Negotiations for a new wages pact are ongoing be-tween the Education Ministry and the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), and several recommen-dations have alreadybeen made for added in-centives and benefits. However, Education Minister Shaik Baksh told this newspaper in a recent interview that the GTU would have to present their demands to the ministry, so that a decision can be made as to what benefits would be attached to the new package of agreements.Baksh explained that the negotiations are still ongoing, and could not have met the October deadline since there…
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Canadian firm looking for manganese in North West
The GuyanaGeology and Mines Commission (GGMC) says that the Reunion ManganeseCompany has started exploration activities at Matthews Ridge and Pipiani, in Region One. The company is hoping to revive the manganese industry in the North West District. In an interview with Guyana Times on Wednesday, GGMC’s Geological Services Division Manager,Kampta Persaud, said that the company has obtained prospecting li-cences and has com-menced its groundwork for the project. He said that the company is car-rying out research to de-termine what mineral is left in the areas that were mined, and are…
Read MoreHealth Ministry embarks on massive deworming exercise
The Health Ministry is accelerating its mass drug admin-istration programmefor the elimination of neglected diseases in Guyana with renewed emphasis on tacklinglymphatic filariasis and other kinds of worm in-festation. The ministry is cur-rently undertaking a col-laborative exercise for mass treatment to reduce and eventually eliminate the incidences of lym-phatic filariasis and oth-er worm infestations for all persons, particularly children over two years old, and all adults, ex-cept pregnant women.The mass treatment programme, which start-ed in 2008, would be done regionally. It was previously implement-ed in Regions Two, Five and Six…
Read MoreGuyana gets good reviews in UN Human Development Report
The United Nations 20th Human D e v e l o p m e n t Report, launched un-der the theme: “The real wealth of nations: path-ways to human develop-ment,” shows an increase in human development in Guyana from 1980 to 2010. The report was launched on Thursday at the offices of the United Nations DevelopmentProgramme on Brickdam; and UNDP’s Resident Coordinator, Kiari Liman Tinguri, said that social sector spending in Guyana has been a prior-ity in local development.He noted that key re-sults show Guyana’s hu-man development indica-tor (HDI) value…
Read MoreRemittances to Guyana pegged at US$280M
The World Bank es-timates that some US$280 million would be remitted here this year, compared to US$253 million last year. These figures were contained in the bank’s latest Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, released on Tuesday. The bank warns, however, that remittances to the Caribbean could drop again if the United States’ economic and un-employment crises con-tinue. There was a 20 per cent drop in remit-tances to the Caribbean last year.The bank said that an estimated 432,900 Guyanese – 56.8 per cent of the resident population – live over-seas,…
Read MoreGuySuCo offers five per cent increase to workers
– provided 270,000 tonnes of sugar are produced The Guyana Sugar C o r p o r a t i o n (GuySuCo) has fi-nally proposed a five per-cent across-the-board increase in wages/sala-ries to sugar workers,retroactive to January1, 2010. However, this will be paid only if the company produces at least 270,000 tonnes of sugar this year.If the production falls between 260,000 and 269,000 tonnes, GuySuCo warns, the offer will be reduced to three per cent. More so,should the production drop further to 250,000 tonnes, a one-off, non-sustainable increase of…
Read MoreFlorida businessmen urged to import more Guyanese agro products
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds wants to see more products from Guyana exported to Florida. He has challenged the Caribbean American business communityto explore the range of agricultural produceand processed foods available for import from here.While admitting that there were certain phyto sanitary issues affecting the import into Florida of some products, the prime minister said his government “is in discussions with the relevant US agencies about these issues,and we would like the business community in Florida to join with u sin helping to have these issues resolved,” Hinds said.The prime…
Read MoreGovt designing housing scheme for remigrants, retirees
Government intendsto utilise the 2,000acres of land bought from the Guyana SugarCorporation (GuySuCo)to develop house lots intendedfor low-income families, President Bharrat Jagdeo said onMonday.The president disclosed that 10,000house lots will bespread across the landscapejust behind theProvidence Stadiumon the East Bank Demerara. He added that persons squattingclose to the CheddiJagan (Timehri)International Airportwill have to be relocated,and house lots willbe provided for thosewithout accommodationelsewhere.Housing and WaterMinister Irfaan Alinoted that a housingscheme is also being developedfor remigrantsand retirees. “We arein the design phase ofthat. As a matter offact, we have completedthe design for…
Read MoreACDA urges land reparations at holocaust commemoration
The African Cultural and Development Association ( ACDA) has called for the establishment of an African Land Commission to protect ancestral lands, as scores gathered late Tuesday at the Seawall Bandstand to pay tribute to those who perished during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. ACDA Executive Eric Phillips told those gathered that such a commission is an absolute necessity in order to bring justice to Afro- Guyanese. Tuesday’s Maafa Day was observed under the theme “Stop the stealing of African lands” in the face of reports of many such cases occurring,…
Read MoreCity Hall grants amnesty on interest on property rates
The Mayor and City Council (M& CC) has decided to grant amnesty on the interest on property rates. The council in a release Tuesday said that it made that decision Monday. The amnesty will become effective for all ratepayers from October 15, 2010, and will end on November 30, 2010. According to reports, the council is experiencing a shortfall of more than $ 400 million for this period, and this is impacting negatively on its ability to deliver critical services to citizens, including drainage, solid waste management, and other essential…
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