Month: September 2013

BY SVETLANA MARSHALL The 28th Session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC) opened on Monday in Guyana at the Guyana International Conference Centre, with more than 40 regional forestry experts in attendance. Delivering the feature address, President Donald Ramotar said Guyana continues to play a leading role in the forestry sector as he alluded to the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), an initiative implemented by his predecessor Bharrat Jagdeo. The LCDS is a national framework that utilises one of the first national-scale REDD- plus systems in…

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The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry is currently in the process of finalising its first strategic plan as it takes into consideration mining, forestry, environmental protection and protected areas management. But even as the ministry adds the finishing touches to this crucial document, it is negotiating with the European Union (EU) on the formulation of a Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA). In 2003, the EU adopted its FLEGT action plan after considering the increasing public concern with the social, economic and environmental consequences of…

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The design of the May 5 Monument, intended to commemorate the arrival of the first East Indian immigrants to Guyana has been selected and the winning entrants were presented with a Gy$ 500,000 cheque by Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Monday. The winning design crafted by Philbert Gajadhar and Winslow Craig, was one of five entries submitted for judging by a panel which consisted of Tota Mangar, Colonel Linden Ross, Naudia Madhoo, Neaz Subhan and Ivor Thom. Minister Anthony congratulated the winning duo, who have collaborated…

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Guyana will host from October 5 to 12, the twelfth edition of the region’s premier agriculture event, Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA). “We are now at the stage of implementation; we went through a lot of time planning because we wanted to make this a special Caribbean Week of Agriculture,” Minister of Agriculture Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said. There will be 40 science sessions to mark the week-long celebrations, and several workshops including one on monitoring and management pest population under a changing climate, and another on the development of the…

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Guyana is attracting increasing attention from its Dutch neighbour, Suriname, as close to 200 tourists have arrived in the country over the last few days. Last evening another group of 40 Surinamese/Dutch guests arrived in Guyana as part of a tour group, organised by one of the Tourism Ministry’s partners, Garage Tour Company. Whether it’s the allure of the food, festivities or simply the fascinating people, the relationship between the two South American neighbours continue to be further cemented as Guyana’s tourism product takes center stage. A mere two days…

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Trinidad and Tobago’s Finance Minister Larry Howai on Monday announced in his budget presentation, that 10,000 acres of land in Guyana will be made available for use by local farmers under the terms of a new facility to be administered by the ministry of food production. The facility is the result of the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Guyana government. Under the facility, investors will be able to apply to the ministry of food production for licence to use the lands in Guyana. These applications are…

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Major financial irregularities have been unearthed at the University of Guyana (UG), Turkeyen Campus following a financial audit conducted by experts from the University of the West Indies (UWI). In addition to the financial discrepancies, the premier tertiary educational institution has incurred a debt of Gy$482 million. Vice Chancellor Dr Jacob Opadeyi made these disclosures on Tuesday during a press conference at the campus. Based on the reports submitted from phases one and two of the audit, Dr Opadeyi said the university’s accounting system had collapsed over the years, creating…

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Guyana’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) of the housing ministry on Monday continued its housing drive with its second One Stop Shop for the year held in the ministry’s Brickdam compound. Some 85 applicants pulled their lot numbers for plots situated at Zeelugt, Phase 2, East Bank Essequibo. The 2013 one stop shops are conducted under the theme: “Live the Guyanese dream, home ownership made easier”. Applicants select their house lots, make their payment, and are issued with their allocation letter. At the end of this process, they can…

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