Thursday, for reasons known only to himself.
Particulars of the offence surrounding the joint charge said, on June 6, 2006, in an Aubrey Barker Street, South Ruimveldt house, in Georgetown, too, the defendants had a .380 pistol, 12 rounds of matching ammunition and twenty-six 12-gauge shotgun cartridges without licences for them.
Caribbean food security for international event in Jamaica
By RICKEY SINGH
in Bridgetown--
A MAJOR international conference on agricultural commodities opens in Montego Bay, Jamaica today and coincides with growing concerns in the Caribbean over food security at a time of escalating cost of living.
The three-day event at the Rose Hall Resort is a joint initiative involving the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states; United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO); World Bank; United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Common Fund for Commodities (CMFC).
Guyana's Brussels-based ambassador to the European Union, Dr Patrick Gomes, who is representing the ACP at the conference, said yesterday (Sunday) when he passed through Barbados, that the Caribbean region "has no alternative to giving maximum attention to development of its agriculture sector with food security as a core objective..."
Gomes will join Jamaica's Agriculture Minister, Christopher Tufton, and a representative of the European Union in addressing tomorrow's formal opening ceremony of what has been organised as a "Caribbean Consultative Workshop" in the ACP's "agricultural commodities programme".
The event is being funded by the European Development Fund (EDF) and follows closely to a similar consultation for the Pacific bloc of ACP states, with one for Africa to take place later.
Participants will benefit from an overview presentation of the ACP's programme on agricultural commodities, focused on identifying those commodities with the most potential for sustainable income for farming communities with special emphases on primary production; manufacturing and marketing.
One of the special features of this week's effort to place greater emphasis on agriculture diversification, expansion and modernisation from a CARICOM perspective, will be "The Jagdeo Initiative and the state of Regional Agriculture and Agri-business Development".
A keynote address on the 'Jagdeo Initiative', named after Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo --who holds lead responsibility among CARICOM leaders for promoting the region's vital agriculture sector--is to be delivered by an official representative of the Caribbean Community.
The various integral roles being played by the EU, World Bank and agencies of the UN will be analysed during the three-day workshop that includes an exercise in identification of priority problems, potential solutions and development assistance under the ACP/EU agricultural commodities programme.
M&CC expresses grave concern over continued littering
THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) yesterday expressed grave concern that, in spite of its preparatory works and efforts, including the recent mini-bus litter bins campaign, it still faces the problem of littering.
A City Hall press release said citizens continue to ignore requests and pleadings to keep the environment clean and tidy.
This weakness was noticeable during the Easter holidays, in circumstances where the municipality was strapped for cash, the release said.
It repeated an appeal to all those who indulge in “this unfriendly environmental and anti-social behaviour” to desist from hurting the environment and lend support to the work of the M&CC.
Further, we ask citizens to spare a thought, even in festive seasons, to look for the receptacles which the M&CC, in collaboration with the private sector, installed in different sections of the city,” the release said.
The statement noted that the bins were placed along pavements, avenues and other thoroughfares, for the convenience and comfort of citizens, who should, therefore, use them instead of littering public facilities.
