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Agricultural development in Region Two
GINA - Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Crops and Livestock Satyadeow Sawh last Wednesday visited Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), where he commissioned a mechanical seed paddy dryer and a quality assurance laboratory at the Guyana Rice Producers Association facility at Anna Regina.
The seed paddy drying, cleaning and storage facility was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and executed by partners in Rural Development through the Building Community Capacity Project (BCCP) and the Guyana Government.
Guyana exports more than 70 percent of its rice. More than 80 percent of the residents in Region Two depend on the rice industry for their livelihoods.
Over $12M was allocated for the construction of a laboratory and drying floor, also for the training of staff and the acquisition and installation of equipment.
Some $7.4M was spent on the mechanical dryer. This project was effected over a three-year period to the tune of $35M.
This year, which is designated the Year of Rice, has as it theme, "Rice is Life".
Minister Sawh also said rice is the backbone of the country's economy and has been sustained throughout the years.
Addressing the ceremony, Canadian High Commissioner Mr Bruno Picard said the facility will generate income for farmers in that community and the country, and will be able to sustain itself.
The Minister also commissioned an office extension at the National Plant Nursery at Charity, Essequibo.
The sum of $5M was spent in building the extension as well as sheds.
The nursery, which produced 10,000 plants when it was established in 1997, is now expected to increase its annual output of plants to 40,000. (Government Information Agency)
Catholic Charismatic Renewal members call on President Jagdeo
MEMBERS of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement yesterday paid a courtesy call on Head of State President Bharrat Jagdeo at the Presidential Complex. Here, President Jagdeo (right) shares a pleasant moment with the group during the visit. At left is popular City florist and former Mayor of Georgetown Mr Compton Young, who is a leading member of the Charismatic Movement. Picture by Winston Oudkerk)
Gunmen steal outboard engines
POLICE in Essequibo are investigating the theft of two outboard engines from a boat by gunmen on Thursday.
A police press release said two watchmen were in a boat at Aberdeen when they were attacked by three men armed with guns.
Police said the watchmen were keeping guard over the boat which had two 75 HP Yamaha outboard engines when the three gunmen turned up alongside in another boat.
The trio up stuck them up and hit them several times with their guns, police said.
They then removed the outboard engines valued at $800,000 and escaped.
The wounded watchmen were treated at the Suddie Hospital, police said.
National policy paper on orphans due soon
GUYANA is drawing up a national policy paper on orphans and other vulnerable children and a draft is expected by the end of next month, paving the way for a budgeted action plan.
An assessment report on the children, a collaborative work by the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, the Ministry of Health and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), was launched yesterday in the presence of representatives of the different stakeholders.
This is a precursor to the draft of the national policy paper expected to be finalised by the end of next month, officials said.
As a result of the findings, outlined at Emba-Sea Courtyard in Pere Street, Kitty, Georgetown, the legal system, policies and services linked to the target group will be reviewed and strengthened to protect, care and support those children and their families.
Among the findings are that the 153 children interviewed shared similar needs and that HIV/AIDS is the highest ranked cause of others in this country becoming orphans and vulnerable.
The report found, too, that about 1,148 orphans and other vulnerables had approached 31 organisations, in Regions Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Four (Demerara/Mahaica), Five (Mahaica/Berbice), Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) and 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice), for help.
Speaking at the forum, Minister within the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Ms. Bibi Shadick said the tripartite recommendations would seek to strengthen and support the capacity of families to care and cope, mobilise and bolster community-based responses.
These will also help children and young people meet their own needs and ensure that the government develops appropriate policies for the beneficiaries and raise public awarness to HIV/AIDS, murder, suicide and abuses, including sexual, in the society.
She remarked that the report was concise and will definitely make people conscious of the causes and effects of the social and economic factors which contribute to children becoming orphaned or vulnerable.
“I have always felt to myself that children are vulnerable because they are children and, in society, there are many simple vulnerabilities. For example, when parents send their children to buy rum and cigarettes, they are exploiting them,” the minister stated.
She said good education can help make vulnerability less prevalent and, as such, a number of decisions will be made in collaboration to ensure that each child in Guyana gets a proper education and a bright career start.
According to Shadick, her ministry has always tried to help people, especially youths and a number of organisations were established to provide temporary and permanent accommodation, counselling, health and other services, among them skills training, life skills and feeding, to orphans and the other vulnerables.
Another speaker, Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, noting that problems concerning those targeted will never go away, agreed an environment must be created in which the children have support and are safe.
Others present were UNICEF Representative, Ms. Maria Ribeiro; Child Care Counsellor, Ms. Violet Speek-Warnery, also of UNICEF; Child Care Counsellor from Linden Care Foundation, Ms. Maxine Fredericks; consultants Ms. Donnette Hope Ramsay and Ms. Lisa Thompson and Acting Deputy Chief Probation and Family Welfare Officer, Ms. Patricia Gray.
Grenadian children back in school
THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) yesterday applauded the government of Grenada as thousands of children began returning to school just over a month after Hurricane Ivan battered the island nation.
Schools have reopened thanks to the clean-up efforts of school administrators, teachers, government officials and children, as well as to assistance provided by several neighbouring governments, UNICEF said.
“This is a miraculous turn-around under extremely demanding conditions,” said Ms. Karin Sham Poo, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director.
“Grenada is setting an example for other countries by making children paramount.”
When Hurricane Ivan struck the island on September 7, what should have been the second day of the new school term, it left nearly 30,000 children out of school.
Many of the island’s 79 schools were either severely damaged or had to be used as shelters for those whose homes were destroyed.
UNICEF said children are resuming schooling in classrooms whose roofs have been temporarily sealed with plastic sheeting provided by the United States government.
A shipment of 74 UNICEF-provided tent classrooms will provide more classroom space and is expected to arrive next week.
Some of the schools will need heavy repairs, the organization reported.
It said that for Grenada, returning to school represents more than just bricks and mortar.
“School is not a building, it is the space to learn, to teach and to perform,” said Mr. Victor Ashby, Principal of the Grenada Boy’s Secondary School.
“It is a combination of brains and brawn that is putting the education system back on track,” said Ms. Jean Gough, UNICEF country representative.
Ms. Gough praised the teachers and the children, parent-teacher organisations, education officers, district education officers, the Ministry of Education and the military forces of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.
“They literally rolled up their sleeves and dug the schools out of the mud,” she said.
Twenty-two government schools were reopened on October 11, UNICEF said.
It noted that severe weather conditions also affected other islands in the Caribbean.
While children are back in school in Jamaica, parts of Haiti are still reeling from the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Jeanne, it said.
UNICEF, national authorities and other partners in education are working together to get children into school in the northern city of Gonaives in Haiti as soon as possible.
UNICEF said it marked the school openings by handing over 223 Schools-in-a-Box for primary school students, school supplies for secondary schools, and recreation kits as well as 12 Sport-in-a-Box kits donated by FIFA for nearly 25,000 primary and secondary schoolchildren at a ceremony yesterday at the Grenada Boys Secondary School.
“Today, Grenadian children are one step closer to regaining a sense of security and stability in their lives,” Poo told the gathering.
One week after the hurricane, UNICEF began working with volunteers on a psycho-social programme designed to help local children recover from the upheaval in their lives.
The programme, called ‘Return to Happiness', reached out to 400 children in the first one-month long workshops.
UNICEF said Grenada still needs more supplies, including:
• tents for temporary schooling
• tarpaulins for temporary shelter of the roofs of the 106 pre-schools
• the re-initiation of the school feeding programming for all schools
• text books for primary and secondary schools
• furniture to replace those damaged at all levels of schooling (pre-school, primary and secondary)
• upscaling of the Return to Happiness programme which aims to provide psycho-social rehabilitation to about 20,000 children.
Government taking special care of orphans in Guyana
GINA -- “EDUCATION is the key to eradicating poverty and eliminating vulnerability of children in Guyana.”
This is what Minister within the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Bibi Shadick, told the audience at the launching of the assessment report on orphans and other vulnerable children in Guyana at the Emba-Sea Court Yard, Kitty, Georgetown, yesterday.
The launching of the report was a collaborative effort between the Ministries of Health and Human Services and the United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF).
The report focuses mainly on children who are on the streets and are unable to access education since they are easy targets for exploitation and abuse.
Minister Shadick said that community involvement is needed to fight the problem of children's vulnerability. “We have to form child protection committees in communities in the country to assist in the fight,” she said.
Poverty is said to be the main cause of children's vulnerability in Guyana. The report seeks to highlight cases of HIV/AIDS in Guyana, saying that after Haiti, Guyana has the second highest incidence of HIV/AIDS.
Also at the launching ceremony was the Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who said that his ministry, along with the Ministry of Human Services is committed to reducing the vulnerability of Guyana's children.
He said, “The world is changing and more children are becoming more vulnerable and Guyana has come a long way in fighting this.”
“Guyana has reached that state of maturity to say that we have vulnerable children” he noted.
“As a Government we don't have all the answers. We have to work together in finding them,” he said.
Representative of UNICEF, Ms. Maria do valle Ribeiro, told those at the launching, “When we talk about vulnerable children, we are talking about children who cannot help themselves.”
A National Plan of Action for Orphans and other vulnerable children will soon be developed.
Minister Nokta to visit Wakenaam
GINA -- MINISTER of Local Government and Regional Development, Harripersaud Nokta and a team will make an outreach visit to the island of Wakenaam, Region Three (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara) on Monday.
While there, Minister Nokta will meet with community members and the Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) of Maria's Pleasure Primary School, Sans Souci Secondary School and Bonasika School.
The team will include Mr. Devindra Jaglall, Project Manager of Basic Needs Trust Fund, and Regional Chairman Esau Dookie and other regional officials.
PYO echoes support for police, urges more pro-active crime fight
THE Progressive Youth Organization (PYO) views with “tremendous concern” the criminal activities resurfacing in Buxton and joins the many voices supporting the Guyana Police Force, urging it do all in its power to rid society of “these heartless and gruesome murderers.”
“'We view with concern, the threat issued to peace minded Buxtonians and wish to express our solidarity with those law-abiding persons that seek peace and normalcy,” the youth arm of the ruling PPP said in a statement yesterday.
The PYO said “criminals should not be tolerated anywhere in our society. They should not be safeguarded and given hiding grounds, nor should their deaths be idolized and marked with acts of martyrdom.
“These acts serve to inspire the murderers and only fuel them to continue on their path of destruction and evil. Now is the time for us to bond together and rally with one voice ‘our society has no place for these tyrants’.
“We must never tolerate the killings of our police officers, disruption of normal life along the East Coast and killing of peace minded citizens. And those that seek to defend these criminals and justify their actions must accept responsibility for the chaos that is occurring.”
The PYO said it still remembers clearly those "leaders" who attended the funerals of murderers and dishonored the national flag, the symbol of pride, by draping the coffins with that flag.
“We urge all those with information on these criminals and their associates to continue sharing such information with the police force as it seeks to drive them from our society. As an organization we pledge our support in all efforts aimed at freeing our society of these criminal and anti-social elements.”
The PYO urged the police force to be even more proactive in the fight against what it called “terrorists” and said it was confident that good would prevail.
Bust of outstanding Guyanese scholar unveiled at CPCE
By Shawnel Cudjoe
FROM this year, the best graduating student of Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) will be receiving US$1,500 for his or her performance.
This announcement was made yesterday by Mr. Denys Vaughn Cooke.
Mr. Cooke spoke on his family's behalf at the unveiling of a bust and the naming of the college library in honour of his father, Francis Ashley Vaughn-Cooke.
The Francis and Doreen Vaughn-Cooke Award will be an annual event and the family also disclosed plans to make contributions to the college library. The event was one of those to mark CPCE's 75th anniversary.
Director of the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE) Mr. Samuel Small said that as Principal of the Government Training College, to which he was appointed in 1957, he was very instrumental in requiring competence in academic performance and professional ability.
According to Small, Vaughn-Cooke was also responsible for replacing the old Education Department Library, which consisted of three presses of ancient and outdated books by a library of over 7000 volumes of the most modern texts, including works of Guyanese and Caribbean authors.
"Vaughn-Cooke tried to make the college the focal point of education in Guyana. He arranged seminars and courses for teachers who would be able to take back what they had acquired to their colleagues".
Small told the gathering that Vaughn-Cooke inspired both his staff and students and had a vision for the development of education.
"His leadership skills and his managerial competence have earned him a place in the hall of fame in the edifice of teacher education in Guyana."
Vaughn-Cooke was born on April 4, 1913 at Vergenogen on the East Bank of the Essequibo River and got his early schooling from his parents - his father, the head teacher of Great Troolie Island School, and his mother, taught at the same school.
At the age of 10, the elder Vaughn-Cooke obtained a place at Queen's College and throughout his secondary school life was always the youngest in each form and performed brilliantly.
Cooke was admitted to the Teachers Training College (then the Teachers Training Centre) in 1932. He acquitted himself with great distinction as a student of the third batch of students.
He carried his brilliant academic performance from high school over to college and was first in his batch for two years.
Upon graduation, he was appointed to St. Stephen's Church of Scotland School in Georgetown where for many years he taught pupils for the Blair Scholarship, which was awarded on the basis of performance at the Preliminary Cambridge Examination, an overseas secondary examination, for which primary schools competed.
This scholarship was won by a student of St. Stephen's the year Mr. Vaughn Cooke joined.
Through correspondence courses, he secured an external Bachelor of Arts Degree of the University of London in 1947.
Five years after becoming Assistant Master of the Government Teachers Training College, Vaughn Cooke was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship. He proceeded to London where he completed a Diploma in Education at the University of London.
He retired from college in 1965 and died at the age of 88 in 2001.
National Drawing Competition winners collect prizes
WINNERS in the National Drawing Competition received their prizes at the opening of the National Drawing Exhibition on Thursday at the National Gallery.
The competition, sponsored in its fifth consecutive biennial by the
National Bank of Industry and Commerce Limited (NBIC), attracted ten entrants,
ranging in age from 15 to 77 years of age, who submitted a total of 23 entries.
The first prize in the competition of the Castellani House gold medal and a cheque for $50,000 was won by Garfield Gillis, for his drawing ‘Looking Fo’ Mama’. Gillis is a graduate of the Burrowes School of Art who had earned a Judges’ Special Mention at the 2002 biennial.
The second prize of a silver medal and $30,000 was awarded to Travell Blackman, a July 2004 graduate from the Burrowes School, for his portrait composition, ‘Holly’. Blackman had received the Young Person’s Prize at the 2002 competition.
The third prize of the bronze medal and $20,000 was won by Walter Gobin, an artist and art teacher living in the Bahamas, for his work, ‘Mahaica: Friends’.
The special prize of a bronze medal and $10,000 for an entrant between the ages of 16 to 18 years was awarded to Troyden Bonds for his work, ‘Entrapment’. Honourable Mentions were also won by Garfield Gillis for ‘Story Telling’ and by Walter Gobin for ‘Wild Things: Anteater’. A Special Judges’ Mention was awarded to the youngest entrant in the competition, Vernon Lallman, for his drawing, ‘Driftwood’.
Competition prizes were awarded by Ms. Magda Pollard, member of the Board of
Directors of the NBIC. Judges of the competition were the sculptor Winslow Craig, the painter Merlene Ellis, and the architect and painter Michael Leila. The drawing exhibition features the entries submitted in competition and additionally work from the National Collection and artists’ collections, to highlight the range and expressiveness of skills within the discipline of drawing.
The exhibition will continue until Thursday, November 4 next.
The public is invited to view this exhibition. Gallery hours are 10 am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 2 to 6pm on Saturday. The gallery is closed on Sunday. (National Art Gallery)
Family planning outreach at Anna Catherina
THE Family Planning Association of Guyana (FPAG) in collaboration with the Sunshine Women and Youth Centre conducted a free outreach programme at Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara on October 14.
More than 50 persons, including doctors and nurses attached to the FPAG attended the outreach, which included discussions on several aspects of sexual and reproductive health activities, among them contraceptives, termination of pregnancy and HIV/AIDS.
Project Coordinator of the FPAG, Gwen King, said emphasis was also placed on encouraging women to do Pap smear.
After the discussions, the FPAG, which is a non governmental organization, distributed condoms and leaflets and also did blood pressure testing.
Coordinator of the Sunshine Women and Youth Centre, Sandra Persaud, who was also present, stated that the level of participation was very high. However, she noted that men did not attend the outreach.
Sunshine Centre was established in 1999 and currently has a membership of more than 150 women and youths.
Guyana's constant battle against the sea
A GINA Feature
THE low-lying coastline of Guyana is approximately 430 kilometres and so there is need for sea defences to protect the land from the Atlantic.
The Ministry of Public Works has to rehabilitate and maintain approximately 340 kilometres of sea defences between the Pomeroon River in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) and Crabwood Creek in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne). This includes defences on the islands of Leguan and Wakenaam in the Essequibo River.
Within the Works Ministry, a Sea Defence Board is tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the sea defences with a Sea and River Defence Division - supervised by Mr. George Howard.
There are several types of sea defences. These include concrete walls (approx. 100 km); mangrove forests with earth embankments (approx. 145 km); natural sand reefs (approx. 80 km) and riprap (approx. 15 km).
What are the functions of the sea defences? They prevent the loss of land caused by erosion and stop saline flooding of the protected area. Land levels on the coastal plain are about one metre below the high tide level.
Over the last 12 years, there has been funding for sea defences from the Government of Guyana; USAID (PL480); European Union; Inter-American Development Bank; the International Development Association; the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. From 1992 to 2004, Government has spent more than $5.7B, while international funding has amounted to over $5.6B.
"We are doing our best to protect communities along the coastal plain and riverain areas, and I hope persons appreciate it," said Minister of Public Works and Hydraulics, Anthony Xavier.
The River and Sea Defence Officer, George Howard supplied GINA with the major works completed over the past few years.
Sea defences
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Metres done (m)
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Devonshire Castle, Essequibo Coast
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100
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Sparta, E.C
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450
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La Belle Alliance, E.C
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880
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Richmond, E.C
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300
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Henrietta, Anna Regina, E.C
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2,000
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Reliance (south)/Columbia, E.C
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2,500
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Taymouth Manor, E.C
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350
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Queen's Town, E.C
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100
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L'Union, E.C
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100
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Farm/Ruby, East Bank Essequibo
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1,200
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Barnwell/Vergenogen, EBE
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1,500
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Hague/Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara
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500
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La Jalousie/Winsdor Forest, WCD
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1,500
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Stanleytown, West Bank Demerara
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200
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Mon Repos/Lusignan, ECD
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2,600
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Craig, EBD
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200
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Bel Air/Mon Chosi, WCB
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2,200
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Trafalgar/Union, WCB
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200
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No. 77, Corentyne, WCB
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400
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No. 79, Corentyne, WCB
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600
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Sea defences that commenced this year
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Pheonix, Leguan, WCD
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250
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Blenheim, Leguan, WCD
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100
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Le Destin, EBE
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200
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Ruimzilgt, WCD
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200
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La Retraite, WBD
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100
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Belladrum, WCB
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280 |
Profit/Foulis, WCB
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1,800
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According to Howard, with the exception of works at Queenstown, and L'Union on the Essequibo Coast, which was done with direct labour - all other works were executed by contract. Additionally, all proposed major works will go to tender.
How does the River and Sea Defence Board operate? Howard said that to execute the works, the Division has 19 technical staff, trained at tertiary level between undergraduate diploma level to post graduate level, in Civil and Mechanical Engineering.
They design new and improved sea defences; prepare tender documents; assess bid documents submitted and supervise construction.
There is the Finance and Accounting Section at the Head Office, Kingston and in each of the regional offices, a record is kept of the expenditure.
The vast majority of the staff are field workers or rangers responsible for executing works by direct labour or ensuring the quality of work executed by contractors. The River and Sea Division employs about 300 field officers.
"These persons are like the Police. They oversee everything. The Ministry provides living accommodation to senior staff in the various areas," added Minister Xavier.
Solid waste call centre established
A PILOT call centre (PCC) has been established by the Solid Waste Management Public Awareness and Education Project to promote support for environment-friendly garbage disposal in Georgetown.
The call centre has been set up within the project’s Guyenterprise-based Implementation Unit (that’s at Guyenterprise Advertising Agency) and can be reached on telephone numbers are 223-7253 and 223-7254.
The centre is expected to serve an extensive range of functions in support of public education and awareness of solid waste issues.
Though the centre falls under the auspices of the Lodge/Regent Street Pilot Project, it will accept calls from anywhere within the city, a programme statement yesterday said.
“The just-installed facility…is intended to contribute to the solving of various problems (citizens) experience with respect to municipal departments,” the statement said.
It is to be operational until February 28 next year, when the larger Lodge/Regent Street Pilot Project officially ends.
The Mayor and City Council has endorsed the initiative, with Mayor Hamilton Green and Deputy Mayor Robert Williams participating in a solid waste seminar that sought to make citizens even more aware of the importance of disposing of garbage in accordance with the law.
Among the call centre’s functions are receiving suggestions on ways of solving solid waste problems; referring complaints and suggestions to the relevant agencies for action; following up with the agencies and callers to ensure that effective action has been taken; and providing information to the public on basic regulations and laws pertaining to solid waste management in Georgetown.
Any facts on offences and penalties can be raised.
Initially manned by a staff of two, the centre is open for calls, mails and/or visits from 9:00 hours (9.00 a.m.) to 18:00 hours (6.00 p.m.), Monday to Saturday.
Procedures must be followed Home Affairs Ministry
GINA -- THE Ministry of Home Affairs wishes to inform all persons or agencies living or operating in Guyana who may require visas on arrival for relatives and employees and extensions of stay or work permits that applications should be made in writing to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Lot 6 Brickdam.
A release from the Home Affairs Ministry stated interested persons should apply at least one month before the intended date of arrival, the expiry date of stay, work permit or date of commencement of employment.
Failure to comply with the procedure may result in delays in processing applications.
The release also said that persons living overseas who desire to visit Guyana are asked to go through the Guyana Mission in their country or the nearest country where there is a Guyana Mission to process their applications.
Guyana wins tourism essay competition
GUYANA has won the "My Caribbean" Conde Nast Traveler Essay Contest for the first time.
Eleven-year-old Roshan Morris of Marian Academy got the top honours with her essay on the "Magnificent Kaieteur".
The Conde Nast Traveler Essay Contest is a collaborative effort by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine Group and the Caribbean Tourism Organization and is facilitated by the Tourism and Education Ministries in each nation.
Ms. Morris was selected from a group of entries garnered from eleven public and private schools by the Guyana Tourism Authority. Mr. Donald Sinclair, Head of Guyana Tourism Authority, said that as soon as the authority saw the essay, staffers knew it was a winner.
The winning article will be published in the next issue of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine. Ms. Morris has won US$2,500 and will also be featured in the magazine. She also traveled to Aruba to collect her prize.
Ms. Morris will narrate her essay for a video that will be produced by the Guyana Tourism Authority, featuring the Kaieteur Falls. The essay will also be displayed at the world travel market in London next month which the Authority attends annually.
Bandits rob watchmen in Essequibo
POLICE in ‘G’ Division, Essequibo, are investigating a robbery under arms committed Thursday on two watchmen at Aberdeen, Essequibo Coast, by three men, two of whom were armed with a shot gun and a handgun.
Enquiries by the police disclose that the watchmen were keeping guard over a boat which had two(2) 75 HP Yamaha outboard engines fastened to it, when the three men, who were in another boat, came alongside theirs, boarded, stuck them up and dealt them several blows with their guns.
The bandits then removed the outboard engines, valued $800,000, and escaped.
The watchmen sustained injuries and were taken by the police for medical attention at Suddie Hospital, where they were treated and sent away.
Investigations are continuing. (Police press release)
Lifeline Counselling celebrates eighth year
Lifeline Counselling Services yesterday celebrated its eighth anniversary with the launch of the video documentary "Coping with Puberty".
The 30-minutes documentary tells a story of a young girl who experiences her first period. This frightened girl seeks out her grandmother for an explanation.
The grandmother tries to calm her and advises her that she has become a "young lady". She also cautions her not to let anybody touch her 'there' or she will become pregnant.
The girl remembers that her boyfriend touched (hugged) her and immediately presumes that she is pregnant. She confides in her school friends, who find her concerns amusing.
The documentary uses the young girl’s plight to examine many myths surrounding puberty.
A peer educator meets with a group of young friends to clarify the myths. This encounter encourages a candid discussion that allows young people to clarify myths.
They also can develop a better understanding of the physical and emotional changes that they experience during puberty.
Lifeline Counselling Services, a registered non-profit, non-governmental organisation, was established in October 1996 to respond to the insufficient provision of HIV and AIDS counselling.
Its co-founders are Mr Dereck Springer, Mr Philip Vanderhyden and Ms Jennifier Rosenzeig.
Lifeline Counselling Services was officially launched on December 3, 1996 by the then Minister of Health, Gail Teixeira
The Mission of Lifeline Counselling Services: "To reduce the psycho-social impact of HIV/AIDS on persons living with and affected by the disease through counselling and education".
Programmes and Services include care and support for persons living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, condom distribution, counselling for persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families, Public awareness through visual flyers, pre and post-test counselling, risk assessment and reduction, sexuality, relationships, suicide, training of trainers, educators and counsellors.
Present at yesterday’s event were Patron, Mrs Kayleigh Burgess; Goodwill Ambassador, Ms Olive Gopaul; Ms Julia Ruwrinkle; Managing Director of Courts, Mr David Burgess; Co-founder, Mr Dereck Springer, and other invitees from the Ministry of Health.
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