Agriculture Minister, OCC rep for St. Lucia meeting
Georgetown, GINA, September 11, 2009
Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, and representative of the Office of Climate Change, Andrew Bishop, will be representing Guyana at a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ministerial meeting in St. Lucia on September 14-15, which will seek to outline the region’s climate change priorities leading up to the United Nations (UN) summit in Copenhagen, Denmark in December.
The meeting in Copenhagen will seek to agree on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the current world climate change agreement, which will expire in 2012.
At the conclusion of the 30th CARICOM heads of Government Conference held in Guyana recently, the Liliendaal Declaration on Climate Change was issued that spelt out the specific areas that the Community views as important and it is expected that the Declaration will provide the framework for the discussions next week.
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Education Ministry, GUYAID continues to promote literacy
Georgetown, GINA, September 11, 2009
The Ministry of Education in collaboration with Guyanese Assisting in Development (GUYAID) held its annual prize giving ceremony for winners of their essay competition.
Minister within the Ministry of Education, Dr. Desrey Fox made the presentation today of prizes to the successful students who entered the competition and gained first, second and third places.
Minister Fox stated that the Ministry was very pleased with this year’s results of the competition because it had a wide spread of students across Guyana.
The majority of the prizes went to Essequibo and Linden school.
GUYAID representative, Ms. Bernice Mansell urged the students to be an example in speech and conduct and encouraged parents to be inspired by the theme of this year’s Education month and to promote reading and writing skills at early stages to ensure success in their children’s future.
Chief Judge of the competition, Mrs. Lorraine Meertins noted that the under-12 category of the competition which was an open letter to the Minister of Education highlighting facilities needed in schools, attracted a large number of entries and that the over-12 category which dealt with the topic: ‘ Cellphones are a necessity in Today’s World” secured many entries as well.
The over-14 category which dealt with the topic: ‘ The future of Secondary School in this age of technological advancements’ was well received by students as well, but the winners of the competition under the various categories provided outstanding essays which secured them the winning positions.
GUYAID, an overseas- based group, is a charitable, non-profitable organisation based in the United States, which supports needy children, seniors and victims of natural disasters in Guyana, the Caribbean and the U.S.
One of the main objectives of GUYAID is to promote literacy and education in all areas of Guyana.
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Agri Minister meets with rice farmers, millers
-encourages them to diversify markets.
Georgetown, GINA, September 11, 2009
Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud today held a meeting at the ministry to discuss the ongoing dispute between rice farmers and millers with regards to pricing, as well as to encourage them to diversify their markets.
Minister Persaud said that Government’s role is to ensure that the rice industry succeeds. He explained that since Guyana is a price taker there is a need to watch closely what is taking place internationally. He emphasized that rice farmers and millers need to work together and that they are dependent on each another.
Minister Persaud encouraged the millers to ensure that the farmers get a fair deal because without the farmers their investments would be zero. A fair deal would result in the farmers supplying them with quality and quantity.
Minister Persaud suggested that they should have representatives from both the Rice Producer Association (RPA) and the millers so that the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) will convene the group on a forthnightly basis to share information and examine the trend.
Having that type of discussion would ensure that everyone is in the loop and has a mechanism to decide whether these representatives should facilitate price discussion arrangements. Also there would be a constant update on the current situation.
While discussing price issues, Minister Persaud took the opportunity to encourage participants to diversify. “We need to pursue other options. We recognised that we have come a far way in the industry and we need to preserve it,” said Minister Persaud.
“We are known internationally despite we are small players. We should look at new markets that are more stable and offer a better price,” Minister Persaud stated.
He said that Government cannot fix the price but will insist, based on what obtains internationally and would show what the millers are getting so that the farmers and producers would have the opportunity to view it.
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GPL continues upgrading exercises
Georgetown, GINA, September 11, 2009
The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) is continuing its efforts to ensure that consumers receive improved services and will be effecting several upgrading exercises in various areas.
According to the power company, an additional 1.6MW Caterpillar generator will be installed at Versailles, West Bank Demerara to guarantee an acceptable minimum generating capacity and to meet increased demands.
Consumers along the West Coast of Demerara, particularly beyond Leonora have been experiencing frequent power interruptions since Sunday last which have been attributed to the increased load, coupled with inadequate available generating capacity at the Versailles Power Station.
The power company is appealing to consumers to heed its conservation call and assist in whatever way they can to lower the demand on the system since in some cases the demand exceeds 69MW during the day.
GPL will also be stringing a 69KV transmission line from Kingston to Sophia on Saturday, September 12 between 08:30 and 18:00 h and consumers along Sheriff Street Campbellville, Sophia Exhibition Site and Bel Air Park will experience power outage during that period.
Consumers in the environs of Hope Street, South Cummingsburg will also experience power outage on Saturday, September 12 from 08:30 to 12:30 h to facilitate the installation of metering transformers.
Meanwhile the power company stated that its losses are currently at 34.1 percent which includes technical losses of 11.4 percent. In its five-year Development and Expansion Programme, the company projects to spend about US $17M on non-technical and US $54M on technical loss reduction over the next five years.
“Loss reduction therefore, has a lot to do with huge financial outlays and in Guyana we also have the issue of cultural change as electricity theft is a major problem,” the company said.
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Takutu Bridge to increase trade, flow of visitors
- Tourism Minister
Georgetown, GINA, September 11, 2009
The completion of the Takutu Bridge which will be officially commissioned on Monday, September 14, will result in Guyana benefiting from increased trading and visitors from its southern neighbour Brazil.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad stated that the opening of the bridge will see increased development in the country and strengthen ties between the two nations.
“The opening of this bridge signals and will herald in development that we have never seen in this country. First of all for the region, for Lethem and the Rupununi area there will be massive development and improvement almost immediately and then for the country as a whole we envisage on a daily basis a large number of trucks coming over the bridge into Guyana to trade,” the Minister said.
Guyana currently enjoys an amicable relationship with the Portuguese speaking nation which allows trading across the border that will be significantly increased. “You can buy things in Guyana and take it across to Brazil in the border towns without paying duties and there is a reciprocal arrangement in Lethem…we are talking now of goods coming into the city. Of course when you cross Kurupukari you would have to pay the relevant duties but even so we would find a lot of goods coming in and there will be good competition too, there will be more variety of goods,” the Minister noted.
With the operation of the Bridge and the large influx of visitors, improvement works will be effected on the road network from Georgetown to Lethem which the Minister said is currently under discussion. The Administration is pursing the upgrading of the road which will be paved along the route to Lethem.
“There was a time when it would take days to get into Lethem, the roads were impassable but of course the Government has put in a significant amount of money and has pledged more especially during this period to improve the roads. Most of the bridges have been completed satisfactorily, they have been strengthened so that we see a lot of businesses mushrooming along the trails, gas stations, and supply stores will be open for miners,” Minister Prashad opined.
The area has great potential for tourism and the Ministry has already increased its marketing efforts to encourage more Brazilians to take the opportunity of visiting Guyana. The Minister stated that marketing activities have already commenced in partnership with the Tourism Association and Chambers of Commerce in Boa Vista and an area was earmarked in the multi-purpose complex for the Ministry where a tourism extension officer and a representative of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards will be stationed.
“The whole idea behind the bridge was with a visage is that the people in Brazil can come through Guyana, go all the way into Suriname to French Guiana and into Amapa, the other part of Brazil to the sea port which is an easier route for them because to get from southern Brazil to the northern part it is more expensive,” Minister Prashad said.
The question of accommodation in the border town arises with the expected influx of visitors and the Minister pointed out that already business persons have applied for land to construct hotels. These applications were already processed by the Ministry and the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) and the land was allocated in the commercial zone.
“Right now all the major resorts on the way to the Rupununi in the Iwokrama area are filled until June 2010 so we need more resorts to be built in that area. With the opening up of this bridge and the free flowing traffic and the easy passage of business people going to and coming from Brazil, it will enhance that area tremendously and will bring tremendous benefits to the people in the region and ultimately the people in the country,” Minister Prashad stated.
The Takutu Bridge which is an impressive 220-metre structure was built by the Brazilian Government at a cost of US$8M and would serve as a link between Brazil and Guyana. Brazil has shown commitment to achieving this initiative since they have decided to repair 1.6 km of access road that leads into Guyana.
In order to facilitate cross-border trade, a $38M facility has been built in Lethem. This multi-purpose facility would be manned by trained personnel, who would be working to ensure immigration laws are upheld and to carry out phyto-sanitary checks.
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