2011 – Page 31 – Guyana Times International

School drop-out rates have declined significantly in last five years – Baksh

November 3, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Education Minister Shaik Baksh has reported that the school drop-out rates at both primary and secondary schools have declined by 50 percent in the past five years. Speaking at a recent forum, Baksh pointed out that the drop-out rate at secondary schools declined from 12 percent in 2005 to 5.5 percent in 2010. The drop-out rate has been on a consistently downward trend, moving from 12 percent in 2005 to 11 percent in 2006. It declined further to nine percent in 2007. The rate remained stable at six percent in…

President Jagdeo’s pension package is not different from his predecessors – OP

November 3, 2011 TIMES INT'L

The Alliance for Change (AFC) presidential candidate Khemraj Ramjattan has recently contributed to the misinformation being peddled in the media about President Bharrat Jagdeo’s pension. The Office of the President in a statement on Saturday deemed Ramjattan’s contributions as inaccurate and purposefully misleading. The statement noted that an examination of the subject and previous publications would show the president’s pension is established at seven-eighths of his salary and has long been so established and remains unchanged. “It has been given to all former presidents, including all President Jagdeo’s predecessors,” the…

NCN, GECOM meet on giving more airtime to opposition parties

November 3, 2011 TIMES INT'L

The National Communications Network (NCN) and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Tuesday agreed to obtain approval for there to be an increase in the amount of airtime granted to political parties. At a meeting between senior officials of NCN and GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally, the issue of broadcasting political messages by the contesting parties was discussed. The parties discussed costs, free air time and paid broadcast. In a release to the media, NCN said: “The meeting with GECOM was an amicable one, and ended with both parties agreeing…

Guyana moves up Human Development Index

November 3, 2011 TIMES INT'L

–now ranked as a medium development country Guyana has moved two points up on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index and has now been ranked as a medium human development country, a report issued on Wednesday said. Guyana is now ranked at 117 out of 187 countries having moved up two points. The UN human development report stated that Guyana’s life expectancy was now approximately 69.9 years, while its gross national income per capita on an international base of 2005 was US$ 3192. The three dimensions upon which…

Dr Cheddi Jagan Jr. vows to dispel Nagamootoo’s ‘outright fabrications’

November 3, 2011 TIMES INT'L

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) newest high-profile Civic member, Dr Cheddi (Joey) Jagan Jr., son of former presidents Cheddi and Janet Jagan, said he will dispel the “dispersions and outright fabrications” of Moses Nagamootoo on the campaign trail. Nagamootoo, who recently resigned his membership in the PPP/C, has joined the Alliance for Change (AFC) camp. He has made several allegations against the leadership of the ruling party. “Moses whom I’ve known a long time talks as if he is the embodiment of Cheddi Jagan’s legacy, but what he fails to understand…

Fire destroys Lethem Hospital pharmacy

November 3, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Fire believed to be of electrical origin destroyed a section of the Lethem Regional Hospital, Central Lethem, Region Nine, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo at approximately 4: 30h on Tuesday. The fire resulted in the main pharmacy of the hospital, which supplies drugs to all health centres, health posts and other district hospitals, being completely destroyed. Guyana Times International understands that there were several patients at the hospital at the time the incident occurred. Those patients were immediately transferred to the old Lethem Hospital, as police, soldiers, and residents attempted to put out…

Scrap metal dealers get clearance to ship containers

November 3, 2011 TIMES INT'L

–but ban on trade remains President Bharrat Jagdeo has acquiesced to the request of scrap metal dealers that 132 containers loaded with scrap metals be released from wharves for export, even though the ban on the trade remains. The containers have been sitting on the wharves for the last six months after the government had instituted yet another ban on trade of non-ferrous scrap metal, including brass, copper and aluminium, following more reports of vandalism. In April, the Office of the Prime Minister had announced the suspension. On Friday, Guyana…

The bigger picture for health care

November 3, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor, ‘If’ and ‘but’ are two very sad words in human existence. This came to my mind when I read about the plight confronting the Gravesande family in the Guyana Times newspaper. The family and relatives need money and plenty too, to pay the bills for the brain surgery patient, Jada Gravesande. The cost is staggering: US$25,607 (TT$ 153,640). In Guyanese dollars, this is around the six million mark; in other words, a near impossibility. So the hope is that a lot of help will come forth in time.…

Region 10 gets fair share of national cake

November 3, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor, I write this letter to let the people know that contrary to what is being peddled by some politicians, there is no race, hate or discrimination against the people of Region 10. Some groups want the nation to believe this. Editor, I know for a fact that in the past, large sums of monies, intended for developmental works, especially in Linden, were returned to the government’s coffers by the PNCR-dominated Regional Democratic Council. This was a carefully executed plan by the PNCR to deliberately stagnate the development process…

Golfers need recognition

November 3, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor, A word (or maybe many) of congratulations is in order for the Trinidad and Tobago-based golfer Papo Haniff and Guyanese female defending champion Christine Sukhram, the two took top honours in the men and ladies’ categories of the R1 Vodka sponsored, two-day Guyana Open Golf championships, played over the weekend, at the Lusignan Golf Course. The achievements by the two champions are really worth noting, as they are no mean feats. In Guyana, sports is really dominated by cricket, football and cycling, and golf seems to be in…