DPI, GUYANA, Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Greater emphasis will be placed on the development of Guyana’s youth population in 2018. This is according to Director of Youth, Melissa Carmichael-Haynes who said this will be realised through a more proactive youth department that will ensure all necessary stakeholders play their role in the achieving this objective.

During an interview with the Department of Public Information(DPI), the Youth Director emphasised that this year her department wants to ensure it works “with all agencies and ministries as it relates to the development of our young people because we all know youth work cannot be done with just one ministry or one agency. This year we want to foster stronger partnerships,” Carmichael-Haynes said.

According to Carmichael-Haynes, aside from building alliances, there will be increased emphasis on social issues affecting young people, entrepreneurship, literacy and numeracy.

The idea behind this move by the Youth Department, the Youth Director said is to have “young people and those unattached youth be a part of the vocational skills opportunities that are presented from the Youth Department”.

Carmichael-Haynes further added that “in many communities we find that a number of young people have not been able to acquire their full five subjects at CXC to move forward, so what we do through the literacy and numeracy programme, offered by the Department of Youth, is give them the opportunity to be able to complete their education”.

The Youth Director also highlighted that the Department will be data-driven – meaning information derived from surveys conducted in communities countrywide will be utilised to effectively address the needs of youths.

During the debates of the 2018 National Budget, Minister of Social Cohesion (MoSC) with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. George Norton pointed out that youth empowerment is critical since they are the agents of change and the future success and growth of Guyana depends on how well equipped the youth population is to handle emerging and imminent challenges.

With that, over $1B will be invested in 2018 for the development and empowerment of youths countrywide.

 

By: Isaiah Braithwaite

 

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DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, January 23, 2018

As the Ministry of Social Protection (MoSP) continues its efforts to digitise the old age pension system in coastal regions, the exercise will see information technology being utilised to eliminate pension books. It will also establish a system where seniors will be allowed to use their National Identification (ID) cards to uplift their pension.

In a recent interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI), Director of Social Services, Wenthworth Tanner, explained that the ministry is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Telecommunications (MoPT) to upgrade the system into an automated one.

“…Currently, the system is primarily manual, we want to get the system automated and so that’s an ongoing process. We are continuing to work to get it onstream as soon as possible,” Tanner explained.

The Social Services Director said that an important aspect of the project will be the sanitisation of the old age pension database, which entails the removal of deceased pensioners from the pension register.  He said that the ministry is collaborating with the Registrar Office and funeral parlours in this regard and based on information gathered, the list will be cleansed.

On the issue of Guyanese who reside overseas and access pensions, Tanner said, “That is a bit more challenging given how the pension system is currently set up, however, these are things that will be addressed once the system is automated.”

The digitisation project is intended to ensure efficiency, accountability, and transparency in the distribution of Old Age Pension. It will reduce the need for workers to search various documents in order to retrieve information. Probation officers will also be afforded more time to conduct fieldwork and visitations.

 

By: Synieka Thorne

 

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DPI, GUYANA, Tuesday, January 23, 2018

The Guyana Gold board will soon undertake a public awareness campaign to improve gold declarations after 653,754 ounces were declared in 2017.

Gold declarations for 2017 fell short of the 700,000 ounces projected in last year’s national budget. General Manager of the Gold Board, Eondrene Thompson, told the Department of Public Information that the shortfall was as a result of setbacks in the industry.

Poor roads and inclement weather were singled out by Thompson for the decline in declarations. “The roadways into the interior…were bad and as such persons were unable to buy their supplies to take into the interior. A lot of operators said they parked their dredges and were waiting on the roads to be done,” she said.

This year, the government has budgeted some $1.5B for hinterland roads which include roads used by miners. The Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, previously stated that his Ministry hopes to involve the miners and communities as it works with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to improve the road networks in the six mining districts.

Meanwhile, the Gold Board will also be engaging the mining community with the aim of improving declarations in 2018. “We will embark on PR work, let the miners know the importance of selling their gold to the Guyana Gold Board,” Thompson said.

Thompson said the awareness campaign is to encourage persons to sell their gold to licenced agents or the Gold Board itself. “We have persons around who they sell to or who they are working for and still not declaring to the Guyana Gold Board so we intend to educate the miners and let them know it is good, it is right to sell to the Guyana Gold Board.”

The Gold Board is examining providing incentives to miners who sell to the Guyana Gold Board. Additionally, the Board will also be educating miners on the importance of having the necessary documentation when selling their gold.

Thompson explained, “Our regulatory overseas body would like to know that. They would want to monitor the gold from the mine to the market so we will have persons educating the miners and showing them the advantages of producing documentation where they mine”.

Starting next week, the Gold Board will be sending out text blasts as part of its public relations strategy to educate miners on these issues. Staff stationed in the interior will also facilitate awareness outreaches.

 

By: Tiffny Rhodius

 

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Georgetown, Guyana — (January 23, 2018) The Office of Climate Change (OCC), which falls under the purview of the Ministry of the Presidency, this morning, hosted its third and final workshop to gather feedback from key stakeholders on the proposed Country Work Programme. The one-day Elaboration of the Country Work Programme for Engagement with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Validation Workshop saw the participation of stakeholders from over 20 government and non-governmental organisations at the Herdmanston Lodge Hotel, Anira Street, Georgetown.

The workshop’s long-term goal is to access funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Once the feedback has been received, the finalised proposed Country Work Programme will be submitted to the National Designated Authority (NDA), who is the Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon, for approval. With Minister Harmon’s approval, the proposal can then be submitted to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to be reviewed, and hopefully approved, for funding.

Head of the Office of Climate Change, Ms. Janelle Christian, who has been spearheading the two-year effort to ensure Guyana’s eligibility for funding, assured the participants that Guyana is making significant strides in the climate change arena although it has taken some time. “Many times we are hard on ourselves with respect to the pace at which we go to address the challenges that we face as a nation, but we are proud to say that for the [Caribbean Community] CARICOM countries, Guyana was the first to have been approved by the GCF for readiness preparation and support of the [National Designated Authority] NDA,” she said.

Ms. Christian urged the stakeholders to be forthcoming with their feedback, so as to ensure that a final programme, which covers the interest of all of Guyana’s sectors, can be fully developed. “Today, we would like for you to be as objective as you can be… Much of what has been included in the… initial set of… ideas that have been put forward for engagement with the GCF would have come from lead technical officers from the respective sectoral agencies. So, this is by no means what the Office of Climate Change [or] the Project Management Office [within the Ministry of the Presidency]… would have arbitrarily put together on our own, but it would have been informed through these consultations [and] workshops,” she said.

Head of the Project Management Office (PMO) within the Ministry of the Presidency, Dr. Marlon Bristol said that the finalisation and approval of the proposed Country Work Programme is a crucial step in achieving President David Granger’s ‘Green’ State vision for Guyana. “The GCF… is one of the additional windows for resource mobilisation in the development of, what His Excellency calls, the ‘Green’ State… This workshop really marks a penultimate end to the consultation process for, at least, the projects [that] we would want to see financed… We definitely welcome the opportunity to mobilise the resources that will help to see us bring forward to realisation, the ‘Green’ State and we also welcome the opportunity of [stakeholder] inputs to make those [proposed] projects part of the GCF process… to be manifest and be financed by the GCF,” he said.

Participants of the validation workshop commented on the ways the workshop helps to clarify areas where their respective organisations can streamline efforts in order to achieve GCF funding approval and, ultimately, the establishment of the ‘Green’ State.

Mr. Godfrey Scott, a stakeholder from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), said that, “We foresee that, for the Commission, [the workshop] will help us understand our role in the process. It will help us understand how the Green Climate Fund works and how the commission could further contribute towards Guyana’s [country] work programme in submission to the GCF”.

Head of the Commission Secretariat at the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, Mr. Durwin Humphrey said, “I think the Green Climate Fund is really going to provide an avenue for us to… streamline green growth… There are lots of core functions which we want to streamline… We want to make sure we’re aligning the Commission’s functions with the ‘Green’ State Development Strategy”.

The OCC held two workshops prior to this one. The first, held in September of 2017, taught GCF operational modalities and requirements in order to build capacity in support of the NDA. The second, held in October 2017, identified stakeholder priorities, which laid the foundation for the draft country work programme being presented at this third and final workshop.

Georgetown, Guyana – (January 23, 2018) Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon, yesterday, convened the first National Hydrographic Committee (NHC) to coordinate the sustainable management of Guyana’s sea and river resources. The  meeting, which was held at the Guyana Lands and Surveys (GL&SC) Boardroom, sought  to bring together  agencies such as the Guyana Coast Guard, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Guyana Forestry Commission, the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) and others  to ensure that a coordinated approach is taken to the protection and the management of resources.

Minister Harmon, in his remarks, said that there are currently several Government Ministries and agencies, which share responsibility for the same sector, leading to duplication of projects and a waste of resources. The convening of the NHC therefore, aims to reduce these occurrences and establish a framework within which all the connected agencies can operate.

“We have a situation where sometimes laws collide with regard to the work of various agencies…You are going to have conflicts and everyone has a responsibility to do something and we have seen this in a number of areas. I have asked the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission to look at harmonising some of the laws as it relates to the management of our natural patrimony because if you go through the various portions, different organisations have the same responsibility for the same activity. It is important for us to recognise this and to come to a point where we can work with the law as it is, until such time that we can [make] some changes. This area of hydrographic work is one such area that when you examine the law carefully, you see that several agencies and organisations have responsibility for hydrographic surveys and the management of the waterways in that regard,” he said.

Noting that it is the most practicable solution at this time, Minister Harmon said that in establishing this NHC, a structure has been put in place, which recognises that responsibility rests with some of the organisations. However, in the interest of moving forward, a mechanism has to be found through which all of the agencies can cooperate and work as one unit.

“Ultimately it is the same resources we have to work with and we have to work together as one people under one administration and if we do not do this then we would find difficulty in attracting resources… I have been advised that this is the first time that such a committee [has been] established and as an independent country we have to project togetherness when we deal with international agencies. This is especially required at this time as we pursue a ‘green’ agenda and with discovery of vast amounts of oil and gas and our decision to exploit those reserves in the near future necessitates the establishment of mechanisms and arrangements to ensure that the extraction of oil and gas with minimum effect on our shoreline and waterways,” he said.

In all of these matters, Minister Harmon said that hydrographic data is crucial in the planning and setting up of regulatory arrangements with regard to the ‘green’ agenda and disaster preparedness and response. The Minister of State said that there should be a specially designated department, which can deal with that area of study.

“Specifically, the NHC, when established, must highlight the significance and importance of its activities, that is, the safety of navigation, the protection of the marine environment, coastal zone management, defence and security and resources exploration. The Committee must also seek to increase its importance in the public’s view of the seas and waterways. In order to do this, the Committee should seek to address a number of issues, including the dedication of a department in the GLSC to give effect to this mandate so that it is not just a Committee that meets and go away,” he said.

To this end, Commissioner of the GL&SC Mr. Trevor Benn said that the Commission has already undertaken a review of its existing Surveys Department with the aim of adding the Hydrographic component to it. “We have begun a process of a review of our Surveys Division to take stock of our new demands and to make it more relevant. In this regard, it is my hope that we can have the Hydrographic section developed and we have already identified staff for this. Therefore, in the coming weeks, we expected to roll out some training programmes and so on for the staff,” he said.

Nova regra determina que gerentes-gerais, gerentes e coordenadores adotem medidas para reduzir riscos no tratamento das petições do setor regulado.

Portaria da Anvisa aborda a aplicação da Lei de Acesso à Informação na Agência.

DPI, GUYANA, Monday, January 22, 2018

Head of the Department of the Environment (DoE), Ndibi Schwiers, today at her department’s annual sector review, announced that a $2.4M US “Strengthening Technical Capacities to mainstream and monitor the RIO Convention through policy coordination” project 2016-2020, is being undertaken in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

To this end, several workshops and awareness sessions have been successfully conducted resulting in the participation of over 400 participants from Government agencies and the private sector.

Thus far, the DoE has been able to recruit its full complement of local consultants to kick-start this year’s work programme.

Schwiers said the big task for the entity, which was established in 2016, was the filling of staff vacancies to ensure that the right skills are available for the effective execution of its duty of coordinating and integrating the country’s environmental mandate, as well as lead Government efforts in relation to the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS).

The GSDS will be the country’s third national development strategy and is intended to guide national development in all sectors. The DoE, Schwiers noted, is working with UN Environment which is Guyana’s partner in developing the strategy.

Providing an update on the progress of the GSDS’ development, the Department Head noted that several rounds of consultations have been hosted across the country and the Department has been successful in starting what has been dubbed as “green conversations,” which are intended to fill the awareness gap.

“One of the things we have realised it is easy to develop a strategy… we can sit in our offices and write but that won’t be the best thing to do. What we have realised, is that this strategy needs to be developed at various levels and one of the things would be to have consultations and ensure that there is a certain level of awareness.”

The Coordination Desk of the DoE is working along with the Ministries of Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs to create a consultation plan. The next steps, according to Schwiers, would be research and drafting of the document.

To do this, the Department has developed seven thematic groups which coincide with the seven thematic areas of the GSDS. The University of Guyana is also playing an instrumental role in this process as its representatives are tasked with identifying seven thematic experts, who will assist the thematic groups in drafting various thematic elements of the GSDS.

Schwiers informed that a meeting of the Advisory Group of the GSDS, which consists of the Chairs and Co-chairs of the seven thematic areas, is scheduled for January 25, 2018, to facilitate further discussions.

The DoE will also be focusing this year on an in-depth programme review of the EPA, harmonising environmental management countrywide and development of its strategic plan.

The job of the Department, Schwiers assured, is not to usurp the functions of the four agencies under its purview, which are the National Parks Commission, the Protected Areas Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission, but to support them.

In this vein, State Minister, Joseph Harmon urged Heads of the respective agencies to focus on their objectives for 2018 and how they can adequately execute them placing greater emphasis on inter-agency support and collaborations.

The fact that this Administration has been laying Budgets in the National Assembly the year before their expenditure, Minister Harmon said agencies were given the opportunity to prepare their sectoral plans in advance, thus it is customary now for execution of work programmes to begin from January 1 of the new year.

Heads of agencies were commended for their efficiency in completing projects despite having to stick to stringent budgets.

They were urged to examine those “factors that impact on the work we have to do as a sector… I believe we are more in the regulatory framework than any other department because whatever happens in the environment if something goes wrong, we are the ones that people will look to.”

Responding to the challenges faced by the various agencies, Minister Harmon assured that in those areas that require it, an immediate intervention will be made.

Minister Harmon urged them to bring matters to his attention as they arise to ensure timely resolution which will allow for the efficient functioning of all the entities.

 

By: Stacy Carmichael

 

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DPI, Guyana, Monday, January 22, 2018

Secretary-General (SG) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has once again zeroed in on the grave impact of crime and security, noting that the issue is a regional one which requires a regional solution.

Ambassador LaRocque was at the time addressing attendees during the launch of the European Development Fund’s CARIFORUM Crime and Security Cooperation held in Barbados late last week.

According to the Secretary-General, Crime and Security is an issue that is having an impact on all Member States.

“It is a regional problem that demands a regional solution. It requires the full co-operation of all our Member States,” he told the attendees of regional leaders and officials from the European Union (EU).

Back in July of last year, several Member States signed the CARICOM Arrest Warrant Treaty which simplifies the procedure of returning fugitives to the country where charges have been laid.  The Ambassador said CARICOM is close to reaching agreement on the return and sharing of recovered criminal assets that is moved around the region.

Further, Heads of Government have agreed to an expansion of the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) and the introduction of the Advance Cargo Information System (ACIS).

“One of the principal issues that we face in the area of Crime and Security is the trade in, and use of illicit drugs.  The Caribbean Region as a whole continues to be ravaged by this scourge as drug traffickers find creative and ingenious ways to conduct their “business” creating challenges for law enforcement in the Region,” Ambassador LaRocque said.

The Secretary-General added that drug trafficking remains a main driving force for the high rates of crime and violence in the Region. This, he said, has led to a steady increase in the availability of illegal firearms.

“The reality is that neither the most trafficked illicit drug, cocaine, nor the firearms, is produced in our countries. Our Region is a transit-point for both. However, significant amounts of both remain on our shores fuelling extreme violence, institutionalised criminal behaviour, and increased gang violence.”

The CARICOM chief said this threatens the security of citizens and visitors and has an impact on the safety of community life, as gun and gang violence become rife and create dysfunction in families through drug addiction and alcoholism.  He said the greatest impact is on human resources which we need to continue to build resilient, strong societies.

“How do we combat this insidious threat to our stability?  The programme that we are launching focuses on reducing the demand for and dependence on illicit drugs on the one hand, and on crime prevention on the other.”

According to Ambassador LaRocque, the launch was another manifestation of the strength of the co-operation between the European Union (EU) and the Caribbean Region.  The EU, he said, has been a long-standing and staunch partner in our thrust to attain sustainable development, and its assistance has been crucial in addressing key areas in that regard.

He said CARICOM has been receiving EDF funding in numerous areas over the years, including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), private sector support, agriculture, climate change, disaster management, human resource development and in the areas of crime and security.

 

By: Alexis Rodney

 

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DPI, GUYANA, Monday, January 22, 2018

Guyana was today named one of three hosts for the sixth edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2018 Women’s World Twenty20 slated to be held from November 9 to 24.

This is following the announcement made by Director of Sport, Christopher Jones that Guyana had submitted a bid to be one of the host countries. St. Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda are the other two countries selected.

The announcement was made via a media release by the ICC. This is the second time that the tournament will be held in the West Indies after it was first held there in 2010. According to the release, the three venues were selected through a bidding process and have been ratified by the ICC.

The tournament will see the West Indies defend their title which they won after an eight-wicket victory over Australia in Kolkata back in 2016.

“The preliminary round matches will be held at the Guyana National Stadium and Darren Sammy Stadium in Saint Lucia, while Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda will stage the two semi-finals and the finals” ICC stated in the media release.

Details surrounding the biannual tournament, which includes groups and fixtures, will be announced in due course.

 

By: Isaiah Braithwaite

 

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