Fewer deportees for 2007
-Home Affairs Minister
Georgetown, GINA, January 2, 2008
Guyana in 2007 received 241 deportees from the United States of America (USA), Suriname and Canada. In 2006 there were 282 persons sent back to Guyana.
Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee who made this disclosure recently said the deportee issue is constantly being reviewed between the Government of Guyana and each deporting country.
Government along with other CARICOM countries has been calling for the US to work with them in relation to addressing the issue of proper re-integration programmes for persons who are deported from the US.
The proliferation of deported Guyanese from the US sparked the inking of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2005 between the two governments, providing for a procedural framework for the return of citizens.
The MOU applies to ‘criminal aliens’ or persons being formally removed from the US to Guyana and defines a criminal alien as one who is being removed on the grounds of a criminal conviction in the US.
The eight-part MOU addresses issues pertaining to travel documents for deportees and lists the procedures for making requests or presentations for travel documents for criminal aliens.
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Minister Rodrigues temporarily assigned Prime Minister’s portfolio
- Minister Benn, Public Works and Communication
Georgetown, GINA, January 2, 2008
Minister of Amerindian Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues has been temporarily assigned to the Office of the Prime Minister while Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn is holding the portfolio of Minister of Public Works and Communication.
Both offices are held by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who is out of the country and is scheduled to return on January 13. The interim arrangement made by Head of State President Bharrat Jagdeo, came into effect on December 20, 2007 and is in keeping with article 109 of the Constitution.
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Gold, bauxite, stone, sand above production target for 2007 - GGMC
- new minerals coming for 2008 - GGMC
Georgetown, GINA, January 02, 2008
The year 2007 has been considered a good one for mineral production. Commissioner (ag) of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) William Woolford made this assessment recently and expressed his optimism of the discovery of new minerals for this year.
Woolford made reference to manganese mining which is likely to be revitalised in Matthews Ridge, Region One through the influence of Essar Steel Minerals, an Indian Company which is at present finalising arrangements for this new undertaking.
The company intends to transport ore via 18-tonne highway trucks to a storage and shipping facility at the port/canal in Port Kaituma and is hopeful of transporting approximately 85000 tons of manganese to Trinidad and Tobago.
The GGMC’s commissioner is also optimistic about bauxite, stone and sand production which have recorded encouraging figures for the year.
“The figures for the end of November show that the bauxite production was 94.7 percent of the year to date budget and a gross output of 2,4702 tonnes exceeded the overall budget by 6 percent,” Woolford said.
Additionally, stone production to the end of November was 353,485 tonnes which exceeded the year to date budget by 31 percent, while sand production was 358,243 tonnes according to Woolford.
The Guyana Gold Board (GGB) recorded a production figure of 240,000 ounces of gold. This number according to General Manager of the GGB Anantram Balram represents a 16 percent increase over the 2006 production.
He added that the GGB was successful in exporting 232,000 ounces at a value of US$153M. The Board also granted licences to some dealers to pursue private purchases and export. This has resulted in an export capacity of 6,900 ounces of gold valued at US$4.3M.
“For the year 2007, we returned to the Central Bank US$158M, so 2007 was a good year for gold,” Balram said.
He added that the GGB is still optimistic about establishing a branch in Port Kaituma, but is awaiting negotiations with commercial banks.
Production figures for diamond were unimpressive and may have been attributed to a significant number of miners switching from diamond to gold mining. Woolford said production figure for diamond was 264,904 carats which is below projection.
Since the establishment of a permanent presence in Bartica, the GGB has recorded notable improvements in gold transactions.
In 2005, gold production in the small and medium-scale operations recorded 120,000 ounces, breaking the record for these categories.
The following year, the sector headed for a second consecutive record, with gold production yielding over 200,000. At the end of the first quarter of 2007, the GGB recorded 8,000 ounces.
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