Guyana
Arguably, sugar has substantially more potential than is currently realized. When production fell significantly last year to its lowest level in more than a decade, the warning signs of problems in the industry were becoming more evident – although the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) was quick to lay blame on complications in the transition to the new factory at Skeldon, the impact of waterlogged soil on cane growth and sugar content, pest infestation and high incidence of industrial stoppage.
In as much as all of these motherhood reasons may have some validity, it is evident that the problems in the industry which implemented modernization, cost
cutting and consolidation plans almost 10 years ago were more deep-seated. Put simply, management was clearly at fault.
It is imperative that the new management of GUYSUCO take necessary steps to make sugar a viable industry. When previous management first recognized that sugar was in trouble it launched a 10-year (1999-2008) strategic plan, aimed at turning the industry around. The main objective was to reduce the unit cost of sugar through a combination of initiatives, including: concentrating on increasing production in the lower cost areas of Berbice; maximizing use of good quality land; and developing larger processing facilities which can benefit from economies of scale and modern technology.
By the end of Phase I, the cost of production of sugar was expected to fall to US12.61 cents per pound (including depreciation) or US10.99 cents per pound (excluding depreciation). At the time of launching its strategic plan, Guyana’s sugar production costs were about two-thirds greater than world market prices. However, the industry was fortunate to benefit from increasing world market prices over the past three years, which might have contributed to management’s complacency in dealing with the challenges of the industry. Incidentally, the average world market prices Guyana received for its sugar exports increased from G$74,707 per tonne in 1997 to G$135,108 per tonne in 2008.
While world market prices for sugar are a key consideration for the industry, one of the often overlooked problems is declining production in spite of GUYSUCO’s so called modernization efforts. Essentially, the industry has not made any significant gains in recent years. Sugar production averaged 281,000 tonnes between 1997 and 2008 and forecasted production for 2009 is projected at 266,482 tonnes – below the 12-year average.
Further evidence of sugar’s decline can be seen by examining historical production. During the 1960s, sugar output averaged about 300,000 tons per year. In the 1970-1980 period production averaged over 306,000 per year, with a peak in 1971 of 369,000 tons. However, during the 1990-2000 period average sugar production fell to about 245,000 tons, with 1999 output of 365,000 tons being the best year. Since 2001, production averaged 280,200 tonnes, with 2002 production of 331,000 tonnes being the highest.
It is important to note that while per hectare sugar yields have on average edged up, they have been volatile to declining in recent years. However, per hectare sugar cane yields have declined on a relative basis. This means that although less sugar cane is obtained from each hectare, the average amount of sugar obtained from each hectare is rising, probably due to better quality sugar cane.
If sugar is to spur economic growth in 2009, its’ contribution to GDP has to increase. Last year, its 7% contribution to the economy was the lowest in the history of the industry. Arguably’ sugar’s contribution has been declining due to the increasing contribution of gold and the service sectors. However, the decline is also partially due to the fall in production.
Nonetheless, the fact remains that sugar continues to be the most important industry in Guyana. If sugar manufacturing and its net contribution to other complementary industries such as distilling are factored into the equation, sugar’s contribution becomes greater.
In addition, sugar is Guyana’s largest foreign exchange earner and directly and indirectly employs almost 20% of the country's total labor force. It is also the biggest corporate contributor to public revenues and supports a network of communities across the sugar belt, paralleled by no other industry.
Evidently, sugar has the potential to spur Guyana’s growth but GUYSUCO must get its act together first.
Georgetown — Drainage and irrigation projects to the tune of approximately $50 million carried out in 2008 means that more farmlands on the East Bank of Berbice should be cultivated this year. This according to Region Six Chairman Zulfikar Mustapha.
Some of the works done included the rehabilitation of the Mara Crown Dam, revetment at Plegt Anker, RC structures constructed at Ma Retraite, and restoration of some canals within the Ma Retraite area.
Two drainage canals along East Bank Berbice, between Highbury and Lighttown, were also repaired and sluices serviced.
Mr. Mustapha is of the opinion that areas along the East Bank of Berbice would once again live up to its agricultural potential.
He said restoration work is in progress on the Kortbraadt sluice door. At Lonsdale a revetment programme to the tune of $25 million is to be carried out on both banks leading to the Berbice River from the Lonsdale Sluice.
Work is also to be carried out at the sluice at Zorg en Vlygt, some 20 miles outside New Amsterdam.
These projects are aimed at preventing water, from the Berbice River, from getting into the cultivation area. Several other canals within the Mara/Ma Retraite are to be looked at under this year’s Capital and Current Work Programmes.
Also this year, the Ma Retraite Community Road is to be rehabilitated at a cost of $5 million. This is one of the roads farmers have been constantly complaining about over the years. There are times when farmers must leave their communities as early as midnight to travel to New Amsterdam and other areas to vend their produce. During the rainy season the thoroughfare becomes impassable and this affects business to an extent.
Mr. Mustapha said that in the past only one farmer in the Highbury area cultivated rice and for the next crop ten other farmers have signaled their intention of returning to the land. Some plots are presently being prepared for the second rice crop.
Cash crop production on the East Bank of Berbice is also expected to bloom, he said. According to him, every week Technical Officers (Crops) within the Region Six Administration meet with farmers on the East bank of Berbice.
No mention was made of the main thoroughfare on the East Bank of Berbice. Drivers have been very critical of this stretch of roadway and the damage done to their vehicles.
At the time veterinarians were trying to determine whether the chicks were infected with any disease. Veterinarians at the Ministry of Agriculture had taken samples to be tested.
Not all the chicks were dead and drug addicts and scavengers took advantage to single out the suspected infected chicks for resale on the streets.
It's reported that recently, the Ministry received word that many persons had been turning up at hatcheries and requesting that they be sold the chicks without vaccines.
According to a Ministry official, the chicks are sold at a cheaper rate without the vaccine but those making the purchase did not realize that there would be a higher mortality rate.
Now tests by veterinarians have shown that the baby chicks were were in fact healthy.
On Monday, an official within the Ministry of Agriculture said that the chicks seem to have been disposed of by a hatchery because of over production.
The official said that investigations are ongoing to determine which hatchery dumped the chicks, as it was not only an act of cruelty, but also, a clear case of improper disposal.
Georgetown — 18-year-old Deokumarie Singh aka Rosemary went missing two Saturday’s ago. She reportedly left home for work in the city on March 28 and has not been seen or heard from since.
According to one report, the teen's boss called her home on March 28 to inquire why she did not report for work. Relatives promptly called her cell phone and the person who answered adamantly insisted that she was on her job site, the report said.
One of the young girl's associates disclosed that a private car dropped her off at a home (at Enmore Pasture, East Coast Demerara) everyday and enquiries from family members have met with the reply that the driver of the vehicle was ‘just a friend’.
Georgetown - Former Guyana and West Indies Test Captain, Clive Lloyd, is challenging in court a $9M breach of contract lawsuit brought against him by Kailie Ramjohn, a contractor.
Ramjohn is claiming the amount of $9,556,798 as owing and payable by Lloyd for construction work done on a two-flat apartment complex at Lot 150, Crown Street, Georgetown.
He claims that he entered into the contract to construct a new two-flat residential apartment building for $35 million and that during the course of construction, Lloyd ordered, authorized and approved additional works to be done that were not part of the original contract.
Ramjohn claimed that the final cost was $45 million but that he only received $36.9 million.
In a writ filed by his power of attorney, Ronald Austin, Lloyd is denying the claim for additional payment saying that the contract price of $35M was for the complete job.
In his legal document Lloyd denies that he or his power of attorney, Austin, ordered any additional work or upgrades. In that document he claims that when the building was handed over to him, Ramjohn made no demand for payment for additional work or upgrades or for variation of the written contract.
“The plaintiff’s claim is speculative, frivolous and vexatious and an abuse of the process of the Court and should be dismissed with costs,” according to Lloyd.
Georgetown — Last Friday, a 14-year-old girl aborted in the school toilet, and then discarded the foetus into the school garbage bin. The Third Form student reportedly went into the washroom, delivered the baby on the floor, then wrapped it in paper and threw it into the garbage bin. She then went back into her classroom and pretended that nothing happened.
The reports state that both teachers and students noticed her clutching her stomach and crying out in pain. Her relatives were called in and they took her to the hospital.
She has now been discharged into the care of relatives and is being monitored by the Child Care and Protection Unit of the Ministry of Social Services. Reportedly, she is receiving psycho-social support and behavioral counseling.
The teen's relatives had told school officials that she would leave home for days without giving proper account of her whereabouts.
The hospital revealed that she was just about to finish her first trimester. The nurses opined that that she may have ingested an illegal drug, which caused her to miscarry the baby.
“She had to drink one of those cheap abortion pills to induce labour.” They said that pharmacists should be locked up when things like this happen.
The nurses further said that even if the teen didn’t buy the “pills” someone older may have given it to her and that person should also be locked up.
It is reported that as part of the teen's rehabilitation, she would not be attending the same school in an effort to prevent further embarrassment vis-a-vis her peers.
Georgetown - The body of 67-year-old Vandengard Morrison, a re-migrant from the United Kingdom, was discovered at his home at Strathcampbell, Mahaicony around 2 pm on April 11 with blood oozing from his nostrils.
No marks of violence were found on the body of the pensioner and detectives are awaiting a post mortem examination to proceed with their investigations.
Morrison lived alone and was discovered dead by a relative, who went to his home after not seeing him for several days. The relative quickly called in the police.
Just over a month ago another British re-migrant was found dead in his house at D’Urban backlands. That death has now been confirmed as a murder.
Georgetown - A fishing vessel, captained by one ‘Michael’, along with three other crew members was attacked and robbed by four masked men with firearms. This happened last Friday off the Number 43 Village, Corentyne, foreshore at around 7 pm.
The boat was reportedly proceeding to the East Coast Demerara when the armed men came up alongside in another vessel and held the crew at gunpoint. They escaped with a 48-horsepower outboard engine, a compass, GPS set and 400 pounds of fish.
Georgetown - Paul Versammy, a photographer allegedly stabbed a man on Monday whom he claimed broke into his car and stole several items. He was arrested and released on station bail. The injured man, John Morrison received a stab wound and was being treated.
Reports state that Veersammy had left his car on Breda Street Werk-en-Rust and upon returning, found that a digital camera, $500,000 in cash and other items missing.
An eyewitness who took the victim to the Hospital reported she saw a man jumped out of a car, ran towards Morrison and pushed something in him. Morrison fell to the ground and the man returned to his car and drove off.
narco-trafficking
Georgetown — Two airport employees - Mark Lim, 19, of Soesdyke, EBD and Ryan Mangah, 29, of Timehri, EBD - were charged last Friday for allegedly allowing cocaine to be transported to New York undetected. This is a significant achievement for law enforcers in intercepting the collusion between the airport staff and drug traffickers. But Crime Chief Seelall Persaud says that there is still more work to be done. A policeman has also been implicated in the fiasco but it will be up to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to determine whether he and several other airport employees who are being grilled will be charged.
Last Friday, an airline employee responsible for checking-in baggage at the airport and a Red Cap (baggage handler) appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court charged with conspiracy to traffic in narcotics. The narcotics in question was intercepted at the JKF airport in New York and this sparked a deeper investigation here to find out who allowed it pass through the security system at Timehri.
The crime chief told the media, “Our belief is that there has always been collusion between airport employees and drug traffickers. This investigation is showing that there is evidence of that collusion.”
Stabroek News reported CANU sources as saying that there were several incidents caught on tape where airport security allowed drug couriers to get onto flights without the requisite security checks.
Georgetown - Thursday, April 9 at around 10:30 pm: Keneisha Duke (a former Kaieteur News reporter) was returning home from dancing lessons. Two teenagers on bicycle ripped her gold chain from her neck at the junction of Pineapple Street and Trench Road, West Ruimveldt. The two miscreants were later apprehended when they tried to sell the chain to a relative of Duke who had knowledge of the incident and also knew the gold chain well. Value of the chain $57,000.
Friday, April 10 at around 10:30 pm: Duke was returning home from dance lessons in the company of a young male whom she asked to escort her after the previous night's attack. At around the same location where she was robbed the previous night, out comes three burly men on bicycles riding up to them and attempting to grab them. Duke’s escort hightailed it but fell into a trench as one of the men aimed a gun at his head, while the others shouted "Shoot he, shoot he". As the other two approached a frightened Duke, she handed over her handbag without being asked. The robbers rode off. The bag contained several musical CDs and $500.
Georgetown - Victor Persaud, 52, called ‘Bugger Grip’, of Lusignan Pasture, ECD, was bludgeoned to death in front of his yard around 2:30 am on Monday by a man with whom he had a heated argument, in what appears to be a misunderstanding over drugs.
The suspect has been detained by police who recovered a piece of bloodstained wood which they believe was used as the murder weapon.
Persaud lay groaning on the road for more than two hours but no one ventured from their homes to offer help in the dark hours of the morning. He finally succumbed.
Kaieteur News (KN) reported a neighbour who lives close to where Persaud’s body was lying, saying that she heard two persons arguing but thought that it was the usual drunken row but after she peered through her window she saw, through the darkness, two men scuffling with each other.
The paper gave this account of the woman's report: “I hear one ah dem seh, ‘Me give you me money fuh buy ganja and you spend am out pon cocaine.’ Dat was all we hearing. Den me hear like lash firing. We don’t know is who give who money but this morning when we rise up, we see dat man lie down deh.”
The woman said that after the attacker left, she remained in her house and for the next two hours listened to the groans of the victim before going back to bed, KN reported.
The dead man was left with a gaping wound to the back of his head.
Georgetown — Two masked bandits last Saturday robbed a chicken outlet of over $1M in cash. Carrying a firearm and knife, the men pounced on the proprietrix, Deomatie Arjune, of A. Arjune and Sons of Sheet Anchor Village.
The woman related that at about 1:00 pm she had just checked off some money which she placed in a bag when she suddenly saw two masked men appear at the door. The bandit with the gun discharged a round in the ceiling upon entering the building, she said.
After using a series of expletives, the bandit who was carrying the knife, jumped over the counter and attempted to grab the bag. The woman threw the bag to the floor and called her employees to pick it up. However, they were too scared to move and the two bandits then grabbed the bag, scaled a fence and escaped through a neighbour’s yard.
Deomatie said this is the second time that the outlet, in operation for just over four years, was robbed. The first time was in 2007 also on an Easter Saturday, when a sum of over $360,000 was stolen. Police have recovered one .38 spent shell from the scene and a number of suspects have been arrested.
Georgetown — Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, has threatened to revoke the licenses of private hospitals if, as reported, they are collecting blood which they have been instructed not to do.
All private hospitals were prohibited, since March 1, from collecting and screening blood until they enhance their laboratories in such a manner as to be able to do proper testing and screening.
The Minister has called for the cooperation of the Guyanese people not to give blood to any private hospitals since these hospitals do not have the laboratory facilities to test for diseases such as Chagas disease, Hepatitis C and HTLV (a sexually transmitted disease).
“I can only make the laws as strong as I can… It’s about making the people of this country safe, but Guyanese also need to play a part and keep the welfare of their families at heart by doing the right thing,” Minister Ramsammy said.
The National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) has the capacity to test for Chagas disease. Unless the private hospitals meet the same standards as the NBTS, they would not be allowed to collect blood from donors.
According to the Health Minister the new Health Facilities Licensing Act gives the Ministry the power to check the ‘books’ of the hospitals to ensure that they are in compliance.
Private hospitals will be monitored on a daily basis. If a person is asked to donate blood at a private hospital, then that person should make a report to the Ministry of Health, as only then there could be 100 per cent compliance, it was explained.
While the ban is on, private health facilities will have to acquire their blood from the blood bank at a cost of $3,000 per unit.
A few months ago, the NBTS found out that there are a few persons in Guyana that are infected with Chagas disease.
Chagas is a tropical parasitic disease and is commonly transmitted to humans and other mammals by an insect vector, the blood-sucking assassin bugs.
The disease may also be spread through blood transfusion and organ transplant, ingestion of food contaminated with parasites, and from a mother to her foetus.
Georgetown — Works on the Conservancy Relief Channel at Hope, East Coast Demerara is moving ahead with Technical aspects of the project in terms of studies and designs being done. The project is being treated as a priority to be completed within its allotted time frame.
Questions relating to compensation of homeowners who were required to move are being addressed. Those questions entail evaluation and the identification of alternatives.
The 2009 budget allocated $2B for the project that will provide an alternative outlet for the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) during floods. In his budget presentation, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, said that rainfall patterns and water level recordings have indicated that rainfall water accumulation along the North/East section of the conservancy takes a much longer period to discharge through the eastern relief structures, thus the need for a new outlet to the Atlantic. This resulted in a decision to construct a new outlet at Hope/Dochfor.
President Bharrat Jagdeo had earlier said that the project is massive and requires greater engineering capability than locally available. He stated that he wanted the project to be done by a ‘good international engineering firm.’
The Canal will be a minimum of 80 feet wide. Preliminary works have been done identifying a 300-foot wide reserve for the project.
This canal will be east of where the school is at Hope.
The new structure will not go where the Hope outfall is; it will be a separate formation.
This structure is expected to bring relief to residents of the Mahaica and Mahaicony communities that are under flood threat each time the water levels in EDWC goes up to a critical point.