MOLESON CREEK – The Ministry’s ferry service – Canawaima - that provides a service between Guyana and Surinam recorded an increase in earnings for April 2014.
General Manager (GM) Louise Williams revealed in her monthly report that GY$16, 530, 585 and US$4, 220 were earned for the month, which represented a 28 percent and nine percent respectively when compared to March 2014.
According to her, passengers accounted for 77 percent of the revenue, vehicles 20 percent, while freight and others accounted for two percent and one percent respectively.
PETERS HALL - Fifty seven year-old and father of one, Seepersaud Roopchand, a Tug Operator attached to the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) fell overboard at approximately 11:40 a.m. on May 31, 2014.
He was later pronounced dead at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.
Mr. Roopchand was on duty from 6 a.m. to facilitate a bridge inspection. However, he was advised at around 8 a.m. that the inspection was no longer needed and to moor the vessel at Span 8 - the normal docking position.
At approximately 11:40 a.m., a DHB Engineer observed that the tug “Rickford L” was capsized and that Mr. Roopchand was being swept downstream. The DHB’s maintenance boat, which is equipped with safety equipment, was immediately mobilized for the rescue of the West Bank Demerara resident.
Mr. Roopchand’s body was retrieved some 200 to 300 meters downstream of the bridge. CPR was immediately administered by fellow workers but their efforts were unsuccessful.
The DHB has mounted an internal investigation into the matter. The Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) and the Police were notified of the incident and are conducting independent investigations.
Mr. Roopchand was a licensed boat operator with DHB since July 25, 2013, and was an experienced captain. Mr. Roopchand’s wife and his next of kin were notified of the incident.
Minister of Public Works Hon. Robeson Benn and the General Manager (GM) Rawlston Adams expressed their deepest regrets at the incident.
KINGSTON - Due to heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours, parts of the capital City came under severe flooding. Though this natural disaster was almost unavoidable, Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, along with Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes, visited some of the affected areas and interacted with the residents on May 31, 2015.
The areas they visited included Albouystown, Alexander Village, Durban Street and South Ruimveldt.
The consequences of the flooding were terrible, as items of furniture appliances and clothing were damaged.
Among the affected, were Members of the First Assembly of God’s Church, and they had to resort to the planting of bags of sand at the entrance of the church, to prevent the water from entering the place of worship and disrupting the service.
During the interaction, residents called for more frequent openings of the kokers, cleaning of canals regularly, and ensuring that the pumps be in proper functioning order.
The Ministers assured the residents that their suggestions and recommendations will be taken into consideration.
Minister Ferguson, speaking to one resident in Alexander Village, said that “we ask you to bear with us, we are the government and it is our duty to ensure that this problem be fixed, so come 2016, you won’t be faced with this type of situation.”
KINGSTON - The Ministry through its highway lighting maintenance programme has restored transformers in areas where drivers “accidentally” drove into lamp poles, effectively destroying the infrastructure.
However, the cost of restoring the transformers has not been borne solely by the Ministry. Drivers who have accepted responsibility for the damaged infrastructure have worked out an arrangement with the Ministry. The Ministry is willing to go to the courts for those who have not.
This was revealed by Terrence O’Brien, Electrical Engineer of the Public Works Ministry. O’Brien said while agreements have been met between the Ministry and the drivers all monies have not been paid over to the Ministry.
Nonetheless, the Ministry has moved to restore the infrastructure to illuminate sections of Timehri, East Bank Demerara; Tempe, West Coast Berbice; DeKendren, West Coast Demerara; and Mahaica, East Coast Demerara.
He related that on Friday last five 25kVA transformers procured by the Ministry arrived in Guyana and contractors over the weekend worked assiduously to install the equipment. According to O’Brien, a transformer provides power to 40 lights in any given stretch.
He said that Cummings Electrical was contracted by the Ministry to install the transformer at Timehri (between Madewini Creek and Bounty Farm); Ramotar and Sons was contracted to install transformers at Dekendren and Tempe; and Dynamics Engineering installed the transformer at Mahaica.
The engineer related that the final cost for each project is not yet known since the contractors have to submit their invoices. However, one of the 25kVA transformers costs approximately $542,000.
O’Brien noted that the remaining transformer is being stored by the Ministry for future usage. (Kaieteur News)
KINGSTON - The Public Works Ministry’s Works’ Force Account Unit (FAU) has completed road repairs to a section of road in front of the National library and Bank of Guyana.
The Ministry’s employees undertook the job after the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) had repaired the sewerage system in the area.
Sand, loam sand mix, crusher run and asphalt were used to resurface the thoroughfare, which was completed on May 23, 2014.
The repair works cost the Ministry GYD 450,000.
KINGSTON - The Government of Guyana is in talks with United Arab Emirates (UAE) towards negotiating an air service agreement that will see at least one of UAE’s three major flag carriers operating flights to Guyana, in the very near future.
On May 27, 2014, in the conference room at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a delegation each from Guyana and the UAE, met for further discussions. The local delegation comprised officals from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the Director General Zulficar Mohamed, GCAA Board Chairman Hugh Denbow, GCAA General Counsel, Amanza Desir and Air Transport Officer Saheed Sulaman; from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation, the Senior Aerodrome Officer, Alvin Majeed and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Senior Legal Adviser, Trishala Persaud. The team from UAE comprised from the UAE’s Federal Government, Director General, His Excellency (H.E) Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi and Air Transport Agreements Chief Specialist Valerie Browne and from the Department of Transport-Abu Dhabi, Senior Analyst-Government Affairs Saeed Al Suwaidi.
Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn formally opened discussions and expressed the Government of Guyana’s pleasure of having the opportunity for the negotiation and the signing of an air service agreement to foster better linkages between the two countries. Minister Benn further noted that the dialogue comes at a time when Guyana’s aviation sector, both at the domestic, regional and international level is expanding.
“There are opportunities, via Guyana, we expect and we intend for foreign countries and air service operators to use Guyana as a regional and international hub for the development of the aviation sector, and for the development of other economical and tourism and other linkages between the continents and specifically between the countries like Guyana and the United Arab Emirates,” he said.
Al Suwaidi in his opening remarks noted that it would have taken the UAE’s delegation days to travel to Guyana, “So the need to connect your country to our region is very important,” he said. He also reaffirmed his government’s openness to engage with the Government of Guyana on any future engagement in the aviation sector.
The UAE has close to 30 airlines with the largest three operating being the Emirate Airline, Air Arabia and Etihad Airways. The Emirate Airline is the largest in the Middle East, operating nearly 3,400 flights per week from its hub at Dubai International Airport, to more than 133 cities in 74 countries across six continents. The Air Arabia is a low-cost airline with its head office in the Sharjah Freight Center, Sharjah International Airport, in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It operates scheduled services to 51 destinations in the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and Europe to 22 countries from Sharjah, 28 destinations in 9 countries from Casablanca, Fez, Nador, Tangier and Marrakesh and 6 destinations in 4 countries from Alexandria. Its main base is Sharjah International Airport.
Etihad Airways, the flag carrier airline of the United Arab Emirates operates more than 1,000 flights per week to 96 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas, with a fleet of 85 Airbus and Boeing aircraft
TIMEHRI - Two packages of cocaine weighing 2.2 kilogrammes were discovered on a Caribbean Airlines flight destined for Toronto, Canada this afternoon, May 23, 2014 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
The illegal substance was found in the aft hold – the belly of the aircraft - of BW 606, a little after 13:00 hrs.
The aircraft had arrived at 12: 11 hrs from Port of Spain, with an onward connection to Toronto.
After all baggage was offloaded from the aft hold, airline security conducted a sweep of the hold as per Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). During the sweep, the drug was discovered.
Law enforcement officers were informed, and an investigation has commenced into the matter.
KINGSTON - An additional river defence structure will be built on Fort Island by the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) to preserve one of Guyana’s historical landmarks - Fort Zeelandia – which is located 16 kilometers from the mouth of the Essequibo River.
“We are in the process of mobilizing the materials and manpower. Hon. Benn [Minister of Public Works] has instructed that we have to start in one month’s time,” said Kevin Samad, Chief River and Sea Defence Officer.
In addition to that, other vulnerable areas that require intervention on the island will be corrected.
On May 21, 2014, Hon. Benn visited the island, which was the site for the MPW’s monthly Managers meeting. The meeting was held in the historic Court of Policy (circa 1752) building.
Meanwhile, amidst the ruins of Fort Zeelandia, Minister Benn opined that educational tours should recommence on the island.
“Fort Island is rich in history. Students from all levels of the school system should be able to walk through history, something that they could never experience in the classroom,” he stated.
To this end, Hon. Benn intends to continue discussions with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony on how to proceed with ideas for regeneration of activities on the island.
Fort Zeelandia and the Court of Policy were built during the period of Dutch occupation in the 1700s. The two structures were part of a large colonial settlement that extended along the north eastern section of the island.
In 1999, the Fort and the Court of Policy were declared National Monuments by the Government and are maintained by the National Trust of Guyana.
TIMEHRI - On Saturday, May 17, 2014 around 3:41 a.m., Sangernette Mason, who was booked on BW 484 for the United States of America, presented herself to the Caribbean Airlines (CAL) Check-in counter at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
According to the CAL officials, the passenger was loud, incoherent and refused to answer any questions to facilitate the process. The Supervisor on duty was called in and after assessing the situation decided that the passenger was not fit to travel, since in his opinion she posed a threat to the aircraft and other passengers on the flight.
The decision triggered a violent reaction. Ms. Mason began throwing shoes and other items from a bag she had in one of her luggage.
One of CJIA’s Aviation Security Officers (ASOs) was summoned and despite her pleadings could not calm the agitated passenger.
The Guyana Police Force was called in and they tried to escort the passenger out of the Check In Area, by this time Ms Mason demeanour changed to one of belligerence.
She ran, positioned herself in front of CAL’s conveyor system – a restricted area where the luggage pass to go on the aircraft - got into a physical altercation with a female officer and threw a garbage bin at the said officer.
Efforts by several law enforcement officers to pacify the passenger – for nearly an hour - proved futile.
Eventually, she was handcuffed and escorted from the terminal and was subsequently released to the care of a relative.
KINGSTON - A Trans Guyana Britten Norman Islander aircraft hard landed during its approach at Kurupung Bottom airstrip, Region Seven, approximately 12:27 pm on May 16, 2014. No injuries were report.
In aviation, a hard landing is an especially rapid or steep descent.
Five persons, including the pilot, were on board the aircraft, which had departed from Ogle International Airport.
Zulficar Mohamed, Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) stated that the aircraft landed on the airstrip’s threshold resulting in damage to the left landing gear.
Officials of GCAA and Trans Guyana are in the area to conduct an investigation into the incident.
