Joint Services operations to nab bank robbers going well– Division ‘B’ Commander
Georgetown, GINA, August 15, 2006
An intense operation being conducted by the Joint Services, in pursuit of an armed gang that robbed two Rose Hall, Corentyne Banks, is going well. This is according to Commander of ‘B’ Division, Clinton Conway.
Conway said that “we are pursuing them to the end…the operations have been very productive so far, it is going well.”
Since the attacks at Rose Hall on August 11, the Joint Services has launched a massive and sustained manhunt for the suspected bank robbers, who escaped into the Rose Hall and Port Mourant backlands.
The operation has resulted in the death of three of the suspects, during an armed confrontation with the Joint Services, and the recovery of three bags of money.
Additionally, 6 magazines and 57 live rounds have been recovered. Several persons have also been arrested, including a man who was wanted in connection with the execution of Minister Sawh and five Kaieteur News employees.
Minister of Home Affairs, Gail Teixeira, has since commended the work of the security forces. “I would like to compliment the Joint Services for their effective and unrelenting operation…and encourage them to continue the pursuit and dismantling of this criminal network.”
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New well for La Grange
- to be completed within two months
Georgetown, GINA, August 15, 2006
Drilling of a new multi-million dollar well at La Grange, West Bank Demerara has commenced and is expected to be completed within two months.
During a visit to the area on August 14, Minister of Housing and Water Shaik Baksh was told by the Director of Operations of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) Sizwe Jackson that most of the infrastructural works have been completed.
Jackson said the new well will provide an improved supply of water to residents. At present the utility is supplying water via trucks and black tanks to residents of the affected area who have been affected over the past few months.
Minister Baksh said he is pleased that the well is finally being drilled to bring relief to the residents. However, he urged that residents to be a little more patient with the water company.
In June GWI said that sand and debris were identified as contributing to the inoperability of the well. Two camera inspections were done to determine the cause of the problem.
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Camp Street Prison returns to normalcy – Erskine
Georgetown, GINA, August 15, 2006
The situation at the Georgetown Prison has returned to normalcy, following protest action by inmates, demanding that their concerns be urgently addressed.
This follows a meeting on August 14 with Minister of Home Affairs, Gail Teixeira, prison officials, and other representatives.
Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine, said that the Prison administration is satisfied that the concerns of inmates are being addressed, and is optimistic that a workable solution will be found.
Some of the issues raised include, the waiting time for trials, recreation activities for prisoners, overcrowding, the quality of food, the water system, and matters relating to bail.
According to Erskine, work has commenced to repair sections of the building destroyed by inmates during the protest.
On August 13 and 14, inmates at the Prison, primarily those on remand, staged a protest, which resulted in the intervention of the Joint Services.
Two prisoners were subsequently shot, and a third was injured during an attempt to break out of the dormitory housing several remand prisoners.
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Roads, drainage works in full swing in Region Six
Georgetown, GINA, August 15, 2006.
Good weather conditions have contributed to the advancement several road and drainage and irrigation projects in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne).
Regional Executive Officer, Nankishore Persaud said the projects, which were hampered earlier this year by inclement weather is now progressing and while some of them have been completed, others are nearing completion.
At present, roads are being constructed in East and West Canje and along the Corentyne Coast at Numbers 72 Village (nursery school road) and 42 Village (rice mill road). A $6M contract has been awarded for upgrading the Orealla to Siparuta road and the contractor is currently mobilising materials and workers.
The sum of $5.5M has been spent to construct revetment at Bholam while construction of three revetments at Manarabisi is being done at a cost of $15M. Another $5M is being spent to build a water regulator structure in the same area.
More than $4M is being spent to construct a bridge at Moleson Creek while $3M was spent to construct another at Sea Well. Seven bridges have been built in Black Bush Polder at a cost of $3.5M.
Meanwhile, extension of the primary and secondary schools at Mibicuri, Edinburgh and Rose Hall is ongoing at a total cost of $15M.
This year government allocated more than $2.1B to Region Six for execution of the capital and current work programmes.
Additionally, several major developments are taking place in the region including construction of a modern sugar factory at Skeldon and resurfacing of the road from New Amsterdam to Moleson Creek.
Apart from these works, $191M is being spent to upgrade the Black Bush Polder main access road and another $109M to repair the Mara road.
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Export markets for non-traditional crops increase
Georgetown, GINA, August 15, 2006.
Export of non-traditional crops to several markets including Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia and Canada has increased considerably for the first half of the year when compared to the corresponding period last year.
Figures provided by the new Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) indicated that 107, 632 kilograms (kg) were exported to Antigua and Barbuda over the period January to July as compared to 16, 175 kg for the same period in 2005.
Mostly pumpkins along with other crops such as pineapples and watermelons sourced from areas such as the Berbice River were exported.
In 2005, the export figure over the same period to St. Lucia was 78, 868 kg and in 2006, the figure increased to 203, 622 kg. Mostly copra was exported. The Canadian market took off 147, 778 kg in 2006 as against 128, 820 kg in 2005.
General Manager of the GMC, Nizam Hassan explained that there has been a reduction in exports to a few other countries such as Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago since the demand has dropped. This is attributable to the decline in the tourism sector around this period.
He noted that despite the flood earlier this year and the reduction of exports to these markets, there has been a slight increase in overall exports for the period January to July. Figures for this period is 1, 987, 868 kg as compared to 1, 951, 948 kg for the same period in 2005.
Exports of non-traditional crops for 2006 is projected to increase by as much as 20 percent, Hassan said.
Guyana exports fruits and vegetables to regional markets in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Dominica, the Dominican Republic and St. Lucia. Its extra-regional markets are Canada, France, Martinique, St. Maarten, United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), Italy and Switzerland.
Watermelons, pumpkin, plantains, pineapples, eddoes, limes and dry coconuts are mostly exported.
Non-traditional exports have grown significantly over recent years with continuous increases moving from 1902 tonnes in 1992 to 4, 719 tonnes in 2005, which earned $1.3B.
At present, the GMC in collaboration with the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) is organising the hosting of a Fruit Festival later this year to showcase the country’s fresh fruits.
Additionally, the Corporation is planning to host at least two of its usual activities under the ‘Made in Guyana, Grown in Guyana’ campaign. This would include Guyana Nite and Essequibo Nite.
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Political Parties’ representatives absent for Law and Order Commission meetings – Minister Teixeira
Georgetown, GINA, August 15, 2006
Minister of Home Affairs, Gail Teixeira, is appealing to representatives of political parties to attend the monthly meetings of the National Commission on Law and Order, since the participation of all stakeholders is integral to the Commission’s objectives.
In a letter to Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, representative of the Working People’s Alliance, (WPA), dated August 9, 2006, Minister Teixeira said that he had indicated in writing, his commitment to participate in the deliberations of the Commission, in a letter dated November 23, 2005.
However, the Minister stated, “I wish to bring to your attention that you have not attended any meetings of the Commission.”
Since the Commission began meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs, the letter indicated, seven meetings have been held. However, one excuse was received from Dr. Roopnarine.
“I would like to stress the importance of this Commission at this point in time; the liveliness and richness of the discussions, and the forum it creates for a broad-based dialogue on law and order cannot be underscored,” Minister Teixeira indicated.
In another letter to the leader of Rise, Organise and Rebuild (ROAR), Ravi Dev, the Minister stated that since a letter inviting Mr. Dev to nominate a permanent member to sit on the Commission was sent on October 3, 2005, no response has been received.
Minister Teixeira said that it is regrettable that some political parties have not taken the opportunity to participate, especially when crime and security is an important national concern.
The National Commission on Law and Order, an advisory body to the President on crime and security, was established in November 2005.
The decision to establish such a Commission arose out of a deep concern for the growing rate and sophistication of crime in the region and its debilitating effects at the economic and social levels.
Since then other CARICOM States including Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and St. Lucia have created their own Commissions based on their national imperatives and crime rates.
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President disappointed with NIS payment of retirement benefits
Georgetown , GINA, August 15, 2006
The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) has been delinquent in paying benefits to retirees and President Bharrat Jagdeo has committed to rectifying this situation after the Elections period.
At a recent media conference, the President said that he met the NIS officials shortly after the Cabinet Outreach since the issue was brought up at several meetings and he urged the NIS to tackle the issue as special project.
“I am very upset about that…I said to NIS put an advertisement in the newspapers and get all of those people who are waiting for more than four months to come in and sort it out. I don’t think it has been done. That is one of the first things I would tackle when we are through with this period to ensure that those people who are sitting waiting at home, who have made a significant contribution to the NIS that they be treated decently too,” he said.
Recalling one case, President Jagdeo said one man was disabled for five years and he subsequently died without receiving the benefits, even after contributing to the NIS.
“That is unconscionable and for them it is just a number. For people out there it means the difference between eating and starving,” he lamented.
President Jagdeo recounted several cases where during his travels he was told of persons who are waiting for about five years now for NIS retirement benefits.
“I am very disappointed that until now too many people who have retired are not receiving their benefits…I said to them you cannot treat this in a routine way. When someone is retired for two or three years and cannot get an income because you can’t get your paper work right these people fall into the ranks of the poor. For them it is life and death. They need to get an income to live on and they made all these contributions while they were working and they deserve to receive their benefits immediately or a month or two after they retire,” he said.
Meanwhile, he acknowledged that there have been several defaulters regarding payment of NIS contributions by employers, including government agencies.
At the media conference, the President said the defaulters are semi-autonomous agencies, which are in dire financial situations.
Among these is the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD), which could not even pay its operation costs and Central Government stepped in and restructured the agency.
“So as part of restructuring we will also have to clear all their arrears on behalf of the employees like we did with LINMINE (the Linden Mining Enterprise),” the President said.
At present the NIS contribution rate is 13 percent, 7.8 percent of which is paid by the employer and the remaining 5.2 percent by the employee.
The NIS was formed in 1969.
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$87M being spent on road works in Region One
Georgetown, GINA, August 15, 2006.
Residents of Region One (Barima/Waini) will enjoy improved infrastructural development this year, as more than $87M is currently being spent to construct and upgrade roads in several areas.
Regional Executive Officer (REO), Ishwar Dass said this sum include allocations from the Capital Work Programme and additional funds provided directly by government.
Approximately $67M was provided by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to repair roads in the Matarkai sub-region. To date, some of these works have been completed while others are moving ahead smoothly and would be completed shortly.
The road link from Baramita to Matthew’s Ridge cost $12M and $8M was spent to upgrade a road from Jonestown Six-Mile to Eight-Mile. In addition, the road from the Matthew’s Ridge community centre to the airstrip was upgraded under a $5M project.
The road along the route from M2 Junction to Falls Top and the road from Eclipse Bridge to M4 were upgraded at a cost of $13.2M.
At present, the road from the Port Kaituma school to the 4-Mile Junction is being upgraded at a cost of $8.8M while a bitumen road is being constructed from the Port Kaituma airstrip to the school at a cost of $19.6M.
Another bituminous road is being constructed from the Mabaruma Settlement playground to James Rampersaud’s residence under a $7.2M project.
A bridge has also been constructed at Manichuru at a cost of $4M.
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Government joins relatives of slain pressman at funeral service
Georgetown , GINA August 15, 2006
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds today joined relatives, workmates and friends of slain Kaieteur News Pressman, Eion Wegman, at a funeral service held at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Brickdam, Georgetown.
Wegman was one of four employees of the Kaieteur News who were murdered on the night of August 8, when a gang of gunmen forced their way into the organisation’s printery at Eccles, and committed the vicious act.
Also present at the funeral service were Information Liaison to the President Robert Persaud and Publisher of the Kaieteur News Glen Lall, along with several co-workers of the deceased.
Emotional displays pervaded the atmosphere while friends and associates sought to give moral support and condolences to bereaved family members and close relatives.
Chetram Persaud and Mark Maikoo who were also victims of the brutal slaying were cremated at the Good Hope cremation site on Sunday, while Richard Steward was laid to rest at the Le Repentir Cemetery on Monday.
Shazeem Mohamed who was immediately admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at the Georgetown Hospital, eventually succumbed on Monday morning.
The Government through the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security has committed to defraying the cost of burial for the five men.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Gail Teixeira has also been actively supporting members of the Joint Services, in their hunt for the perpetrators of the act.
The manhunt has so far yielded the capture of four of the armed men, three of whom were killed.
The group was also involved in a brazen daylight robbery at two commercial banks in Rose Hall, Corentyne.
The fifth victim will be laid to rest soon.
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