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Ganja field raid likely linked to Rasta murders
-- Police
DEPUTY Police Commissioner Henry Greene yesterday said the Police suspect that the Ituni drug eradication exercise by the police earlier this week may be related to the brutal murder of two Rastafarian best friends in Georgetown.
Mr Greene told reporters it is believed that Nigel Green, one of those killed, had owned the cannabis (marijuana) farm and the deaths may be linked.
Police conducted a narcotic eradication exercise between 13:00 h and 15:00 h on Monday at Seven Miles, Ituni Road, Linden.
They destroyed two fields of plants weighing 120 kg and 80 kg of dried cannabis in the exercise.
Four nurseries with about 8,000 seedlings and two camps were also destroyed, but no one was arrested, police said.
Businessman Green and his best friend, Orale Mohabir, were stabbed to death in the kitchen at their Lot 274 Oronoque Street, Queenstown home about 01:00 h Thursday.
Police in a press release said Green and Mohabir were watching television when they heard a knock on the door and upon opening it they were attacked by a number of men who they knew.
It was reported that 42-year-old Greene was stabbed in the face, neck, stomach and other parts of the body and a knife was left stuck in his neck. Mohabir’s body bore similar stab wounds.
A female relative, Trudy Rose, who had journeyed to the city from Berbice to collect documents from the U.S. Embassy, was staying at the house and was also attacked and stabbed.
She tricked the killers by pretending she was dead after they had stabbed her in the stomach, hands and neck.
The mother of two is a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Rose crawled out of the blood-drenched house after the killers fled and went to a neighbour from where she telephoned relatives about the attack.
The nine-month-old son of Mohabir, who was in the house at the time of the attack, was unharmed.
The two men operated the ‘Wisdom is Better Studio 1’ CD/DVD stall in the Vendors Arcade, Georgetown, were dealers in raw gold and a major distributor of vegetarian health foods (meat substitutes made of soy bean) such as chunks and tofu.
Bandits shoot family member in Berbice robbery
THREE bandits, armed with a gun and cutlasses, robbed a Berbice family of three at their home on Thursday night.
The attack on cane harvester Surujnarine Duray, 44, his wife, 41-year old Verama Parmaul and their son, Ramnarine Ramdat, 21, took place about 18:30 h when they were under their Port Mourant, Corentyne house.
Their assailants entered through the gate, discharged two gunshots into the air and then held them at gunpoint before taking away $50,000 cash and jewellery.
Police said Ramdat was shot in his left foot while attempting to evade the robbers and was treated at Port Mourant Hospital and sent away.
Two spent .32 shells were recovered from the scene but no one had been arrested up to press time.
Body of slain American to be flown home
THE body of American health care consultant Hubert Daniel Thompson is being flown back to the United States as Police here look to arrest the man believed to have beaten him to death last weekend at Georgetown’s premier Le Meridien Pegasus hotel.
Thompson, 55, was originally from Staunton, Virginia, but kept a home in Alexandria and his closest companions were members of Staunton’s Temple House of Israel who nicknamed him “Dani.”
Ruth Chodrow, a member of the Temple told the Guyana Chronicle by telephone from Staunton that he is believed to be survived by his mother and sister whom they have tried to contact. She said the Temple was planning a tribute to him.
Police are being assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to positively identify the suspect caught on surveillance cameras leaving Thompson’s hotel room before he was discovered dead Saturday evening.
The tape of the man’s indistinct image has been taken back to Miami by the 12-member team of FBI experts who spent two days here helping local Police probe the brutal murder.
Assistant Police Commissioner Henry Greene yesterday said the FBI also took blood samples recovered from the scene.
Police Commissioner Winston Felix on Tuesday confirmed that investigators were closing in on the main suspect in the killing of Thompson on the sixth floor of Le Meridien Pegasus as the U.S. Government hoped for a speedy conclusion of the probe.
Thompson was killed one week short of the end of his second assignment here to develop satellite (community-based) sites to store life prolonging antiretroviral drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS in Guyana.
He was working for international health care consulting firm John Snow Incorporated (JSI) and sources have indicated that the killer might have been someone peeved about “certain preferences” for contracts in the project being funded under President George Bush’s five-year Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), for which US$14M was allocated to Guyana this year.
Thompson was found dead Saturday evening by hotel staff when his room was broken into after he did not respond to calls some 24 hours after workers said they heard cries and another man in Thompson’s room said everything was OK.
Police Tuesday gave the cause of death as “shock and haemorrhage due to sharp forced injury, compounded by depressed skull fracture.”
After working for various relief agencies, Thompson started working for John Snow Inc in 1993 and had stints in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, the Philippines and Tanzania.
GDF paratrooper jumps ship
THE Guyana Defence Force (GDF) had up to yesterday still not had any word from the missing rank from the 15-member paratrooping team which performed creditably in a special parachute jump in Florida earlier this month.
Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Lee said the Army is still treating the incident involving the soldier, a Lance Corporal with five years service, as one in which he genuinely lost his way and is eagerly awaiting some contact regarding his whereabouts or his return.
The team of two officers and 13 other ranks travelled to Florida on December 1 last to participate in the multinational parachuting showcase to strengthen relations between the local Army and the Florida National Guard and were due to return on December 5.
Lee, who noted that it was a first for a full GDF team to participate in a display in the U.S., said all went well until December 4 when the GDF team was allowed some last minute shopping at a mall as they were due to return home the following day.
The invitation to the Florida jump was extended after senior U.S. army officials who were here for the GDF’s 40th anniversary celebrations last month, were impressed by the hair-raising performances by the GDF paratroopers at a military tattoo display.
The missing Lance Corporal was among the team showcasing their skills at the tattoo.
Lee said the team sent to Florida had lunch at the mall and it was arranged that members would reassemble at 18:30 h at a designated area.
However, all the other team members turned up except the Lance Corporal and a search involving the Florida National Guard, Florida Police and the mall security was launched, but to no avail.
Checks were also made with the hotel to see if he had returned there and when that too turned up empty-handed, the team returned without him.
The GDF group was among more than 250 paratroopers in a multi-national airborne exercise in north Florida as part of an ongoing partnership between Florida and this country.
Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group, joined 15 members of the Guyana Defence Force for the two-day airborne exercise, which included a parachute jump from Georgia National Guard C-23 Sherpa airplanes onto an approved drop zone located on Keystone Heights Airport.
According to Capt. Lloyd Souvenir of the GDF, the exercise with the Florida Special Forces allowed his soldiers to witness how U.S. paratroopers conduct their airborne operations, including parachute rigging and aircraft procedures.
"This is informative," Souvenir said while preparing his parachute for the exercise. "And I think this is a great experience for my guys, because for some of them this is their first time in the United States, and the first time working with Americans outside of Guyana."
The exercise also involved individual soldiers from the British, Swedish and Norwegian armed forces, but according to the Florida National Guard's Maj. Jaime Rios, the jump was an important part of the state's ongoing relationship with the Guyana military.
Rios, who serves as the State Partnership Coordinator for the Florida National Guard, explained that through their partnership Florida and Guyana host exchanges, conferences, and military visits to each other's nations. Some of the Florida Special Forces trained in Guyana last summer, and an upcoming visit by senior Florida National Guard leadership is planned for early next year.
"With the partnership, we are trying to provide support to Guyana and other allied countries in the Western Hemisphere," Rios said. "This opens doors and enhances relationships with the countries that are involved in the partnership."
Canadian group says
Guyana escapes IMF debt relief delay
GUYANA has apparently escaped being on a purported delay in the grant of debt relief by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Montreal, Canada based Social Justice Committee (SJC) said yesterday.
It said this was because this country’s programme with the IMF expires later next year.
SJC said it has joined other debt campaign organisations around the world in asking that the Board of the IMF reject the staff proposal to delay debt relief and provide the 100% cancellation for all 18 countries as promised and accelerate unconditional debt relief for other impoverished countries.
According to the SJC, the IMF Board of Directors will consider a proposal by staff to delay the G7 debt relief plan for one-third of the eligible countries.
The SJC said information about the pending decision was leaked to a U.S. Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) and confirmed by the office of the Canadian Executive Director at the IMF in Washington.
A spokesperson for the Canadian office said that the office will support the IMF staff proposal. The SJC said it has not yet received a comment from the Canadian Prime Minister’s office.
The SJC said it has three concerns.
Firstly, the delay itself, for six countries - Senegal, Madagascar, Rwanda, Mauritania, Ethiopia and Nicaragua - is indefinite. The other 12 countries in the programme, including Guyana, are expected to get their relief in early January.
Second, the conditions stipulate the six countries affected will have to meet new standards of IMF-directed fiscal and monetary policy, despite the G7 direction that this cancellation be without additional conditionality.
Third, these six countries are now, or will be by the end of the month, without an IMF programme.
The IMF is only allowing relief to proceed for countries with a binding agreement in place, it charged.
“The IMF bureaucrats seem to be out to show they needn’t heed public desire for Third World debt relief, let alone the G7,” said Derek MacCuish, coordinator of the SJC.
Bus to help Salvation Army drug rehab scheme
BRITISH High Commissioner, Mr Stephen Hiscock on Thursday handed over the keys of a new mini-bus to the Salvation Army Drug Rehabilitation Unit, at the Salvation Army Men’s Social Centre on Water Street, Georgetown.
The bus cost about $3.4M.
Chairman of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, Mr Edward Boyer said the British High Commission donated $1.5M and the Salvation Army had to raise $1.9M to buy the vehicle.
He urged other local businesses to support the Salvation Army’s Drug Rehabilitation programme which has been implemented to educate the public about the use, effects and danger of drugs.
Major Voyons Morance, Administrator of the Salvation Army, announced the launching of an Out Patient Rehabilitation programme for females in January. This will be similar to the programme for males, he said.
He said the mini-bus will be of good use to the organisation for travelling in and out of Georgetown and for the female programme since it will transport the females from their homes to the workshop and on field trips.
He indicated that the females will benefit more from this contribution since they are part of the Out Patient Rehabilitation programme unlike the males who are attached to the programme.
Morance, on behalf of the Salvation Army, expressed sincere gratitude to Hiscock for his commitment towards contributing the vehicle and to the Guyana Revenue Authority Commissioner–General, Mr Kurshid Sattaur, for the tax exemption on the bus.
Special team probing mining robbery
THE Police have sent in a special team to probe the Wednesday afternoon robbery of gold and diamond buyers and miners in the Mazaruni River said to involve a senior member of the now disbanded `Black Clothes’ Police anti-crime squad.
The former Police sergeant was reportedly questioned for his involvement in the precision raid as Police moved to capture the gun gang which posed as cops in uniform and recover the some G$40M in cash stolen along with the diamonds, gold and other items.
The dramatic robbery prompted a warning from the Police Force that members of the public should “be careful” of persons posing as members of the police force.
Caribbean Star increases flights on Guyana route
CARIBBEAN Star is putting more flights on its Guyana-Barbados route.
The airline said that in response to “pent-up demand” from the UK and Europe, it and Caribbean Sun Airlines will “dramatically expand” service throughout the Caribbean, specifically between Guyana and Barbados; Port of Spain and Barbados; Antigua to St. Kitts and Barbados; Anguilla to St. Kitts and Antigua; and Barbados to St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua, Georgetown and Port of Spain.
Caribbean Star Airlines, in a press release, said it is adding a daily service from Guyana to Barbados, as well as retiming the existing flight schedule to allow roundtrip connections to London.
The new flight will depart at 07:50 h for Bridgetown and will continue to Antigua, St. Kitts and Tortola.
Boosting service by 33 per cent, from nine to 12 daily departures, Caribbean Sun is adding three daily non-stop flights, for a total of five, from Port of Spain to Bridgetown, Barbados, with continuing service to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Caribbean Star’s Barbados service will be upped a significant 66.6 per cent from 15 to 25 daily departures, including six to St. Lucia; two to Grenada; three to Antigua; two to Georgetown; and five to Port of Spain.
The company said Antigua will experience increased services with Caribbean Sun adding a St. Kitts flight for a combined total of four daily roundtrips, while Caribbean Star is adding a non-stop flight to Bridgetown for a total of three daily.
Caribbean Star will increase to daily service from Anguilla to St. Kitts and direct service to Antigua.
Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun Airlines President and CEO William E. “Skip” Barnette said the aggressive move, which was previewed to a record number of enthusiastic airline and travel trade media, as well as ministers and directors of tourism, at the World Travel Market in London in November, “is expected to boost accessibility to the region, provide improved connectivity for the rapidly growing European tourism segment, offer more choices for regional travel, and positively impact the communities served through increased tourism and business travel.”
“We are extremely pleased to add flights to facilitate travel for our current and future customers,” said Barnette. “Both the Caribbean Sun and Caribbean Star teams look forward to welcoming more passengers and to connecting Caribbean communities. It is a wonderful opportunity to enrich the Caribbean experience for regional residents and international travellers alike.”
Caribbean Star Airlines Limited was incorporated in Antigua in January 2000 and its sister airline Caribbean Sun Airlines Inc., based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida launched its maiden flight in January 2003.
Caribbean Star Airlines Limited and Caribbean Sun Airlines Inc. are affiliated but separate companies.
OAS satisfied with conduct of St Vincent elections
THE Organisation of American States (OAS) team of observers has concluded that the December 7 general elections in St Vincent and the Grenadines proceeded without major incidents or systemic irregularities.
Chief of Mission, Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin, said in his preliminary (oral) report to the OAS Permanent Council in Washington yesterday, stated the team’s “satisfaction with the conduct of the elections.”
The OAS in a press release said he noted "some shortcomings in electoral procedures," but stressed that these "did not jeopardise the transparency and outcome of the elections.”
The Unity Labour Party (ULP) won re-election with 12 of the 15 parliamentary seats (with 56% of the popular vote), the remaining three seats going to the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP). The newly formed Green Party, the only other contestant, won no seats.
The OAS observed all aspects of the voting process, including the opening of polling stations, voting throughout the day, the closing procedures at the polling stations, the preliminary vote count at the polling stations, and the transport of the results and the ballot boxes to returning officers of selected constituencies.
Among major observations during the December 4 to 9 presence on the ground, Ambassador Ramdin cited the political parties’ effort to ensure efficient and peaceful elections.
The OAS election monitors also “frequently observed” cooperation among agents of different parties at the polling stations to ensure compliance with electoral procedures.
The report also cited an active role by the news media, although print media are all weekly publications, the OAS said.
Noteworthy in Ambassador Ramdin's report is the voter participation factor as well as the "positive role" of law enforcement in fostering a sense of security at polling stations. On election day, the OAS mission covered 95 (45%) of the total 225 polling stations.
While satisfied with the conduct of the elections and with how the authorities ensured adherence to the constitution, the Electoral Law and relevant regulations, the OAS mission recommended the voter’s list be analysed, streamlined and managed to “clarify the regulations relating to voter registration.”
The OAS also suggested "systematic civic education for the citizenry” and enhanced training of electoral officers to ensure greater familiarity with voting procedures; and a strengthening of the electoral office for it to be more independent.
Ramdin thanked the governments of Brazil and the United States for their financial contributions that helped finance the OAS mission. He thanked the government and people of St Vincent and the Grenadines as well for their collaboration and for facilitating the mission’s work.
For his part, St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Ambassador, Ellsworth John, thanked the OAS for the high-level observation mission, and highlighted the “well-known tradition for free and fair elections in my country.”
He said it was also very important that, “in the interest of transparency, reputable and independent organisations or entities observed our electoral process.” He cited the satisfaction expressed by both the OAS and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) election observers, and thanked Brazil and the U.S. for financially supporting the OAS election observation team.
In addressing the concern about the discrepancies between the voters' list and the population census, John asked for OAS assistance to correct “what we see as a problem.” He said OAS assistance is important, in order “for us to implement the first recommendation of the mission.” He further explained that the census serves as a guide and includes nationals who reside overseas but who have lived in St Vincent and the Grenadines in the last five years.
Ambassador Izben Williams of St Kitts and Nevis chaired the Permanent Council meeting at which member state ambassadors congratulated the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines on the election and supported Ambassador John’s request for OAS technical assistance, the organisation said.
USAID funds three new Berbice anti-HIV/AIDS projects
THE United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction and Prevention Project (GHARP), in collaboration with Friends of St Francis, have launched three new programmes, at Corriverton, Mibicuri in Black Bush Polder and Rose Hall town, at Corentyne, Berbice.
At the Rose Hall launching ceremony, in J.C. Chandisingh Secondary School, Ms Julia Rehwinkel-Roberts, Public Health and Nutritional Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, said USAID will continue to work with local and international partners to extend lives and ameliorate suffering caused by the virus, using resources from the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
In the feature address, she said that, with the flagship project GHARP, a combination of activities has been implemented.
They include to improve health infrastructure, train health care providers, encourage awareness and behavioural change, fight stigma, administer medications, provide voluntary counselling and testing and care for persons living with HIV/AIDS, including orphans and other vulnerable children.
Rehwinkel-Roberts said more initiatives needed to fight the pandemic are also being undertaken.
She said the U.S. Government appreciates the significant role played by civil society organistions in delivering services and conducting programmes in communities, because it is recognised that governments cannot do it alone.
As a result, the U.S. will go on supporting schemes that focus on the response to the battle against HIV/AIDS at the community level.
Earlier, prior to the mounting of an exhibition to highlight services offered, representatives of the donors and well-wishers visited the three targeted locations, at the Fighting, Abstinence, Consciousness and Togetherness (FACT) group, Swing Star and Mibicuri Community Developers, where they observed the upgraded facilities, as well.
At each centre were computers, photocopying and facsimile machines and other office equipment, all donated by USAID.
St Francis Community Developers is the parent and coordinating body for 20 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Regions Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) which are called ‘Friends of St Francis’.
Over the past four years, USAID has supported the expansion of several NGOs which respond to HIV/AIDS in this country and the beneficiary groups have increasingly worked collaboratively to make people more aware of the problems related to HIV/AIDS and to overcome the stigmatisation of the infected and affected.
GCCI Gouveia says…
Negative business people are their own worst enemies
PRESIDENT of Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Captain Gerry Gouveia has urged the private sector to develop a positive attitude, knowing that Guyana is a country in transition.
Addressing members and guests at the 73rd annual luncheon of Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Asociation (BCCDA), in New Amsterdam, he declared that business people are their own worst enemies.
“…everytime we open our mouths, all we do is speak negatively…we are hurting the future of the young people for whom we are trying to create the future,” Gouveia said last weekend.
Speaking to an audience including representatives of regional chambers, he said, while the negative occurrences must be acknowledged, it is of necessity that positive images be promoted.
Gouveia called on newspaper editors to help in that process and appealed to the government to make State lands affordable to the private sector for development which would make more needed jobs available.
Alluding to the proposal for an industrial site at Stanleytown in the New Amsterdam township, he said the municipality there needs to understand that it is not about “creaming” the business sector but “working” with it.
“The council is asking for $100M for the site…I think, if we are talking of public/private sector partnership, there must be a way in working with the business community to make lands more affordable,” Gouveia emphasised.
Referring to the relationship between GCCI and the Association of Regional Chambers of Commerce (ARCC), he said, although the former has not joined the latter, it is disappointing that the larger, which is not a rival or a competitor, has not seen it fit to become a member of the umbrella Private Service Commission (PSC).
Gouveia encouraged ARCC to quickly seek membership of the PSC and help point the way forward for the private sector in Guyana.
Son jailed for stealing from mother
KISHAN Seeram, 30, of Sheet Anchor, was sentenced to one month imprisonment on Thursday, at Reliance Court, also in East Canje, Berbice.
He pleaded guilty, before Magistrate Geeta Chandan, to stealing from his mother, Sukhai Seeram.
The magistrate, before sentencing, rebuked the prisoner, telling him he had no sympathy for his parent.
The virtual complainant said the theft occurred between September 1 and December 12 when she had left her son at their home.
She said he stole a gold band and chain valued $30,000.
BWIA sponsors couple’s Antigua honeymoon
BWEE Travel Solutions, BWIA’s package tour division, recently took part in the COURTS Megastore Bridal Registry.
BWee Travel Solutions, which specialises in pre-arranged, all-inclusive vacation travel packages, used the occasion to promote wedding and honeymoon travel packages available to BWIA’s destinations in the Caribbean, South America, North America and Europe, the airline said.
“As part of the promotion, a honeymoon vacation was given at the event. Kimrol Ali and Cavelle Lucas were the lucky winners of an all-inclusive three night stay at Antigua’s Jolly Beach Resort, with air travel courtesy BWIA”, stated Manager Corporate Communications Dionne Ligoure.
The excited couple is eagerly looking forward to enjoying this Caribbean experience courtesy BWee Travel Solutions and Jolly Beach Resort and National Tours & Services of Antigua.
Beneficiaries say…
Affiance, Taymouth Manor villagers thankful for PYCI project
BENEFICIARIES of a President’s Youth Choice Initiative (PYCI) project for the villages of Affiance and Taymouth Manor, on Essequibo Coast, have labelled as “lies” and “fabrications” the contents of a recent Stabroek News report about it.
The youths issued a release that expressed their “great concern” over the “very disturbing” newspaper story.
The young people said they are “extremely happy” to have access to the centre that was built after they made the particular choice and some 150 of them are deriving benefit in terms of sporting activities and educational seminars.
Chairman of the group, Mr Oditt Omesh said the sports ground was very wet and soft when Stabroek News visited because it had not been weeded during the current heavy rainfall.
According to him, cricket is a popular game at Affiance and, once there is good weather, the venue is always used for such games.
Omesh said the old cricket gear mentioned in the Stabroek News article are used for practising while the new are safely kept at the homes of some members.
He pointed out that, when the facility was under construction, those who are benefitting played an active role to ensure it was constructed according to specifications.
Omesh said the place is usually left open daily to allow young people access for playing table tennis and other games but they are caring the facilities, too.
He said a youth team from the two villages has won a number of trophies which are proudly on display on the premises where benches and sheds have also been provided for spectators at the ground.
Omesh maintained that they are very thankful to President Bharrat Jagdeo for the project and are looking forward to more from the PYCI.
Commodity concerns threaten to derail WTO talks
– ACP angry on cotton, sugar, bananas
THE African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group yesterday said that continuing lack of attention and assurances to their concerns from developed countries on key commodities threaten to derail World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks.
The group, at the current WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, expressed its extreme anger and concern at the lack of movement on cotton and sugar, particularly on the part of the United States and the European Union, as well as the persistent attacks by Latin American countries on the banana regime.
A press release from the group said the ACP is seeking a meeting with the WTO Director General, the Chair of the Ministerial Conference, and the Facilitator on Agriculture to highlight their concerns.
It noted that U.S. intransigence on cotton stands to cost African farmers €450 million a year and threatens the livelihoods of 15 million people. “This industry was almost destroyed by the Structural Adjustment Programmes of the 1980s, and is yet to recover from these reforms”, it said.
It also pointed out that ACP sugar supplying states, including Guyana, will permanently lose more than €250 million a year with the recent reform of the EU sugar regime and face the threat of further erosion of their preferences in Hong Kong.
A meagre €40 million in compensation has been proposed for the ACP as compared with more than €7 billion that has been guaranteed to European producers to persuade them to accept the reform, the release added.
ACP banana producing countries, it noted, are facing the persistent erosion of their preferences and this is already resulting in the destruction of their industries and is threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.
“We are starting to strongly question the value of the WTO to small, vulnerable, developing countries. It appears that these talks will bring us nothing at all and even drive us further into poverty. This situation makes a mockery of the supposed development agenda of this round. We will not accept any agreement in Hong Kong that is made at our expense,” stated Arvin Boolell, Minister of Agriculture, Mauritius and ACP ministerial spokesperson on sugar.
“We should not lose sight of the ultimate objective of this round, which is to promote development through trade, and not trade for trade’s sake. To undermine preferences runs counter to development,” said Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, Minister of Commerce, Cameroon and ACP ministerial spokesperson on bananas.
Ministers from ACP sugar supplying states have stressed that their aim in Hong Kong is maintaining longstanding preferential agreements as agreed under the July Framework Agreement and as spelt out in the G-90 declaration.
“Any attempt to challenge agreements already reached on longstanding preferences will not help progress in Hong Kong. The ACP Sugar Group is coming in to these negotiations still reeling from the shock of the recent EU sugar reform agreement. We are determined that the WTO Ministerial Conference will not result in a knockout punch to our industries and further threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in our small, vulnerable countries,” Boolell said.
“There is a danger that we will be forgotten players of this round and instead of developing we will be driven backwards into poverty. This will not be acceptable. Market access discussions should fully take into account our specific trade and development needs in order to ensure that the Doha Development Round does not become the Doha ´Destruction´ Round as far as we are concerned.” said Keith D. Knight, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica.
The ACP Sugar Group has called on the WTO members to take account of the G-90 declaration with regard to sugar, as well as bananas.
“Any drastic tariff cut would squeeze us out of the market and leave us with nothing. However, we are confident that it is not in the WTO’s interest to allow this to happen either for political or economical reasons and look forward to working with all parties to ensure our mutual interests are served,” stressed Kaliopate Tavola, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Fiji.
Singer presents gift certificates
SINGER Guyana on Wednesday presented $100,000 gift certificates each to three winners in its multi-million Christmas promotion at its head office in Water Street, Georgetown.
The winners are Carl Peters, Desiree Liverpool and Selwyn Dover.
The gift certificates can be used to purchase jewellery from King’s Jewellery World, goods from Bounty Supermarket or Nigel’s Supermarket or can be cashed for $100,000.
Customers are eligible with the purchase of any item. They will be given three coupons to drop in three boxes for a chance to get gift certificates, $1M in cash and Christmas hampers.
Customers can win the gift certificates, $1M or Christmas hampers or all three if their names are pulled all three times.
Sales and Marketing Manager of Singer, Mr Eric Whaul said the overall cost of prizes for the promotion is $10M. He said that since the promotion began on November 15, there has been tremendous support from customers.
A drawing for $1M was scheduled yesterday at the Singer branch on the Corentyne, Berbice.
The promotion ends December 31 but there will be a draw on January 5, 2006 for another $1M at Singer in Georgetown.
Gift furniture for flood-hit schools
FIRST Lady Varshnie Jagdeo, through her Kids First Fund, has helped to garner furniture for schools hit by the January floods.
Money was raised for flood relief through the Kids First Fund branch in the United Kingdom and a priority area, Mrs Jagdeo said, was to help schools which lost furniture.
A Guyanese teacher and Kids First Fund volunteer based in the UK, Ms Camile Craigen-Straughn, found out that her school, Salusbury Primary in north London was changing its classroom furniture.
“Not wanting the furniture to be dumped and knowing that Guyana has a great need for it, she asked the Head Mistress Mrs Elaine Clarke if she would mind if it was sent to Guyana. Mrs Clarke had no objection and Camile along with Faiyaz Ali, Patsy Downey and others, made all the arrangements for 459 good quality desks and chairs to be uplifted by Mike Harrison Shipping Company at minimal cost for shipping to Guyana”, she said.
The furniture shipment has arrived and distributed to 16 schools -- Friendship, Enmore Hope, Mon Repos, Lusignan, Paradise, Clonbrook, Parika, Zeelugt Primary, Philadelphia Primary, Wales Community High, St Andrews Primary, St Margaret’s Primary, West Ruimveldt Primary, Ketley Primary and North Georgetown Primary.
The handing over ceremony was done recently at the Enmore Hope School where students from various schools performed dances and read poetry.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education, Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands), Georgetown, the First Lady and others.
GBTI winners help make a difference
SIX students have each won $15,000 cheques and tokens in the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) 2006 almanac art competition under the theme ‘Making a Difference for our Environment’.
They received the cheques and other prizes at a ceremony Thursday at the GBTI office on Water Street, Georgetown.
The money will enable the students to have their own bank accounts through GBTI’s Early Savers account.
Winners in the competition are Anushka Khan, Evan Lynch, Krysta Yan, Shivanand Narine, Tenisha Bend and Surojinie Netram.
There were also 12 runners-up who were each presented with a $5,000 cheque and other prizes for their participation.
Assistant Manager of GBTI, Ms Collette Lyken also presented Programme Manager of the Municipal Governance and Management Programme, Ms Beverly Braithwaite-Chan with 500 almanacs.
Junior Manager at GBTI, Mr Sean Noel said the annual almanac competition was born in 2001, with young people as the target group, allowing them the opportunity to express their creativity and views. And this year’s theme is a message of recognising the effects the attitude and way of life of people have on the environment, he said.
GBTI Director, Credit, Mr John Tracey, noted that stresses on the environment include the high emissions of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere, which damage the ozone layer protecting the earth from harmful rays of the sun, and the use of products such as plastics which are not biodegradable which clog up waterways and emit harmful toxins.
He noted that with the world population at some six billion, the lifestyle of some people has changed, causing a greater challenge to the environment and the theme for this year has promoted an awareness of how persons at all levels can make a difference for the environment.
Tracey congratulated the students on behalf of the management and staff of GBTI for their effort and determination and said they are members of the company.
Senior Lecturer in the Division of Creative Arts at the University of Guyana, Ms Bernadette Persaud said that even though it is an art competition, it deals and relates to issues about everyday life, especially the environment.
Art is a way to express and share ideas and views through the various forms of painting, fine art and drawing that convey different meanings, she said.
Also at the ceremony were Director of Education, Information and Training at the Environmental Protection Agency, Ms Sharifah Razack and Manager of GBTI, Ms Floret Ramsaran.
(KENWAH CHOQUANYI)
Felix acknowledges armed robberies increase in 2005
POLICE Commissioner Winston Felix acknowledged yesterday that difficulties in curbing armed robberies have resulted in a 20 per cent increase of serious crimes this year, over the corresponding period last year
He made the announcement at the Police ‘A’ Division annual awards ceremony and Christmas luncheon in Brickdam Police Station compound, Georgetown, where 13 ranks were awarded and the coveted ‘Policeman of the Year’ trophy was presented to Detective Corporal 15606 Caesar.
According to Mr Felix, there has not been an overall rise in crime in other areas but firearm robberies have, so far, increased this year.
He said 121 illegal guns, seized during searches at roadblocks and eradication exercises in 2005, will be confiscated.
Felix explained that the yearly incentive programme is not only to hand out money but show appreciation for diligent work done.
He encouraged ranks to do the right things and never fail or back down while always taking the initiative.
Divisional Commander, Assistant Commissioner Paul Slowe admitted that he maybe described as a very demanding task master but urged his subordinates to give of their best.
He noted that cops have been able to access potable water inside the Brickdam complex where new cupboards were also built.
Meantime, in his division, which spawns from Conversation Tree in Georgetown to Dora along Soesdyke/Linden Highway, Police have been very aggressive in dealing with the greater number of robberies under arms, Mr Slowe said.
He pointed out that some ranks went beyond the call of duty and performed well and it is fitting that they be rewarded for their outstanding efforts.
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