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National Exhibition Centre leading development

- Prime Minister Hinds

GINA, Georgetown, August 12, 2005

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, yesterday, lauded the role of the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) at Sophia, Greater, Georgetown, as a main player in the modernisation thrust of this country.

“The National Exhibition Centre is winning the attention and the minds of all people of Guyana as a leading point, a bright start in the development of the new economy which Guyana should have,” the Prime Minister said.

He has commended the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manzoor Nadir for the step taken to refurbish the NEC secretariat.

The Prime Minister, speaking at the commissioning of the facility, underscored the importance of the packaging centre within.

“Our Government’s programme is first of all to refashion and revitalize our traditional sectors such as sugar, rice and timber, but those areas have their limitations. We have to see 20 to 30 percent increase in new areas such a tourism, export of vegetables, fish, meats and to that end the packaging centre in this compound is leading the way.”

Minister Nadir explained that The NEC is not solely a site for the hosting of trade fairs, it is much more than that, it is home to many manufacturing industries, Minister Nadir said.

It is an incremental process in terms of development; every year proceeds from Guy-Expo are returned into the NEC’s coffers, and over the years, a number of areas have been enhanced. Last year, Government spent $6M to build the boundary roads of the NEC.

“This facility at NEC is a hive of activities that service our economy with the offices of the Guyana Manufacturers Association (GMA), EMPRETEC, Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and the Sophia Packaging facility.”

Prime Minister Hinds and those present at the opening ceremony of the NEC Secretariat were given a tour of the renovated building

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Approximately $25M being spent to repair Blairmont stelling

Georgetown, GINA, August 11, 2005.

Government is currently spending approximately $25M on repairs to the Blairmont stelling, West Bank Berbice.

The works are being executed under the management of the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD).

General Manger of T&HD, William Joseph said the project, which commenced in July has progressed quite smoothly and is expected to be completed by September this year.

Joseph said while the repairs are ongoing, limited access is being permitted to commuters.

Under this year’s Capital Works programme, Government allocated approximately $50M to undertake repairs to stellings at New Amsterdam, Rosignol and in the North West District.

To date, work on the Rosignol stelling has been completed while at New Amsterdam, repairs are progressing at a rapid rate.

Stellings not included in this year’s work programme will be scheduled for repairs under the 2006 works programme.

Meanwhile, a new stelling has been constructed at Leguan in the Essequibo river, through Government’s executing agency, Social Impact Amelioration Programme (SIMAP) and has been handed over to the management of T&HD.

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Immunization efforts continue in several regions

Georgetown, GINA, August 10, 2005

The Ministry of Health in its effort to keep Guyana free from vaccine-preventable diseases is continuing immunization activities in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara), Region Four (Demerara/ Mahaica) and Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice).

The exercise, which targets both children and adults, continues every Monday through Friday at Health Centres in the Regions until August 31, 2005.

Acting Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, Bibi Shameena Halfrose said the response to the campaign launched in June has been very good.

Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Whooping Cough, Hepatitis A and B, Yellow Fever, Tetanus and Diphtheria are the major diseases focused on during the vaccination drive.

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Georgetown, GINA, August 12, 2005

Government continues to reach out to residents, especially those in outlying and far-flung areas in the thrust to provide better services, and yesterday, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Harripersaud Nokta visited Yarowkabra, a village located along the Soesdyke, Linden Highway.

Minister Nokta had ‘hands on’ experience, of what obtains in the village and listened to the problems residents highlighted.

They surfaced the need for more developmental assistance. They raised concerns in the areas of health, agriculture, old age pension, lack of birth certificates and inadequate school facilities.

They told the Minister of the infrequent visits by medical personnel, pointing out that they are usually made by teams once a month and irregularly, too.

Acoushi ants are prevalent in the area and are destroying farmers' crops. Minister Nokta told residents that an Agriculture Officer would soon visit the village to assist them to deal with this hindrance.

The inability to uplift their Old age pension, due to the distance from the Soesdyke Post Office, was one of the major issues facing the elderly. Minister Nokta told them that he will look into the matter, but in the interim, he advised that they use the system currently in place.

There were also problems regarding birth certificates, and the Community Development Council (CDC) of that community was tasked with the responsibility of identifying persons who do not possess the document. The list of names will be submitted to Minister Nokta for follow up with the relevant agency.

Residents also cited the need for a Primary School for children of surrounding communities; since they are forced to travel long distances to get to school and some of them do not attend after the nursery level.

The Minister explained that the request could not be accommodated in this year’s programme, since the budget has already been passed, but he promised that it would be included in next year’s.

Residents expressed the need for the existing nursery school to be refurnished and electricity installed. This matter will also be addressed, Minister Nokta promised.

With most of the surrounding lands owned by private persons, residents say that for years they have been denied the opportunity to farm them. Minister said he would write the Lands and Survey Department on the matter.

In addition, residents told the Minister that the proposed site to house the primary school was leased by the Lands and Surveys Department to others for private ventures.

The Local Government Minister inspected the proposed site and told them he would raise it with the Department concerned.

Minister Nokta also checked on the main access road, which is currently under construction.

The residents also spoke of the need for a postal agency and police out post and Minister Nokta promised to return to the community soon.

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Minisster Teixeira, Top Cop Winston Felix and Commander of 'A' Division Paul Slowe take a look at the plan for the Diamond/Grove Police Station.

Georgetown , GINA, August 12, 2005

Government will be spending $30M to build the Police Station at Diamond/Grove, Block ‘Y’ East Bank Demerara and preparatory work is expected to commence on August 15.

Minister of Home Affairs, Gail Teixeira and Commissioner of Police Winston Felix, today inspected the site. Minister Teixeira disclosed that the sum of $5M has already been allocated for the groundwork.

Revetments around the site and earth filling to raise the level of the land, which is somewhat swampy, will be done initially.

Minister Teixeira said the station’s design is a prototype of a modern facility, with interview and parade rooms. It will also house five lockups.

With the rapidly increasing population in housing schemes, the need arises for more police stations to be constructed.

“Imagine five years ago Diamond/Grove was just empty lands. You have to realise that as the population grows, there is a need for security,” Minister Teixeira said.

At the moment, there are more than 5,000 households living in the housing scheme and it projected to reach the 30,000 mark within a few years.

The location of the police station is seen as strategic, as neighbouring communities will have easy access.

“Ranks will be able to move quickly into areas like Kaneville,” Commissioner Felix noted. At the moment, there are increased patrols in the area.

Government, this year said it will enhance crime-fighting efforts, and the construction of police stations is one aspect of the plan.

Recently the construction of a $32M police station at ‘D’ Field Sophia started and is already taking shape.

In addition, Government has awarded the contract for a police station to be constructed at Fort Wellington, Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice).

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GINA, Georgetown, August 12, 2005

The Number 63 Beach, Corentyne, Berbice has been dubbed one of Guyana's tourism assets, and as a result, the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manzoor Nadir has big plans for its enhancement.

"Number 63 Beach is a well-used tourist site, but we need to do more.”

Minister Nadir said his ministry is examining how the area can be developed to the liking of tourists.

“ We are looking at the possibility of overnight accommodation, improving the facilities at the beach in terms of lounge chairs and a board walk and we need to have more persons at the beach to be able to develop concessions for renting paddle boats and jet skis.”

"Number 63 Beach has been a place where many local people have gone for relaxation and recreation, but what we had noticed is that in the past the beach was not given adequate attention," according to Minister Nadir.

In 2003, the Tourism Ministry looked at the improvements of the beach and its facilities as part of Government’s thrust to develop tourism sites locally.

Testimony to the improvements achieved through Government's tourism development programme is the improvement of the stretch of road leading to the beach from the public road that has been improved and an additional entrance created from Number 61 to 62 villages.

As part of scaled up efforts to enhance the beach's surroundings a number of basic infrastructure necessary for any beach has been erected.

"We get an incremental amount of money every year, so over the past three years we have built seven benabs, three pavilions, sanitary facilities and changing rooms.”

The need to keep the environment clean at all times is very important to the Beach’s success in promoting it as a tourist spot, and a programme to ensure it is free of garbage is conducted at intervals.

The Minister said it has been observed that the beach is being used continuously during the week and more significantly on weekends.

Recalling the successful and well-attended 'Summer Sizzle' launched on August 1, Emancipation Day, Minister Nadir said the Ministry of Tourism has been promoting a number of beach activities, noting that more will be done to facilitate clean family fun at the beach.

The beach plays a historic part in the observation of annual holidays such as the usual Easter Monday beach fete and other events where residents of Berbice and surrounding areas go to enjoy sun, sand and water in a clean and pristine environment.

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• Administration to pursue consultations at appropriate levels

Georgetown , GINA, August 12, 2005

The ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) sees the Oopposition Working People’s Alliance’s (WPA’s) “so called” national consultations between political parties as a rehash of conclusive decisions taken both at the level of the Guyana Elections Commission and the National Assembly. Hence, this is the basis for its non-participation in the session scheduled for tomorrow.

In an invited comment to the Government Information Agency, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon said the PPP/C Administration and the Office of the President categorically support the rejection by the PPP/C of the consultation process billed for tomorrow, August 13 at the Ocean View Convention Centre.

An August 2 letter signed by Dr. Rupert Roopnarine of the WPA and addressed to the General Secretary of the PPP Donald Ramotar, invited the PPP/C to participate in the “national consultation.” Attached to the invitational letter was a working document that would be considered.

Dr. Luncheon noted that there are GECOM members who belong to political parties that constitute the Members of Parliament in the National Assembly and so far no indication was made by any of them that the need arise for such consultations on matters relating to the upcoming elections.

He noted the “unsavory approach” of the WPA et al involved in organizing the conference, especially by putting issues on the agenda that were already agreed upon. Three of those issues are: the alternative if Elections is not held before the Constitutional deadline, the form of governance after the 2006 elections and the standards for the general elections.

Among the issues up for discussion is the minimum standard for the elections process, a matter that was already addressed and agreed upon on July 20, when the National Assembly adopted a Memorandum of Understanding.

“That matter has been dealt with conclusively both at the level of GECOM and at the National Assembly, where a motion dealing with the Memorandum of Understanding was adopted. Were Dr. Roopnarine and his ilks to be fully aware of that document and particularly, the annexes, they would see that GECOM, the Government and the donors all committed themselves to verifiable international standards to which all would be held accountable for the conduct of this Elections,” Dr. Luncheon noted.

It is in this context, that the Administration finds it strange and preposterous that the “WPA et all is summoning a national consultation to rehash an issues that is purportedly an issue when it has already been dealt with conclusively.”

Commenting on the alternative Government, should the Commission fail to pull the 2006 elections off by the August constitutional deadline, Dr. Luncheon noted that the inclusion of this issue on the WPA’s agenda is alarming, as the WPA is uncertain of its existence as a political party contesting the 2006 elections. Hence, suggestion to discourse on an alternative leaves much to be desired.

“I don’t know with tongue in cheek, the WPA may want to advise us at what point in time in the history of this country that those who sought interim Government’s marching, burning, looting and threatening Government’s, have sought to abide by Constitutional requirements and the laws of this country. But in their quest for this national consultation, they saw it fit to decide that this body should be tasked with discussions along those lines,” the HPS said.

The consultations would also seek to address the form of governance to be pursued after the 2006 election, an attempt that Dr. Luncheon described as “ridiculous.”

Consideration is being given to a form of governance where reforms that are being considered are being dealt with in genuine consultations and sectoral and national levels.

Referring specifically to the issue of governance, Dr. Luncheon said two of the most recent studies on Parliament as an oversight agent for greater governance in Guyana are being implemented.

“So the Office of the President, the PPP/C Administration, fully support the PPP in their rejection of participation in this ill-fated jaunt of the WPA and the collection of political parties and civil society agents who will be meeting to discourse on these matters.

However, the PPP/C Administration’s rejection of the consultations, does not signal refusal to participate in other meaningful initiatives.

“We would continue as usual at the level of the Administration in conducting our consultations and discussions at the appropriate level and in the identified forum, whether we are at the level of constitutional bodies and statutory bodies, or consultations that are properly planned with defined objectives that do no injustice to processes and programmes,” Dr. Luncheon emphasized.

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Georgetown, GINA, August 12, 2005

Guyana has a new Ambassador from Korea. President Bharrat Jagdeo today received the Letters of Credence from Ambassador Shin Shoong Chull at an Accreditation ceremony at the Office of the President.

Also present at the Accreditation ceremony were Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Rudy Insanally, Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Elisabeth Harper, Chief of Protocol (ag) Esther Griffith and Officers within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Governments of Guyana and the Republic of Korea yesterday signed an agreement for the promotion and Protection of Investments, bilateral relations between the two countries, intensifying relations

Signing the agreement was Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Clement Rohee, and Ambassador Chull.

This agreement will lay the foundation for new foreign investments and create the possibility for Guyanese who possess resources to invest in Korea. Over the years, Korean investors have expressed an interest in investing in Guyana in diverse areas as textiles, furniture and paper manufacturing and in the fisheries industry.

It is hoped that with the protection offered by this recent agreement, concrete Korean investment in these and other areas will grow.

Guyana and Korea possess a long history of friendly relations, which were formalised with the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1969.

Guyana has received assistance from Korea in the form of vehicles, technology and training programme.

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President Jagdeo meets Commonwealth, Caribbean pharmacists

• Receives update on plans for pharmacy conference

H.E. President Bharrat Jagdeo and members of the Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association, the Caribbean Association of Pharmacists and the Guyana Pharmacists’ Association at the Office of the President.

Georgetown , GINA, August 12, 2005

President Bharrat Jagdeo, today met a group of pharmacists who updated him on plans for the Caribbean, Commonwealth Pharmacists’ Conference to be held in Guyana from August 15 through 21.

The annual event is being hosted this year in Guyana by the Caribbean Association of Pharmacists, the Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association and the Guyana Pharmacists Association. More than 100 delegates from 20 countries would participate in the conference.

The Head of State was scheduled to declare open the annual event, but could no longer do so and hence, met the group in advance. They briefed him on the highlights of the conference, which include discussion on the regulations governing Pharmacy in the Caribbean and upgrading the Pharmacy programme in various territories, President of the Guyana Pharmacists Association Mrs. Jaiwanttie Bacchus said after the meeting. She noted that the various training programmes need to be updated to keep abreast with modern changes and this matter will be thoroughly discussed.

In 2004 the conference was held in Belize, in 2003 in Jamaica and in the Bahamas in 2001. Mrs. Bacchus said that Guyanese Pharmacists rarely attend this critical conference when hosted overseas because of the expenses, which have to be incurred. Hence, the conference being held in Guyana would give local Pharmacists international exposure.

Among those present at today’s meeting were Mrs. Bacchus, Vice President of the Guyana Pharmacists’ Association Megan Barker, Secretary of the Association Kalawattie Datt and Carl Bacchus and Cecil Jacques, representatives of the Caribbean in Guyana.

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GINA, Georgetown, August 12, 2005

With the recent sugar reform proposal put forward by the European Union Commission Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation and the Ministerial Spokesperson on sugar for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Clement Rohee has stated that he believes firmly that sugar has a secure future in Guyana.

"I believe sugar has a future in Guyana, the studies have been done by local experts as well as the experts hired by the British Department Fund for International Development (DIFID) and the results show that Guyana has a strong possibility of surviving the current challenges," Minister Rohee.

The Minister expressed these strong views at a round table discussion on Sugar and Globalisation today at the University of Guyana’s Education Lecture Theater to mark Dr. Walter Rodney's 25 th death anniversary.

The two-day Academic conference was organised by the University of Guyana in collaboration with the Faculty of Humanities and Education of the University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago to reflect on the main events in the life of Dr. Walter Rodney, renowned historian and politician.

Minister Rohee expressed the view that the European Union has certain obligations to the Word Trade Organisation (WTO) but they also have international obligations to the African Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) of which Guyana is a member country.

An Appellate body was set up after Brazil, Australia and Thailand submitted a complaint to the WTO against the EU sugar regime and the preferential prices offered to ACP States.

The body ruled that the EU must uphold their international obligations as separate and distinct from their obligation to the WTO, said Minister Rohee.

He explained that, "The Europeans have decided that they must make certain changes in the common agricultural policy, they have decided that they must become WTO compatible in terms of their commitments and also to review the protocol in the context of the new economic partnerships with the ACP countries and this is the challenge that we at this point in time."

Commenting on the possibility of seeking legal action against the EU Minister Rohee said, "We believe that we have a good case, we have consulted with our experts of taking the commission to court as it regards the violation."

Since the disclosure of the drastic sugar reform proposal, Rohee had openly stated that, the ACP cannot afford to roll over and allow EU to have its way, this is why the fight against the steep cuts must continue.

The EU has proposed $40M euros to make available to ACP which has been rejected with the indication by Guyana and other ACP States for the need of $500M euros to assist during the transition period.

The price cuts could cost the industry some US $20M in revenue between 2005 and 2006 increasing to US $35M in 2007.

The European Commission announced on June 22 an unprecedented overhaul of its sugar subsidy system cutting prices by 39 percent. The proposal would dismantle a system put in place in 1968 that protected European Union sugar producers through a generous system of export subsidies, quotas and tariffs to block imports.

The EC is reforming its sugar market in light of pressures from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to dismantle preferential trade arrangements as well as the need to modernize the European domestic sugar industry.

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