President Jagdeo meets IDB President Moreno
-Minister Singh signs US$5M Electricity Loan
Georgetown, GINA, September 23, 2011
President Bharrat Jagdeo and Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh today met with the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Mr. Luis Alberto Moreno at the bank’s headquarters in Washington D.C.
At the meeting, President Jagdeo acknowledged the outstanding role played by the IDB over the years in supporting Guyana’s development efforts in various sectors.
President Bharrat Jagdeo and President of the Inter American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno
Following the meeting, Minister Singh and President Moreno signed a US$5 million Loan Agreement titled ‘Sustainable Operation of the Electricity Sector and Improved Quality of Service’.
This project aims to boost the efficiency of Guyana’s power system through electricity loss reduction measures and improvements in the operation and maintenance of the distribution network. More specifically the project will rehabilitate a portion of the distribution network and continue a series of commercial loss reduction actions, while financing capacity building and energy conservation activities.
President Bharrat Jagdeo, President of the Inter American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno and Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh
This new loan compliments other programmes within the electricity sector that the IDB has supported such as the US$21.2 million Unserved Areas Electrification Programme which consolidated the structural reforms in the electricity sector and promoting rural energy development and a current US$12M Power Sector Support Policy Based Loan aimed at promoting a more sustainable and efficient energy sector through the reduction of electricity losses; promote institutional, legal and regulatory measures to contribute to the sustainability of those reductions; and strengthen the power utility company capabilities.
The President and Finance Minister are currently attending the Board of Governors meeting of the IMF and the World Bank.
President of the Inter American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno and Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh sign loan agreement for the electricity sector
Recently President Moreno praised President Jagdeo for his valuable leadership in global topics like renewable energy, and environmental preservation. The IDB President also acknowledged President Jagdeo’s vision and leadership which has transformed the economic landscape of Guyana and wider Latin America and Caribbean Region.
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Minister Benn appeals for caution as interior road accidents claim more lives
Georgetown, GINA, September 23, 2011
A head on collision along the 35 Mile trail at Mabura, Region Ten claimed the lives of two persons today while in a separate incident, a motor vehicle turned turtle after suffering a tyre blowout at Rockstone along the Essequibo River seriously injuring the occupants.
After receiving news of the casualties Minister of Transport and Hydraulic Robeson Benn issued an appeal for motor vehicle operators to exercise caution by paying keen attention to the road, safety of their passengers and other road users when traversing.
The Minister expressed grave concern at reports about drivers exploiting the use of interior roads which have been much improved through the work of contractors attached to the Linden/Lethem road and others from the Public Works Ministry attached to the Linden/Kwakwani road.
Minister Benn was also concerned about the high accident rates along these routes in spite of the fact that the number of vehicles and passengers traversing is low compared to other roads in the country.
“For the number of passengers and number of vehicles travelling on that road it is extremely high and unsustainable,” Minister Benn said.
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Local Gov’t Minister visits Mabura accident victims at Mackenzie Hospital
Georgetown, GINA September 23, 2011
Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development Norman Whittaker who was today in Linden engaging regional officials and officers and councillors of the Town Council visited the Mackenzie Hospital to check on the victims of the two-vehicle smash up on the Mabura Trail.
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Norman Whittaker at the bedside of one of the crash victims
At around 12:30 hrs today a minibus carrying 17 persons en-routed to Mahdia slammed into a truck along the Mabura Trail.
The injured were rushed to the Mackenzie Hospital where a toddler and man were pronounced dead on arrival.
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Norman Whittaker at the Mackenzie Hospital enquiring about the status of the injured from attending nurses
Whilst Minister Whittaker was at the hospital a number of the injured were being rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Minister Whittaker offered words of comfort to relatives of the deceased.
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Human Services Minister commissions new Sophia care centre
Georgetown, GINA, September 23, 2011
Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand this afternoon commissioned the new building for the Sophia Care Centre that has the capacity to accommodate up to 100 children.
The building is equipped with the necessary amenities for educational pursuits, and vocational and life-skills training, as these are necessary tools which will impact positively on the rehabilitation of the children.
Ann Greene, Director, Children Services said the opening of improved accommodation as a safe house for children is another achievement for child care and protection services in Guyana.
The new Sophia care centre building which was commissioned by Minister of Human Services Priya Manickchand
Reports indicate that most of the abuses are perpetrated in the home with the parents and /or guardians as the perpetrators; therefore an alternative accommodation for children while the problem of abuse in the home is being addressed is needed.
This building offers the perfect setting to provide the children in need of care with the attention and environment that are needed.
Minister Manickchand thanked Minister Robeson Benn and officials from the Work Services Department as they volunteered their expertise and time in accomplishing the new building.
“This building came out of a programme which commenced in 2008, where the objective was to provide an environment where children who were displaced or appeared to be on the streets can be safe and comfortable,” Minister Manickchand said.
A section of the senior boys’ dormitory in the Sophia care centre building which was commissioned by Minister of Human Services Priya Manickchand
She further charged those present to take the role of child protection seriously by placing the functions and duties that come with the role of being a protector of the rights of children before their professions.
“There is no time that we want to willingly take anybody’s child… as was claimed previously when the programme started in 2008, we have a facility here that has a capacity of 100, every child taken was necessary for their protection, and I’m pleased to say that the Guyanese community has been responding very well through our hotlines and our various offices and bringing to our attention cases of child abuse and neglect so that the ministry can address their needs,” Minister Manickchand said.
A section of the junior girls’ dormitory in the Sophia care centre building
The construction of the new facility became necessary in 2009 as the number of children in protective care increased significantly since March 2007, when the Mission Child Protection Programme to remove children from the streets and other risky places was launched by Minister Manickchand.
A special care centre in the Sophia Compound was established to hold the children at that time. Since that date, some of the children at the Centre were successfully reunited with their families, and a few placed in foster care while other initiatives have been undertaken to re-allocate the older children.
Notwithstanding these approaches, there has not been a vacant space, as the centre’s doors are revolving, thereby resulting in overcrowding at the centre and insufficient amenities for the children’s comfort.
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Dr Luncheon rejects racial discrimination claim with scholarship allottees
- defence lawyers contradict themselves
Georgetown, GINA, September 23, 2011
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon today rejected the suggestion by Khemraj Ramjattan, another of the defence lawyers in the President Bharrat Jagdeo libel case that 70 percent of scholarship awardees are Indo Guyanese.
Previously the other defence lawyer Nigel Hughes had suggested to Dr. Luncheon that the majority of students who have been sent to study abroad are not Indo Guyanese, a clear contradiction to what Ramjattan suggested today.
Dr Luncheon said that annually or aggregately the number has never amounted to that percentage.
Dr Luncheon was asked whether the establishment of the Human Rights Commission under the constitution is not important for persons who complain about racial discrimination. The Cabinet Secretary said the commission was not constituted on the grounds that government is awaiting the leader of the opposition who has failed to nominate a person for chairman.
Ramjattan questioned the witness about the role and functions of the ombudsman suggesting persons can go to complain about racial discrimination in the public service. Nandlall objected and pointed out that the functions of the ombudsman are not matters of speculation but are expressly stated in the constitution.
Further it is stated in the constitution that any grievance for which there is a legal remedy cannot be dealt with by the ombudsman.
He continued that protection against discrimination is a fundamental right provided for by Article 149 of the constitution and any person who claims that he/she has suffered such grievance has uninhibited access to the High Court for redress under article 153 of the Constitution.
Nandlall further pointed out that article 92 of the constitution specifically provides that matters concerning appointments and dismissal in the public service are expressly exempt from the office of the ombudsman.
“These are all matters which are contained in the constitution,” the lawyer explained.
Ramjattan then passed to the court a text book written on the Guyana Constitution and again Nandlall objected insisting that the constitution itself be looked at.
Nandlall then passed the constitution to the Court and after reading the provision of the constitution, the judge upheld Nandlall’s objection.
There were heated arguments concerning the admission of a report prepared by Gay McDougal. When Dr Luncheon was being cross examined on the report, he explained that the government prepared a repudiation of the report which he as Cabinet secretary organized.
He said he was unaware of the contents as a team of persons prepared it. The report was presented to the United Nations (UN).
Attempts were then made to ask the HPS questions on the document and Nandlall objected on the ground that the document was inadmissible and offered to put his objection and reason into writing.
The judge agreed and ordered Ramjattan to do a response in writing. Ramjattan indicated that apart from the report, that would be the end of his cross-examination.
Nandlall then said he is prepared to commence re - examination when the matter adjourns until September 28.
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Agri Ministry hands over $34M equipment to Region Six
-to benefit rice farmers, improve dam maintenance
Georgetown, GINA, September 23, 2011
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud on Thursday handed over a bulldozer that cost almost $34M to Region Six Chairman, Zulfikar Mustapha at a ceremony held at Whim, Berbice. The bulldozer is to be used to address issues of dam access and dam maintenance, a critical concern of rice farmers in the region.
Minister Persaud told the farmers present at the handing over ceremony that the ministry has been successful in addressing the issue of drainage and irrigation in the region, helped significantly in part by the six excavators it provided.
The bulldozer that was given to Region Six
With the assistance of these equipment “for the first time in many years the region was successfully able to rehabilitate and upgrade a number of drainage systems”, Minister Persaud said.
The ministry’s focus is now on dam access and dam maintenance, Persaud said.
“We recognized that we can have the best canals, adequate irrigation and farmers still complain about the cost and difficulty they have in accessing the farm or in moving their produce or paddy from the field to mill,” he said.
“So we have in a very focused way decided that we will be allocating a certain amount of resources to be able to purchase a number of those bulldozers so that we can in a very systematic way support the regional administration, the Neighbhourhood Democratic Council (NDC) towards these issues,” Minister Persaud said.
This assistance is part of an overall programme to improve the capacity of not only Region Six as this will be replicated in other agriculture regions in the country. The ministry has purchased four bulldozers, and Regions Two, Three and Four will each benefit from one.
Farmers at the handing over ceremony of the bulldozer
The bulldozers will work based on a programme submitted by the farmers, through the NDCs, the Water Users Association and the Farmers’ Organisations.
“You have one bulldozer, it cannot work on 25 dams at one time, so we will depend on the farmers to prioritize to have these access dams done so that at the end of the day we can have improved farming conditions,” Minister Persaud told the farmers.
Over the years Government has been able to successfully double the amount of land as well as improve yield and productivity in rice farming areas across the regions.
Minister Persaud told farmers that for the first time in history the country is expected to hit 400,000 tonnes of rice production.
This is a significant amount in terms of production compared to where we were in 1991 and producing less than 100, 000 tonnes of rice, he said.
“We have come a long way and we want to support you the farmers, support the industry in its forward movement in this regard.” he said
“And that is why we will continue as we have done, to invest in the required resources, so that we can make all levels of farming possible,” he said.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud hands over to Region Six Chairman Zulfikar Mustapha the keys to bulldozer
Minister Persaud urged the farmers to continue to focus on Government’s vision and support for them and to not for any moment be distracted by those who will seek to misrepresent what Government has been doing, especially in this political season.
Region Six Chairman, Zulfikar Mustapha said that dams have always been a main concern of farmers in the region, more so during periods of harvesting.
The region has expended a lot of money to improve the dams, he said, and for this reason he is happy to receive the equipment which will help tremendously.
Mustapha also said that over the last five years the region has seen a very steep improvement especially in the rice sector because of the investment and the infrastructure that both Central Government and Regional Democratic Council (RDC) have been putting into the region.
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