95 percent civil works on Doppler radar completed
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
Guyana will soon be equipped with a Doppler radar system that will be used to help forecasters define with greater accuracy the areas where severe weather is likely to form, identify the characteristic patterns indicating a high probability of severe thunderstorms, and improve forecasting time, intensity and location of heavy precipitation.
Guyana is one of the countries targeted by the Caribbean Meteorological Organisation (CMO) in its drive to improve and expand its services. The CMO has already installed Doppler radars in Trinidad and Barbados while another in Belize is undergoing testing
According to Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud 95 percent of civil works for the facility has been completed. This include furnishing and installing the generator and inner works to accommodate a functional radar at the facility. Components for this radar are in Guyana to be installed.
The Agriculture Minister stated that the project’s completion is dependent on the contractor, Courtney Benn Contracting Company.
However, he noted that the Doppler radar tower had experienced some difficulties with regards to its location and the tower had to be relocated to another site.
Minister Persaud stated that even the CMO representatives were here in Guyana to discuss the Doppler Radar Project and had flown in with the contractors and others to meet and iron out all those matters which required clarification to ensure that the radar system is up and running.
Hydrometeorological facilities are of great importance to many countries since it provides an early warning system about the impending weather. In Guyana, the Hydrometeorological office is tasked with this responsibility.
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Some positives evident in agri sector despite global financial meltdown – Minister Persaud
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
Despite the global financial meltdown, countries like Guyana continue to experience minimal impact especially since its economy is agriculture based. Government has also moved to put measures in place to provide security for its people.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud commenting on the global financial meltdown, said that despite the present situation some positives for Guyana were visible in that more markets were being opened for opportunities as well as for investment since people were trying to get their money into sectors they think are much more safe and secure.
Minister Persaud explained that countries which wanted to develop and be reassured of their food security indicated some interest in the local agriculture sector. This, he said, would better prepare the sector as it goes forward.
With respect to the global financial crisis, the Agriculture Minister said that he had a team with the Ministry of Agriculture assessing the impact since it had affected the rice and timber industries.
Minister Persaud noted that in the United States, there was a loss of 2.8 million jobs and the entire housing and construction market went down.
The demand for plywood was affected and as such his Ministry will continue to measure its impact locally.
He remarked that government will continue to work with the different sub- sectors as well as the private sector and those involved in an effort to reduce and mitigate its impact.
The stakeholders in the agriculture sector, he said, will look at ways to work together in mitigating or adjusting to its impact since some “flu like” symptoms were visible in some sub-sectors.
The Agriculture Minister said that the global economy was unpredictable and many reputable institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other multilateral institutions had started to revise their objectives and growth figures.
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Mashramani 2009 calendar of activities unveiled
-event goes to all regions again
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
The Mash Secretariat has far advanced preparations for Mashramani 2009 which will be the main highlight for Guyana’s 39th Republic Anniversary, held under the theme “One Dream One Celebration, One Design in 2009.”
The Government Information Agency (GINA) today obtained a copy of the calendar of activities for this year’s festival which is scheduled to be hosted in Guyana’s 10 administrative regions.
Mashramani celebrations in the past had never encompassed all of Guyana’s regions but this became a reality in 2007 with additional funding and through the efforts of the broad based committee comprising Government Ministries, the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, Guyana Police Force (GPF), Guyana Prison Service (GFS) local designers and other stakeholders.
The national calendar includes a Mash Jamboree on January 30 and a junior calypso competition in Region Five on January 31. The junior competition was taken to Central Rupununi in Region Nine during the 2007 activities and attracted hundreds of residents, Brazilians and other foreign based nationals.
The event was sponsored by the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) and Ansa McAl and was credited for improvement in quality.
On February 7th the adults will be competing in the calypso semifinals, billed for Bartica in Region Seven. The battle for supremacy is scheduled to culminate on February 14 with the finals in Georgetown.
“Young Bill Rogers,” captured the 2008 title after stealing the crown from Geofrey Philips popularly known as the Mighty Rebel with his song “We’re still a paradise.”
Another major event on the calendar is the Semi Finals of the Mash Soca Monarch competition which will be taken to Linden in Region Ten on January 31 and the finals at the National Park on February 15. Reports are that reigning monarch Adrian Ducthin will not be defending his crown but some of the big names in competition will be competiting for it.
The same day the semi final round for the chutney competition is billed for Uitvlugt, while the finals will be held on February 21.
Among the other events to be hosted are a steel band concert in the Botanical Gardens on February 8, a masquerade band competition in Linden and a police band concert on the Seawall on February 15, children’s Mash competition during the period February 18 to 21, a mash concert in the National Park and Steelband at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on February 21, media jump up at the National Communications Network (NCN) on February 22, and flag raising and costume and float parade in Georgetown on February 23.
Other planned activities at the regional level will include church services, community clean up campaign, regional concerts, senior citizens’ recognition, school debating and essay writing competitions, day of sport and memorial services.
New additions for this year’s event, include an inter Neighbourhood Democratic Council competition for the best aesthetics, a child art and essay competition and an exhibition at the National Museum tracing the history and showcasing artifacts of the festival.
Calypsonians are already busy at rehearsals for the calypso competition and some have already submitted their lyrics and accompanying sound tracks, according to Minister Anthony.
Corporate sponsorship for Mashramani has been described by Minister Anthony as fairly good but this year, companies will be playing a more integral part in aspects of the activities.
Mashramani, an Amerindian word meaning celebration after hard work, dates back to the period of Guyana’s Independence in 1966, when the Jaycees, a family group in Linden came up with the idea of an Independence Carnival in MacKenzie.
Following the advent of Guyana becoming a Republic in 1970, the group formed themselves into the Jaycees Republic Celebrations Committee and started a broad-based committee to spearhead the activity.
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Regional approach to crop insurance contemplated – Agriculture Minister
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
With vast tracts of productive land, Guyana has enormous potential for growth and investment in the agriculture sector which represents approximately 34 percent of Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Exports usually amount to over a third of the total exports.
With the adverse weather conditions being experienced and with more people investing in agriculture, the issue of crop insurance has been coming up. The CARICOM Agriculture Investment Forum held in Guyana last year spoke of this issue.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud at his end of year press briefing recently stated that Guyana has been advocating for agriculture insurance especially taking into consideration farmers’ vulnerability due to the lack of coverage.
At the CARICOM level, he said, arrangements are being looked at whereby a crop insurance programme could be developed that takes into account the national needs of farmers as well as the regional needs.
According to Minister Persaud, the insurance sector has not been forthcoming on this issue and a regional approach is being contemplated, that involves working with a number of international agencies to determine whether or not a programme could be crafted so that the local insurance community both in and out of Guyana could buy into.
He added that the government had recently engaged the bank in discussions on the issue of crop insurance.
Minister Persaud noted that the government is trying to be innovative in terms of generating finance in the agriculture sector. He stated that through the European Union, financing was attracted under the Rice Competitiveness Programme.
One component of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) caters for credit for farmers and within the Agriculture Diversification Project, there is a mechanism under which the Ministry will be addressing the issue of financing for those activities.
Minister Persaud said that an arrangement was worked out with the cane farmers at the Skeldon project who were having difficulties in attracting financing.
He remarked that even those who were successful in garnering finance were having difficulties in dealing with the interest rate. However, through the Ministry of Finance an arrangement was developed and concessions were given to cane farmers at a more attractive rate.
Minister Persaud appealed to the banking sector to look at special facilities to make credit or financing available to the agriculture sector.
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Communities affected by flooding to continue receiving assistance – President Jagdeo
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
President Bharrat Jagdeo announced at a press conference held at State House today that government will continue to provide assistance to communities which were and still are being affected by flooding.
“The assistance that they have received, that’s not the end of it. We will continue to hold their hands through this process and there is still quite a bit of assistance to be dispersed to these places (flooded areas),” the President said.
During an earlier visit to the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary areas (MMA) which are the most affected, President Jagdeo had allocated $100 M to provide relief to these and other communities.
“So far about $16 M has been spent; we have a plan for the full $100 M which would mean seed, chemicals, fertilizers, veterinary supplies, livestock, feed, seed paddy, ducklings, broilers, spraying equipment and fuel. All of these things are a part of the plan that we have, a full plan for the disbursement of $100 M,” he said.
The Head of State noted that while overseas he was keeping abreast with the situation in Guyana. “I have also been talking to several donors about the possibility of funding the access out of the conservancy, the canal at Hope which will give us hopefully greater leverage,” the President said.
President Jagdeo explained that the current situation at the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) shows that the end near the Demerara River is three feet lower than the opposite end at Mahaica; Flag Staff. “The water hangs more towards that end so you can imagine how critical that canal (Hope) would be to faster release the water from the Flag Staff end.”
Further, the President assured that an assessment by government has already been done to determine properties that fall in the area of alignment of the proposed Hope Canal that government would need to acquire. “We have started the process of acquiring those properties in the alignment and we are going to start work on the design hopefully shortly, as soon as we can secure a contract for the study and the design.”
A portion of the $3 B which is required for the canal’s construction has been catered for in the 2009 Budget.
During his last press conference on January 7, the President had stated that there needs to be a greater integration of the drainage system in Regions 4 and 5 and this would cost some US $400 M.
The proposed Hope Canal is expected to greatly assist the situation on the East Coast Demerara as this would continuously release water into the Atlantic.
It is expected that construction of the canal will start mid this year.
Guyana has been experiencing heavy, continuous rainfall since early December that resulted in low-lying communities in several regions experiencing flooding.
Government spent $1.7B alone in 2008 on enhancing the drainage and irrigation system.
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Transport & Harbours Department surviving on Gov’t subvention for years – President Jagdeo
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
Government for years has been carrying the burden to maintain operations of the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) which President Bharrat Jagdeo said continues to face difficulties with revenues, fuel and other necessities.
He made these comments today while asked at a press conference to comment on the recent action taken by Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn to dismiss two senior officers of the T&HD.
The President said an explanation was given about the circumstances leading to the dismissal which in his opinion was justified.
He said he was informed that $47M was spent on the construction of a sports building when authority was given to spend $15M and in that regard, he empathised with the Minister’s actions.
“If you can’t find money to do the things that are critical and core to your job, how can you find $32M more than what is authorised to spend on a building for recreational purposes?…T&HD is a subvention agency and we have had to intervene when the situation worsened,” President Jagdeo said.
He noted however, that he has not been approached to intervene in the matter but will be examining whether the process was breached.
Following the action it was announced that Kevin Trim will be serving in capacity as acting Transport and Harbours Manager while Cluadette Rogers has been appointed as acting Director General of Maritime Administration.
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Index of Economic Freedoms report anecdotal-President Jagdeo
-says Guyana is one of the freest countries in this part of the Region
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
The notion that Guyana has an oversized Government as is stated in the Index of Economic Freedoms 2009 report is anecdotal, and the Heritage Foundation that prepared the report has not been in the country to do a proper assessment, President Bharrat Jagdeo said today.
Speaking at a press conference hours after returning from official visits to Libya and Greece, President Jagdeo explained that at one time Guyana had a public sector of 30,000 people which is now down to 10,000.
“I don’t understand how they say it’s bloated and when you look at the size of our country that is the size of the United Kingdom,” President Jagdeo asserted.
He noted that there are people living everywhere in the country and if one is to look at the management structure, it might be that it is understaffed.
Apart from the claims of an oversized Government, the reports also stated that there are significant restrictions on foreign investment. However, President Jagdeo refuted this and said that he feels that Guyana is one of the freest economies in this part of the world.
He explained that Guyana does not have an exchange control when compared to many Caribbean countries and pointed out that no sector is barred from foreign investment, and there are not laws restricting the flow of capital. He said that the country does not have aliens’ lands holding act preventing people from owning lands.
The President said that he is not going to bother with a conservative right wing body ranking of the country, pointing out such bodies promote western interests and are very susceptible to influence, using the example of places like Libya which is ranked very low.
He said that one of the indices was done based on two contributing accountants, Christopher Ram and a staff from his audit firm and expressed the belief that they are probably the same contributors to the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business guide’ which ranked Guyana very low.
The Head of State noted that there are many other accounting firms which these bodies would not choose to speak with as he further explained that the World Bank practices the same kind of bad governance, and yet they accuse many countries of the same. He said that they use politicians to submit subjective reports.
The Head of State explained that if an American investor has difficulties in Guyana, even if the difficulties are caused by the company itself, they tend to score the country down on that.
The President said that he plans to bring a few of the persons who prepare these reports to Guyana so they can determine what is fact and fiction.
The Index of Economic Freedoms 2009 is produced by the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation.
The Index of Economic Freedoms 2009 covered 183 countries across 10 specified freedoms such as trade, business, investment, monetary, fiscal, and Government size, freedom from corruption, property rights and financial freedoms.
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OP to monitor work of GuySuCo interim board - President Jagdeo
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
The Office of the President will maintain a tight reign on the work that will be done by the interim board of the Guyana Sugar Corporation that will begin work on February 14, in order that progress can be made quickly.
President Bharrat Jagdeo, speaking to media operatives at a press conference today at his State House residence said that government is already aware of components of the turn-around plan for GuySuCo to deal with the problems being faced.
Cabinet had given approval for an interim board to be set up to address the problems being faced by the corporation. This board would be responsible for creating the turn-around plan for the company.
On January 14 during a press conference, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud had announced that the board will present to shareholders this plan within one month. It would detail a set of strategies over the next two to three years which will require interactions with the new management, stakeholders and also the unions.
“This is a comprehensive plan that they would have to put together which would have bind from some of the people who have contributed to the plan…I may change the composition of the board again. I have not decided as yet; the skills type may be different for implementation rather than conceptualization, but that is the primary task of the interim board to put together this plan which would be brought to the shareholders for discussions and approval.”
Members of the interim Board are: Dr. Nanda Kishore Gopaul as Chairman, Geeta Singh-Knights, Keith Burrowes, Dr. Rajendra Singh, Donald Ramotar, Jangbahadur Raghurai; and Errol Hanoman as Chief Executive, an ex-officio member.
The turn-around plan is supposed to review cost saving initiatives such as reduction of cost per hectare; improved cane production performance; the progress of the Chinese contractor on completing the tests on the new Skeldon sugar factory; tackling wastage and corruption; relocation of the head-office to Albion; effective implementation of the management reorganization; mechanization of operations; increased production and sale of packaged sugar.
GuySuCo since 2004 has seen a steady decline in production with last year’s recording 226,227 tonnes. Several factors have been cited as contributing to this decline during the past four years. Last year's situation was aggravated by the delay in the commissioning of the new Skeldon factory.
The company went through the year end with an overdraft of $3.1B, however, financing has been secured through a combination of local banks and foreign sources. The Corporation is in the process of securing crop financing from the ING Bank for 2009.
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President advances Guyana’s case for debt relief from Libya
… assures debt situation will not affect Libyan investment
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
President Bharrat Jagdeo today informed that Guyana’s case for debt write off and investment was further advanced during his recent visit to Libya. He confirmed that Guyana’s outstanding debt to Libya will not affect that country’s future involvement in economic ventures in Guyana.
The Head of State during a press conference today at his State House residence stated that his position has always been to further Guyana’s political, economic and social interests abroad and his recent visit to Libya and Greece has been made with the same purpose.
While in Libya the President said he held extensive discussions with President Muammar Qadaffi on a number of issues relating to cooperation between Guyana and Libya.
Referring to Guyana’s relations with Libya, the Guyanese Leader said that “Libya had a presence in Guyana in the 1970s 1980s and subsequently left since there were several problems at that time associated with the production of rice in the country. They had facilities here and secondly we contracted quite a large sum of debt from Libya in the late 70s and 80s that we never repaid.”
He said that non repayment of the debt which was contracted some 30 years ago, the principal and the accumulated interest have reached US $41M. This, he said, to some extent affected relations between the two countries because during bilateral discussions Libya seemingly proposed that Guyana resolve the accumulated debt before that country considers future investment in Guyana. “So I used the opportunity while in Libya to discuss extensively the debt situation,” the President said.
President Jagdeo said, in defending Guyana’s case to the Libyan government, he argued that Guyana is obligated under the Paris Club and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Agreements to seek comparable treatment from other creditors and failure to do so could jeopardize the debt relief Guyana already had. “So in this case we are forced to seek a debt write off of about 85 percent in net present value terms at a minimum.” He added that Guyana cannot jeopardize its debt relief negotiations with other creditors who had written off substantially more debt. He said they have agreed to continue working on this issue.
Out of these discussions Libya has agreed to send a team to Guyana to continue the negotiations but most importantly the debt situation will not affect Libya’s future involvement in economic ventures in Guyana, President Jagdeo assured.
Libya has also decided to open an embassy in Guyana and has agreed to send a large team to look at investment opportunities in the country.
Stating that it is crucial now for Guyana’s economic interest to be forwarded in the Middle East, the Head of State explained that it is very difficult to raise capital in western markets because of the credit crunch which makes it difficult for companies there to raise capital even for cash flow purposes much less for investment purposes, and the situation could become worse.
On the other hand, the oil exporting countries in the Middle East had accumulated large sums of money because of the steep increase in the price of petroleum products and had established sovereign wealth funds in the sum of multi-billion dollars which they are looking to invest around the world since it is difficult for them to find good investment opportunities in the western world because of the problems there.
“So countries like ours have to start looking to the Middle East and to the other countries that have large accumulated reserves and these sovereign wealth funds as new sources of investment,” he said.
In light of this, the President said that Guyana’s economic diplomacy will move its emphasis from Europe to Brazil, China and the Middle East.
Libya he said has a huge sovereign wealth fund comprising billions of dollars which it is now investing in Africa and around the world.
Responding to criticisms by the main opposition PNCR about his visit, President Jagdeo stated that the visit was long in the making and it is important to further Guyana’s interest for the people of this country including PNC supporters. “I have to look after their interest, so….I would go abroad to try to pursue more development for this country,” he said.
He cautioned against focusing in a very narrow minded way because then the country is not going to have a long-term future and will not be able to ride this crisis out with the minimum of pain.
President Jagdeo is confident that his efforts will be rewarded with significant resources especially on climate change even after his office expires. However, the hard work needs to be done now to benefit later.
The Guyanese Leader also referred to the Kyoto Protocol which will expire in 2012 and if not replaced with one that includes resources and incentives for forest which can generate large sums of money in the future, then the country will not benefit.
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CRNM has flippantly dealt with issues of importance
- President Jagdeo
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
President Bharrat Jagdeo has chided the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) for being in a crisis-of-governance situation for over three years with no apparent intention at some levels to do anything about it.
He made these comments today while responding to questions about an upcoming meeting where regional heads are expected to attend.
President Jagdeo has been known for his criticisms of the CRNM and was adamant during the region’s closure with Europe on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), noting that it has failed to negotiate a proper deal.
He also criticised the mechanism for its lack of representation for Guyana during trade talks with Canada.
During today’s press conference the President said the global crisis has brought several countries in the developed world into recession but there has been no examination of whether a free trade agreement with Canada is in the region’s best interest.
“We are sleep walking once again into negotiation because we feel some sense of obligation or because there is some pressure. Even in Canada itself they have had uncertainties about the government. This region needs to operate from a careful assessment of its own interest, not to do things because other regions want to do it or let them set the pace at which we do these things because of some threat that something will happen down the line,” President Jagdeo said.
President Jagdeo’s criticisms of the CRNM was echoed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding of Jamaica who indicated that it will always be at a stand-still until it finds itself in a proper place in the regional governance structures.
“Had we dealt with that matter, I think we could have avoided the embarrassment of the negotiations with the RNM so I don’t feel this matter can be dealt with adequately at just a small group of heads,” President Jagdeo said.
His suggestion was that the CRNM, apart from determining the negotiators and the representatives that will report to the regional structures, report to the CARICOM Secretary General
“The Secretary General should be in charge of the RNM because I know that within the Secretariat there will be more careful consideration of these matters than the flippant way in which the RNM has treated some issues that are of great importance to our countries,” President Jagdeo said.
The President expressed optimism about the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), noting that Guyana will continue to be an important player in CARICOM even in the most troubling of times.
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Gaming Authority holds first meeting
-Considers applications for Operators’ Licences.
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
The Gaming Authority of Guyana held its first Meeting on Friday, January 16, 2009.
The Authority met under the Chairmanship of Mr. Anthony Xavier.
Other members of the Authority are Ms Roxanne Reece, Cpt. Gerald Gouveia, Mr Oscar Phillips, and Mr Wilet Hamilton, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Industry & Commerce.
The Authority considered applications by The Georgetown, Investments and Management Services Inc for a Premises Licence and an application by Princess Hotel – Casino Guyana for a Operators’ Licences.
The Authority also considered matters pertaining to rating of Hotels in Guyana as well as other administrative and technical matters related to the effective and efficient functioning of the Authority.
The Authority was established on December 1, 2008 by the Minister of Home Affairs in accordance with Section 32(1) (c) of the Gaming Prevention (Amendment) Act.
According to the Regulations made under the Gambling Prevention (Amendment) Act the Gaming Authority shall be the body responsible for –
- the issuance of licences under section 32 of the Act;
- the monitoring of casino operations in Guyana;
- the administration of regulations made under the Act;
- advising the Minister with respect to the administration
of the regulations or any other relevant matter;
MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
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On debt write-off criticism…
- President says debt to Libya partly responsible for debt inflation
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
Responding to criticisms that Guyana’s foreign debt has jumped significantly over the past year, President Bharrat Jagdeo today stated that part of the inflation of the debt has been the unpaid interests to the Libyan debt which Guyana accumulated over 30 years ago that he was negotiating a debt write off for during his recent visit to Libya.
He said that most of the accumulation of this debt is from the Petrocaribe fund which amounts to close to US$ 100M, which has been deposited in an account and has not been spent. This, he said forms a cushion now to bolster the country’s reserves so that it can ride out this recession better than many countries.
According to the President 60 percent of this debt increase comes from the Petrocaribe fund and the remainder is from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that were contracted in the past.
“So there is this reserve that can be used at anytime in addition to the Central Bank reserves.”
With regards to questions from the opposition about the purpose of his recent visit the Head of State said, “You can’t on one hand question why I am in Libya when I am trying to get the same debts written off ….and at the same time complain about the debt accumulating.”
Guyana’s foreign debt has been reduced from US$2.1B to about US$ 800M in spite of its borrowing.
A country’s debt-burden usually undermines any economic strategy and President Jagdeo had emphasised on several occasions that at one point in time Guyana’s nominal debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio was 750 percent.
In1992, the new Government at that time, inherited a US $2.1 billion foreign debt, the country was bankrupt and debt servicing payments amounted to 105 percent of the country’s revenue. There was not enough money in the country to fully complete social services projects, let alone enough to set aside to repay the debts.
The Government at the time endured a long struggle as attempts were made by the Administration to repay the debt a little at a time, negotiate with creditors, salvage what was left in the country, begin a process of development while at the same time stave off ongoing political struggles in the country in the form of destructive protests, instability and Opposition Forces.
Though the development process was considered by some to be slow, it was progressing.
From 1991 to 1999, poverty fell from 86 percent to 35 percent and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates annually were 7.9%, 6.2%, 3.0% and 0.8% in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000 respectively.
By the first half of 2002, ‘real GDP increased by 2.9 percent. This was greater than the 1.3 percent increase for the same period in 2001 and the balance of payments deficit, taken as a whole, was reduced from US $19.3M to US$10.6M due to a significant decrease in the current account deficit’.
In June 2005, the Group of Eight (G8) countries consisting the richest countries in the world, agreed to write off impoverished nations’ debt, which resulted in Guyana saving US$336.6M. As of December 2004, Guyana’s stock of external debt was approximately US$1.1B. Meanwhile, the bulk of Guyana’s external debt, over US$400M was owed to the IDB.
When the present Administration took office initially, expenditure on debts amounted to 94 percent of the country’s revenue to service Guyana’s US$2.1B debt.
For President Jagdeo, debt-relief means; “Better education, health care, providing better water supply, better infrastructure generally, social and economic infrastructure, helping to generate more jobs for our young people, getting more of them connected to the internet through the Information Communications Technology (ICT) revolution so our children could learn differently. It’s in those areas that we hope that all the money saved from servicing debt-it’s not going to be $400M a year that we’d save from servicing the debt-we’ll save a smaller amount-but the stock of debt will be significantly reduced which gives us a better debt profile.”
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Two weeks for MPs to submit list of assets, income-President
Georgetown, GINA, January 19, 2009
President Bharrat Jagdeo today disclosed that within two weeks Members of Parliament, both government and opposition, who have not made submissions of their income and assets will have their names published in the newspaper and failure to fulfill this requirement will result in legal action being taken against them in accordance with the act.
He considers the call by the leader of the Opposition Robert Corbin for the report to be extended to certain officials ironic since many of his party (Corbin’s) members have failed to comply with the law.
The President said he has urged the Integrity Commission to publish the names of the people who have not submitted their statements of income and assets.
Meanwhile, President Jagdeo after studying the Auditor General’s (AG) report, on the Customs Fraud probe disclosed today that it will be tabled at the next Sitting on Thursday as he had promised.
The report provides the results of the findings on the investigation on corruption of Customs Officers’ misuse of Government revenues and the company Fidelity Investments.
The multi-agency investigation was launched in light of possible defrauding of Government revenues by Customs Officers and the company Fidelity Investments, an agent for Polar Beer.
GRA staffers were questioned about containers imported by Fidelity Investments and Kong Inc, importers of Venezuela’s Polar Beer. It is believed that the containers which came in were filled with Polar Beer, but the GRA officers, including members of the Internal Affairs, Enforcement, VAT and Customs, allegedly colluded to forge documents to show, instead, that there were soft drinks in the containers.
The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) staffers investigated about containers imported by Fidelity Investments and Kong Inc, importers of Venezuela’s Polar Beer which allegedly contained Polar Beer.
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