THE ROLE FOSTER KIDS ARE FORCED TO PLAY

Everyone knows that fostering a child takes a healthy dose of courage as no one can predict that outcome. But does anyone ever sit and wonder what a foster child ever goes through? Whether a child moves from a Government Foster Care Institution or if their parents have re-married- the movement really affects the child/children emotionally.  

The emotional impact a child goes through when a foster care situation arises is considerable and people often ignore this aspect of foster care.

 When a family decides to foster a child what lies ahead can be both rewarding and a challenging experience as it can take a long time for a blended family to begin to feel comfortable and function well together.  However, how one chooses to handle the situation determines the outcome.

Abuse and Neglect

From 1993 through 2002 there were 107 recorded deaths due to the high rate of child abuse, emotional deprivation and physical neglect; with approximately 400,000 children in and out of foster care in the United States alone.  

In reality today, about half of all marriages end in divorce and three out of every four people who get divorced will marry again. This means millions of new stepfamilies are formed each year. Sometimes the transitions of new stepfamilies are pretty easy.  But many times, families have trouble adjusting to the new living arrangements, rules and relationships.

As is with the situation of Mary (not real name). Mary is a smart and cheerful 8-year-old whose Mother remarried after the death of her father Satish.  Her mother decided to try her hands at love once again but unfortunately for Mary only her mother found love and happiness for the second time.  

Mary is oftentimes forced to do all the chores in the home, look after her younger siblings (her mother had two other children from her present marriage), and defend herself almost every other night when her step father enters her room.

Asked why she has never reported the matter of sexual violence to anyone, Mary says “Mommy doesn’t believe me. No one will”. Abuse of foster children is nothing new, however, how such an act happens and why it happens is something society should take note of. There will always be moments in our history when silence will say more about us then any tongue or pen; but if we want to actually play a meaningful role in society  our actions which can make a change or even bring attention to the issues, remains critical.

For those who have remained silent on such issues the time has come for bolder actions- think about it, you can be the change in someone’s life. What lies ahead can be both rewarding and a challenging experience. 

Building any relationship can take time and effort by both the child and the parent. While being friends or building some amount of trust will not happen overnight, if the two have similar interest, and personalities there is a good chance for success.

Laying the foundation for any family is also an important factor and one which all must take into consideration. One must take into consideration the following;

• Too many changes at once can unsettle children.
• Don't expect to fall in love with your partner’s children overnight.
• Find ways to experience “real life” together.
• Make parenting changes before you marry. Don’t allow ultimatums.
• Insist on respect.
• Limit your expectations.

 “Some of my foster families used to send me to the movies to get me out of the house and there I’d sit all day and way into the night. Up in front, there with the screen so big, a little kid all alone, and I loved it. I loved anything that mved up there and I didn’t miss anything that happened and there was no popcorn either”- Marilyn Monroe

Some would look at this quote by a famous woman and just read it but if one is to look deep into the words, you would see the words of a scared little girl. One who at a tender age was all alone.  Can this have contributed to the downward spiral which Monroe’s life took?

Accepting the responsibility you agreed to and ensuring that you care for, mentor and love that child as your own is something every foster child dreams of.

Ill-treating a child because he/she might not be your own is never the answer.  In fact,  such actions might be the answer for the high rate of foster child run-aways. According to statistics from the National Runaway Safeline  for the US an average of 1.6 and 2.8 million youths run away in a year.

The survey also shows that 47 percent of runaway youths indicated conflict between them and their parents or guardian; 50 percent of youths in shelter and on the streets reported that their parents either told them to leave or knew they were leaving but didn’t care enough to stop them and 80 percent of runaway girls reported having been sexually or physically abused.

How can one get involved?

1)      Be a nurturing parent. Being a nurturing parent involves meeting basic physical needs as well as consistently seeking to meet your children’s emotional needs. Each child is different, as is each parent, so a nurturing relationship can take many forms.
2)      Help a friend, neighbor or relative. Everyone sometimes feels stressed, overworked and out of patience, but these kinds of emotions, if left unabated, can lead to regrettable parenting decisions. If you notice that a parent you know seems to be having a rough time, that’s a great cue that they may need a little break. Even small gestures can mean a lot and relieve a stressful parent.
3)      Help yourself and de-stress when necessary. If you find yourself being the one who is stressed out, then maybe it’s time to let a trusted friend or family member in to help on occasion.
4)      When your baby cries, be patient. When a baby won’t stop crying, it can be frustrating, heartbreaking and even defeating but be patient.
5)      Get involved. Tell other people about child abuse resources in your community and services like the Child Care and Protection Agency. 
6)      Help develop parenting resources. Are you a parent who feels like they have wisdom and experiences to share? Contact your local library and offer to help them develop parenting resources. 
7)      Promote programs in school. Help the schools in your community be the source of education about child abuse, not just math, English and science.
8)      Volunteer at a local child abuse prevention program. Another way to get involved in the fight against child abuse is to volunteer your time.
9)   Report suspected abuse or neglect. Last, but certainly not least, if you suspect abuse, report it. If you are being abused, don’t stay silent. Anyone can call the Child Care and Protection Agency 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at no cost, anonymously. Certified counselors are there to assist callers with deciding what the next step to take is.

Occupy activist facing seven years in jail was 'promoter of non-violence'

• Cecily McMillan, 25, charged with assault on a police officer
• Defence lawyers seek to prove history of peaceful behaviour

• by Jon Swaine in New York
• theguardian.com, Monday 7 April 2014 17.08 BST

Cecily McMillan arrives at court in Manhattan on Monday as jury selection was set to begin. Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPA

An Occupy Wall Street activist charged with assaulting a police officer is a “promoter of non-violence” who wandered into a tussle with law enforcement while celebrating St Patrick’s Day, her lawyers plan to argue in court this week.
Jury selection began on Monday morning in the trial of Cecily McMillan, who denies assaulting Officer Grantley Bovell as he arrested protesters from the anti-capitalist movement in New York’s Zuccotti Park on 17 March 2012.

“An innocent woman is being accused of something that could send her to prison for seven years,” McMillan’s attorney, Martin Stolar, told reporters outside the state supreme courtroom in lower Manhattan. “She was leaving the park pursuant to the police department’s orders when she was brutally assaulted by a police officer and subsequently accused of assaulting that police officer.” McMillan told a small group of supporters: “Thank you for being here today.”
Prosecutors are expected to argue that McMillan, 25, intentionally elbowed Bovell in the face as he carried out his official duties. They are expected to cite testimony from police officers and a long-range video clip of the incident.
McMillan insists that she did not know Bovell was a police officer and swung her arm at him only after he grabbed one of her breasts from behind. Stolar told the Guardian in an interview that the court would hear that she was renowned among fellow campaigners in the Occupy movement and in other activist circles as “a profound pusher of non-violent political action”.
“Her reputation is somebody who promotes non-violence as the preferred method of achieving political ends,” said Stolar. “She is not somebody who has a reputation for being a violent person. So there will be character witnesses that will testify that her character is such.”
McMillan’s defence team also intends to stress that although she had been active in the occupation of Zuccotti Park, she was enjoying a “day off” on 17 March by celebrating St Patrick’s Day with a friend visiting from outside the city. She had stopped at the park only for about 20 minutes to collect another friend when the clash with Bovell took place, they claim.

“She was out partying, she wasn’t out to get into a confrontation with the cops,” said Stolar. “And she was dressed in bright green: you don’t go out and go commit a crime wearing something that is obvious and makes you easily picked out.”
Jurors are expected to be shown photographs of McMillan taken three days after the incident showing a hand-shaped bruise on her right breast. Her lawyers argue that while other bruising – on her back, the back of her head, and backs of her legs – was caused when police pushed her to the ground after she struck Bovell, the bruise on her breast was inflicted before this.
“The explanation for her having a bruise on her front, as far as we are concerned, is that is where she was grabbed by the person who turns out to be a police officer,” said Stolar. “And her swinging around and her arm hitting the cop in the face was a reaction, a response to being grabbed on the breast.”
Stolar last month had a motion requesting access to Bovell’s NYPD personnel file rejected by Judge Ronald A Zweibel as irrelevant to McMillan’s trial. The NYPD’s response to Stolar’s motion confirmed that Bovell had been subject to inquiries by the force’s internal affairs bureau at least twice and had received a “command discipline” in 2010.
The Guardian last week disclosed that Bovell is being sued by another Occupy activist, Austin Guest, who alleges that the officer dragged him down the aisle of a bus while “intentionally banging his head on each seat” while removing him and dozens of other protesters from the demonstration, which marked six months of the Occupy movement.

Guest’s attorneys said in an updated complaint in federal court that as a result, the 33-year-old Harvard graduate “suffered physical, psychological and emotional injuries, mental anguish, suffering, humiliation, embarrassment, and other damages”.
Guest and eight other protesters, none of whom was charged with a crime, are suing Bovell, several of his colleagues, the NYPD and city authorities for allegedly violating their rights. They are seeking unspecified compensation, damages and legal fees. Lawyers for the NYPD said in a response motion that the officers denied all the allegations.

IN THE NEW

Welcome back thoughts.....

I have been somewhat distant for some time now, and have not blogged. However, with work sorted, I have a more opportune time to share topical issues and events which i term as 'of interest' and to interact with the public.

I will be publishing an article shortly. Feel free to join in the discussion and lets pick up where we left off.

Happy Blogging...

Erika's Newspost

Erika's Newspost: Gender Based Violence and Guyana’s Judicial System

Gender Based Violence and Guyana’s Judicial System


The scourge of domestic violence has been plaguing Guyana’s shores for years, but of recent, it has become more prevalent with our women, being several battered and even dying at the hands of their husbands, boyfriends or lovers, with little or no justice being meted-out.

Lack of sufficient evidence to prosecute, and corruption, have been two of the main factors which have seen little or no cases of Gender Based Violence victims/families receiving Justice in Guyana’s Judicial System.

While looking at a locally air television commentary, on the June 10 airing of the Walter Rodney Groundings, Dr. David Hinds underscored that the: “Country’s Judicial System is not doing enough to protect our women.”

 Despite not agreeing with many of the arguments posited by Dr. Hinds, I must say that I support this particular point , since it relates to the violation of a women’s human rights and has now become an endemic and universal problem. Unfortunately, not much is being done to halt this scourge.

Putting aside politics, Guyanese must come together and look at ways in which more can be done to address Gender-Based Violence that is widespread in Guyana, as Politicians and Political Activist lie or sometimes play games with the truth of the critical issue, and while they are busy doing the latter, women worldwide continues to die at the hands of their spouse, with the gruesome details flashed across our dailies almost everyday, making it a lot worst for the sanity of our future generation.

Of the majority of cases I have read of victims and their situation, I happened to feel most attached to Sharon Howell who was stabbed and hammered by her lover, Aubrey Peters on May 27.

 Recalling the gruesome tragedy, Howell’s brother, Wickliffe Halley stated that his sister who was stabbed multiple times about the body was also hammered in the head with the claw of the hammer which Peters used to carry out his attack.

Reportedly, the mother of 10 has since been discharged and is on the road to recovery, BUT what society can only hope and pray for, is that the victim does not return in the arms of her attacker, with impenetrable hopes that he will change for the better.

Being a Journalist for a number of years, I am familiar with some of the most logical, amazing and unintelligent answers from some of the survivors of Gender-Based Violence: …..whether I love him…it is the first time he has ever hit me or he was under the influence and as such, his actions can be justified….

Come on ladies……no one can deny that Gender-Based Violence is among  the nation’s most critical ills….but we must join the forces and assist the decisions makers and other organisations which have rallied towards the issue, whether in the form of public awareness or sensitization programmes, to see the ratio of women dying at the hands of their lovers reduced, and in the near future eliminated.

However, while much can be done and is being done to remedy the situation, Guyana’s Judicial System needs to up-the-ante with respect to prosecution as it has been doing rather poorly over the years, as many of these same attackers have walked out of the court system as free men and available to readily prey on their next victim.

The authorities also need to revamp the system, as there is also a huge backlog of cases awaiting to be heard in the courts…..Judicial actions must be swift….

Treason accused freed

The three persons accused of treason was today freed of charges, despite special prosecutor, Vic Puran’s assertion that the matter is “far from over’.
Those freed are Major Bruce Munroe, his wife Carol and a former Reserve Officer, Leonard Wharton, after a decision of insufficient evidence to face trail by a judge and jury was ruled out by Chief Magistrate, Priya Sewnarine Beharry .
The trio who were accused between December 1, 2009 adnd December 16, 2010, of intending to step a war aimed at forcing the President out of his office, in order to compel the Guyana Government to change its measures, were arrested in 2010.
Major Munroe and Wharton both credited his legal victory to the Almighty according to a source from Demerara Waves online.

Photo complements of Demerara Waves online


Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry agreed with the Defence's no-case submissions and she cited precedents in other countries to disagree with the prosecution's application for the particulars of the charge to be amended to include reference to an overt act.
The matter to re open the Preliminary Inquiry in the case is now left to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Hack.

Two-month old baby dies after being struck in the head

A two month old baby boy, succumbed on Tuesday afternoon, after he was reportedly hit in the head with a utensil, during a “fight” between his parents. The inclident occurred at their Lot 78 Le Resouvenir, East Coast Demerara home.

According to reports, reaching Erika’s newspost, the couple, who are know alcoholics, were involved in a squabble around 1:30pm, when the child’s father while attempting to strike the mother with a kitchen utensil ‘accidentally’ hit the child who was in his mother’s arms.

According to sources after the child was hit in the head, he was dropped from the mother’s hands, since she too received blows with the utensil.

The child was rushed to the Georgetown Public hospital by a villager and died just after 5pm the said day.
The woman was later arrested after she went into hiding , while police continue to hunt for the infant’s father who is also on the run.

2012 National Budget to be presented on March 30

The 2012 National Budget will be presented to the National Assembly on Friday March 30, according Prime Minister Samuel Hinds

During a sitting of parliament on Wednesday, Mr Hinds moved a motion for the house to meet on March 30, when the estimates will be presented by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh.
Earlier, the Government’s spokesman Dr Roger Luncheon told a news conference that cabinet was assured by the finance minister that all plans were in place for the month-end presentation of the annual financial estimates.

“Cabinet was advised about the readiness the, [and] preparedness of the finance minister and his technical teams, who have been finalizing preparations that begun administratively since August of 2011, with the issuance of the budget circular,” Luncheon said.
According to Luncheon, budget is constitutionally due within 90 days of the commencement of the fiscal year.

The National Budget which was usually presented by the end of February every year, was delayed after the Opposition political parties of A Partnership for national Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) who holds a one-seat majority in parliament, called for consultation on the estimates to ensure that their contributions to the estimates are considered.

Gunned down businessman linked to discovery of cocaine at airport

A businessman was gunned down, execution style on Friday evening, while imbibing at a popular nightspot in Eccles, East Bank Demerara.
Dead is Leonard Mahadeo of Third Street, Diamond, East Bank Demerara, who was killed by masked men who invaded the nightspot with AK47s and riddled Mahadeo with bullets. The Gunmen, reportedly left in what some eyewitnesses say was a grey Premio car, which wore no license number plate.
The Police has since acknowledged that the businessman who have been fingered in several drug busts, but were released after poor evidence; might have been linked to the botched export of several kilogrammes of cocaine that were found on the tarmac of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

“Two men armed with firearms exited from a motor car and discharged several rounds at Mahadeo which struck him about his body. The men escaped in the motor vehicle,” police PRO, Ivelaw Whittaker said in a statement.
Several persons have since been questioned in relations to the murder.
According to the police, Mahadeo was one of several persons who had been charged in 1996 following a joint probe by Guyanese police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but was never convicted.
In 2008, Mahadeo narrowly escaped execution when a gunman discharged several rounds at him as he had been leaving the Bahama Breeze Nightspot.

Father and son charged with piracy

Dawanand Jagdai, a Leguan resident and has three sons have been arrested and charged with hijacking and piracy, after a fisherman positively identified an outboard engine as his property.
A press release from the Police Public Relations Office, Ivelaw Whittaker confirmed that the man and his three sons, Parmanand Jagdai, 25 years; Suresh Jagdai, 24 years; and Narendra Jagdai, 17 years, appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly at the Suddie Magistrates’ Court on March 16 and were remanded to prison until April 30.

“One of the fishermen who was a victim of the recent pirate attacks at the mouth of the Pomeroon River positively identified one of the engines to be his property that was stolen during the incident,” the statement said.
Police officers conducted a search to the home, on March 3 and found two 15 horsepower outboard engines. However, Jagdai was unable to produce a receipt for one of the engines and the receipt for the other appeared to be forged.
They were then charged for unlawful possession of the engines.
Since the commencement of the year, several fishermen were victims of piracy, and have called on the Government to put mechanism in place to safeguard their livelihoods.
Subsequent to this, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon announced that mechanism have been put in place, to which the Coast Guards have collaborated with the Ministries of Agriculture and Home Affairs to ‘beef up’ communication at sea.

Many families have lost their loved-ones as a result of piracy, a trade (fishing sector), which contributes approximately 3 percent to the national GDP with a growth of 7.4 percent from 2009 to 2011, according to the Fisheries Department.

Shortage of PVC 13 Vaccine in Guyana


There is currently a shortage of the new PVC 13 vaccine, which was launched in January 2011 in Guyana, and several mothers are complaining that the shortage will some-what put their infants life at risk.

Despite the Health Ministry’s advocacy to promote family health through the improvement of maternal and child health, there still remains a shortage of the vaccine which protects infant and, toddlers against 13 strains of pneumococcal infections

When contacted for a comment, the Ministry of Health’s spokesperson denied such allegation, claiming that there are currently enough PVC 13 vaccines in stock.

However, on February 15, Cabinet gave the ‘green light’ to a US$93,685 contract for the Procurement of Vaccines for the Maternal Child Health programme, of which the PVC 13 is present.

President’s accusation of rigged 2011 elections can be justified
-Dr. Luncheon

There is justification for the comments uttered by President Donald Ramotar on the recent elections results, notwithstanding, the reports and conclusions which arose from the scrutiny of the elections by Observers, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon told media representatives on Wednesday.
On February 12, President Ramotar in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle spoke of incidents which occurred at several polling stations, where PPP/C polling agents were barred from entering.
The article also stated that actions by the Opposition threatened the peace in the country, and as a result forced many to depart from executing their constitutional rights and Opposition Leader David Granger has since come out calling for the statement to be retracted.
According to Dr. Luncheon, the comments by the Opposition leader did not in any case question the constitutionality of the decision made by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), but however, were centered on the Government’s comments, on the issue of mischief when counting the votes and manipulation which severely robbed the PPP of votes.
“I don’t believe that the statement in any way could be construed to be a reflection or to have an impact on the legitimacy of the Government, saving except that you might be speaking about the Government and the plurality, this was exactly what the president was alluding to,” the Cabinet Secretary said.
“However, while the Government was successful in the general elections, the combined opposition enjoyed the plurality, and has obtained more seats in the Parliament notwithstanding the fact that the PPP had more seats than any other party in the (National) Assembly,” he said.
“You might know that the PPP was the only contending party at the General Elections, which lodged an objection within the stipulated timeframe. You might know also that after discussions the PPP withdrew those objections primarily in Regions Three and Four,” he said.
The basis for the withdrawal of the objections by the ruling party, Dr. Luncheon said still exists and continues to exist.
“In the very first instance, President Ramotar repeatedly offered for us to do a forensic audit and go to the courts as we did before. The fact that that has not happened may very well be the basis which encouraged the other participants to explain, but certainly I felt that there wasn’t a consensus among the three parties to so do,” he said.

UG community changed design on how aspects of World Bank loan should be used- HPS

The decision on how the component of the World Bank loan that addresses the University of Guyana UG) and its facilities, is not one that is made by neither the institution nor any of its officials Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon said at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President.
He was at the time responding to a question as to when the mechanisms will be put in place to facilitate UG accessing the World Bank loan.
Last month, UG’s Vice Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington in his address to staff members said that the loan to the Guyana Government has not yet been activated because the Finance Minister is still to sign a crucial loan document.
The HPS said that he had personally invited Professor Carrington to be involved in a body which included Dr. Paulette Bynoe from the School of Environmental and Earth Sciences and others, to devise a structure on how best the funds could be used.
He explained that what actually happened since, is that the University community revised and changed that design to utilise the $8.4M to support various aspects of the institution’s recapitalisation.
“I am not aware that those specific elements await the Minister of Finance or any subordinate approval,” he said.
The World Bank loan is aimed at certain broad areas, such as the rehabilitation and refurbishment of the Science and Technology Laboratory facilities in four of the university’s faculties at Turkeyen; the review and reform of UG’s Science curriculum; and support for research towards low-carbon themes.

As Guyana prepares to host national elections 2011…..

Being a journalist does not mean I do not have my own opinions. The trade demands that a practitioner be as unbalanced/balance as possible (depending on which entity you work for), and to write the facts. However, my blog is my avenue to deal with issues that seem to be revolving, but not being solved.

Let’s start with National Elections which has last evening been announced for November 28, 2011, forcing political contenders to ‘up-the-ante’ with respect to their winning strategy and how convincing their story of development for Guyana would be, once elected.

This is where one would will see scores of candidates/party workers from respective political parties reaching out to residents in various villages, especially remote communities to talk about development, what would be given to them if their party is to be elected and that history, (be it under the PPP or PNC/R regime), would not be repeated under their tenure.

But if I am to have my way, many of these exact persons never ever visited these communities, and would never have if it wasn’t for garnering votes. To give credit to my article, take remote, isolated Amerindian communities especially in the Deep South; indigenous people who occupy their rough terrains never knew some of these politicians existed, not until now.

Once there, they make promises beyond the skies just for a vote come elections day. But my point remains the same, do these politicians really have the interest of Guyanese at heart and my conclusion is NO! For me, it is another scheme to fill their pockets, and then the remainder would be given for substandard work, be it in the education, social, agriculture, infrastructure or political sectors.

To give a little more weight to my point, check development under the once PNC/R Government as well as the PPP/C Government. While there was a lot of progress made during the tenure of each party in Government, there were however, equal disappointments with regards to development and laying a future for youths of Guyana to ‘grab on to’.

As I peruse the various speeches made by politicians via newspapers, television, internet or radio I can’t help but notice that my conclusions are clearer then crystal. While many are trying to give the best winning speech, none of the three main parties are really explaining what they will implement to better the lives of Guyanese, once elected.

Rather they are wasting time assailing each other’s governance, than taking time to present a future that will see more youths not only being gainfully employed, but with decent paying salaries. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), which comes directly from investment in trading, should also be boosted, giving the Guyanese dollar value. These are some of the problems that politicians should be looking into, rather than attacking each other.

As elections draws near, come-on Mr. and Mrs. Politicians do something for the Guyanese people, we have been suffering for years; it is time for a better Guyana, or migration rate will continue to increase.

Guyana on its way to realising full potential…
-Private Sector more equipped to become engine of economic growth-Minister Prashad

Government/Private Sector collaboration has over the year’s been fruitful as several policy initiative have been successfully formulised with the aim of increasing national competitiveness while promoting economic growth.
The National Competitiveness Summit 2011 which is being held under the theme, “Partnering to promote economic growth and development,” today kicked off attracting scores of private sector bodies and Government officials.
The event which was held at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), saw several priority areas for development being discussed including trade strategy, infrastructure to promote competitiveness, agro-processing, forestry, development, export promotion zones, manufacturing technology, alternate energy and small business development.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad in delivering the opening remarks, said that the summit which is a structured public/private sector partnership seeks to build a competitive advantage for Guyana.
Since the successful host of the 2010 summit, institutional arrangements were put in place to support ongoing formulation and implementation of the National Competitiveness Strategy through the establishment of a National Competitiveness Council and Strategy Unit.
“The evaluation of the impact of the thematic areas should be undertaken in tamdem with the foundation of the National Competitiveness Strategy which was built for realising the eight growth areas identified,” he said.
Among the many growth sub-sector areas identified under the National Competitiveness Strategy include;- agriculture and agro-processing, sea food and aquaculture, forest products, information technology and tourism.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), was also inked between the Guyana Government and the Private Sector for the creation of the 12-membert National Competitiveness Council.
“We are happy to report that Five-years later, not only do we continue to have private sector involvement at the highest level of the NCC, but many of the public/private sub-committees that were formed to take charge of implementation of specific group of actions which are also chaired by the private sector,” Minister Prashad highlighted.
Minister Prashad while stating that Government and the Private Sector can today confidently deliberate on partnering to promote economic growth and development in the economy, said that an evaluation report was also implemented by independent experts who described the results as ‘impressive’.
“For an economy to grow and to be competitive the correct enabling environment must first be created. It is with this vision in mind that the Government of Guyana developed the NCS as a roadmap to achieving sustainable economic growth,” he said.

Over the years, Government has been embarking on bold steps to promote an environment that supports competitiveness to further enhancing growth and development.
Legislative and other reforms have also been embarked upon while investment in human resources continues to escalate.
President of FITUG, Carvil Duncan who spoke on the development of human resource in a globally competitive environment, said that as the economy advances there must be a balance for everyone in society to benefit, especially the working class.
Duncan also called on members of the private sector to adjust their requirements so as to ensure that employers are more comfortable in the working environment.
“Today, modern society and in the midst of a complex environment, the world economy and the markets are quickly developing. In analysing these competitive factors it is the basis from which everything begins and on which everything depends on human resource,” he said.
Ramesh Dookhoo Chairman of the Private Sector Commission said that while there must be a total diversification of existing sectors, developing countries continue to be challenge in the globalised economy, due to increasing of technological changes.
While speaking on the many initiatives implemented to boost business development, Dookhoo said that a small business development act was also passed to better facilitate the private sector and farmers making research more relevant; corporate taxes were reduced; trade opportunities expanded and infrastructure created to facilitate trade.
“In 2010/11, Guyana ranked at 110 and it is expected that with the competitiveness policy implemented the country’s ranking will continue to increase. So for my friends in the private sector who deemed this meeting as political you are dead wrong, these meetings have been taking place since 1994,” he said.
While noting that the private sector has now been given an opportunity to enhance government policy, he urged the members to use the opportunity constructively to ensure that meaningful contribution is made.
The National Competitiveness Strategy which was launched in May 2006 at the Presidential Summit on Private Sector Development, following an extensive collaboration partnership between the Government and the Private Sector, acts as a central point for policy leadership to ensure ongoing strategy development and implementation.

Committee appointed to review applicants for radio licencing

President Bharrat Jagdeo has taken a decision to constitute the Committee to commence reviewing applications for radio licencing, according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon.
The move by Government comes in accordance with a commitment made by the President and with the recent enactment of the Broadcasting Legislation.
The long-awaited Broadcasting Bill which make provision for the establishment of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority was passed into Law on July 28.
The Authority will be responsible for the regulation, supervision and development of the National Broadcasting System which will provide for the licencing of broadcasting agencies and the production and broadcasting of television and radio programmes.
The Act shall also be construed and applied in a manner that is consistent with the right to freedom of expression and journalistic ethics, the provision and production of quality and balanced information for the Guyanese public.
The Bill which will enhance transparency in Government and the promotion of freedom of expression, will introduce a new regime for regulating and facilitating enterprise in the broadcasting sector, while at the same time ensure that all radio and television stations continue to play their traditional role of educating, informing as well as entertaining the community.

TOP

Full staff complement to man GECOM’s elections preparations by mid-October -HPS


The Guyana Government has recently been re-assured by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), that constraints with respect to securing staffing for electoral and polling day activities, have since been addressed and a full-staff complement is expected on board by mid-October.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon who made this announcement on Wednesday during a post-Cabinet briefing at the Office of the President, noted that thus far, two overseas observer missions from CARICOM and the Organization of American States (OAS) have since confirmed their participation.
The Commonwealth Secretariat would also commission a feasibility mission subsequent to which a decision is expected to be made.
“The other invitees offered various explanations for not participating in the electoral observer mission for the 2011 elections. The public announcement by GECOM that was made that November 14 was its earliest ready date, from all intentions, the president would not be expected to set a polling date prior to this,” he said.
Contracts for the procurement of polling day equipment, tools and materials were also presented and approved by Cabinet and according to Dr. Luncheon, GECOM has assured that thus far, no ‘hiccups’ have been recorded as preparations are proceeding as planned.
“A revised list of electors has since been circulated to 17 political parties which have indicated their intention to participate, while GECOM has advised that an official list would be made available within one week’s time,” the HPS said.

PPP/C Gov’t to host massive rally in October

The ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), have announced its intention to host a massive elections campaign on October 2, 2011.
The campaign rally which will be held at the Albion Road (Sports Complex), Berbice, Region Six is expected to see top local artiest performing.