News – Page 742 – Guyana Times International

Parents, students protest NA speedboat service

July 1, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Parents of children attending school in New Amsterdam staged a picketing exercise against the speedboat service introduced by Transport and Harbours Department on June 28 to traverse between the New Amsterdam and Rosignol ferry stellings. The protestors were joined by Alliance For Change presidential candidate Khemraj Ramjattan and other senior executives of that party. The speedboat service, which is dubbed more economical for T& HD, made its first trip with commuters across the river on the morning of June 28, ending weeks of speculation over its implementation. A source attached…

Guyana’s 45th Independence celebrated with Toronto festival

June 24, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir and Guyana’s High Commissioner to Canada, Harry Narine Nawbatt, jointly cut the ceremonial ribbon to declare open Guyana’s 45th Independence Anniversary celebration in Canada over the weekend. Just prior to the ribbon cutting, Minister Nadir delivered the keynote address. The minister, in his address to the gathering, acknowledged the contribution of the Sawh family to Guyana, and the ultimate sacrifice of the late Agriculture Minister Satyadeow Sawh, who is to be posthumously awarded Guyana’s Cacique’s Crown of Honour. The minister spoke of the close ties between…

Jagdeo joins board of Global Green Growth Institute

June 24, 2011 TIMES INT'L

– calls institute “a new way of helping developing countries” President Bharrat Jagdeo has accepted an invitation to join the Board of Directors of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), and on June 19, the president attended a meeting of the board in Seoul, South Korea. GGGI is dedicated to pioneering a new model of economic growth – “green growth” that aligns work to address poverty reduction, job creation, and social inclusion with work that addresses environmental sustainability, such as mitigation of climate change and biodiversity loss, and security of…

JOPP coalition to be launched this week

June 24, 2011 TIMES INT'L

The Joint Opposition Political Parties (JOPP) is set to launch its coalition on Friday. Its features are an agreed presidential candidate, one manifesto, one symbol, and one campaign. Guyana Times International understands that the name of the coalition and its symbol, among other things, have already been finalized, and the grouping of five political parties is just waiting to reveal these on Friday. Dr Rupert Roopnarain, Leader of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a participating member of the JOPP, has said that the grouping has so far decided on a ‘leadership…

U.S. commits to addressing criminal deportee issue

June 24, 2011 TIMES INT'L

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on June 22 met with Caricom ministers to reaffirm the Caribbean-U.S. partnership in several key priority areas, including the reduction of drug trafficking and repatriation of criminal deportees from Washington to the Caribbean. According to a State Department statement, the meeting, which was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, addressed the common challenges as outlined a year ago in Barbados, when the two sides met and served as an opportunity to review the progress made in the past year, and discuss the road forward.…

US$12M loan for Linden water project approved by IDB

June 24, 2011 TIMES INT'L

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a US$12 million loan to improve quality, efficiency of delivery and sustainability of the drinking water supply in Linden. The funds will help the town to cut energy use; improve delivery, quality and continuity of the water supply system; reduce the level of revenue loss due to physical and commercial reasons; and strengthen the operational and maintenance performance of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI). IDB said the five-year programme will help reduce GWI’s annual energy spending in Linden from Gy$46.4 million to Gy$28…

System to track students’ poor attendance to come on stream – Baksh

June 24, 2011 TIMES INT'L

The Education Ministry will be better able to track students with poor attendance when a computerised programme on students’ records comes on stream. Education Minister Shaik Baksh was quoted in a statement from the ministry as saying that the system which is being developed will enable schools’ welfare officers to identify these frequently absent students and intervene early to remedy the problem. In the meantime, he said, schools’ welfare officers will be visiting the homes of students “at risk of dropping out of school” and the notable “bad behaving ones”,…

Sugar workers urged to struggle for national development

June 24, 2011 TIMES INT'L

President Bharrat Jagdeo and other government officials and members of the diplomatic corps were among scores of persons paying tribute to the five Enmore Martyrs on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of their deaths on June 16th at the monument erected in their honour. The annual ceremony saw wreaths being laid at the base of the monument by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, representing the state, and leaders of the various labour unions besides relatives of the slain men. In delivering the feature address, President Jagdeo paid tribute not only…

Housing sector investment ensures equitable access to developmental resources – Ali

June 24, 2011 TIMES INT'L

The Housing and Water Ministry has hosted another One- Stop- Shop exercise, which was held at the Blairmont Community Centre, Region Five, at which 281 house lots were distributed. Speaking at the event, Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali said that the ministry, particularly the Central Housing and Planning Authority, is pleased that it is able to continue a comprehensive approach to meeting housing needs in Guyana. As such, he added, it is hoped that progress in the sector will continue and will be sustained long into the future. “We…

CSME success hinges on full youth participation – Irwin LaRocque

June 24, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, Caricom Assistant Secretary General with responsibility for trade and economic integration, on June 17 underscored that Caricom youth have a critical role to play in the success of the regional integration movement. Speaking in Antigua and Barbuda at a conference to mark the end of a two-year project designed to familiarise students with opportunities which reside in the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), Ambassador LaRocque said that the region’s flagship programme could not be successful without the “full participation” of youth, particularly given that research had…