Moontown

Guyana’s Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon

Cabinet Secretary Roger Luncheon announced the increase and noted that this was officially agreed to during a cabinet meeting last week.

“Cabinet in that regard has decided to grant a six percent across the board on wages and salaries for 2009 for all eligible public officers. The increase will be retroactive from January 1, 2009,” Luncheon said.

He added that currently the finance ministry is advising the various departments of the government agencies to prepare the payouts for public servants and this retroactive increase will be paid before the Christmas season.

However there were no announcements of any movement in the income tax threshold which stands at GY$35,000 (US$175).

Jagdeo earlier in the year indicated that, despite the hostile global economic situation, his government is committed to increasing the salaries of public officers. (Caribnet)

A national awardee, Brindley Horatio Benn, who is the father of current Minister of Transport Robeson Benn, died on Saturday morning after a prolonged illness.

Benn served as Guyana’s Minister Education, National Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Minister of Community Development and Education, Minister of Agriculture and Deputy Prime Minister during the current People’s Progressive Party administration term in office in the 1950s- 1960s.

He was jailed for several months in the early 1960s by the British. After his release, Benn formed the Working People’s Vanguard Party (WPVP) and later joined forces with executed politician Walter Rodney and others to form the Working People’s Alliance (WPA).

After the return of the PPP to government in 1992, Benn joined the list of candidates and was later appointed Guyana’s High Commissioner to Canada from 1993 to 1998.

The Barbados government in June announced that all undocumented Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nationals living on the island for five years or more can regularise their stay there, while those who were not qualified should leave the island by November 30 of this year.

Faria, during visits here, said Guyanese who qualify under the amnesty were complying by regularising their immigration status, as his consul office saw a mass increase in request for immigration services and is doing its best in assisting nationals to meet the deadline.

“I made some inquiry at the immigration department and, while the deadline has passed, they were apparently still accepting the applications, so right now the Guyanese undocumented in Barbados are now considering their options whether to leave at the end of the year, and I think most would do they have to do and return home (Guyana),” Faria said

Faria added that, through the Guyana ministry of foreign affairs, his office is trying to assist those persons who have been living in Barbados for over four years to be given a waiver on import duties to ship their belongings here, including certain types of vehicles, so that the tax will not be heavy on them.

Meanwhile, the diplomat has dismissed the highly publicised claims of ill-treatment of Guyanese nationals in Barbados.

“In my opinion, those reports are highly-exaggerated, because, even if this was so in the past, it no longer prevails… the perception that Barbadians are inherently anti-Guyanese is erroneous,” Faria said, as he quoted instances of interrelation, interaction, and even inter-marriages — with children being part of the equation — between Barbadian nationals and Guyanese.

He said the animosity is not a general attitude of the average Barbadian toward any foreigner, and opined that the perception of Barbadian ill-will towards Guyanese is an overblown perception that is largely media-driven, because media coverage does not necessarily reflect what is on the ground – the good relations, the interrelations, the commendable integration and the daily mixing between Barbadian nationals and Guyanese.

Faria added that once Guyanese follow the rules and observe the laws of the country, they are left untroubled by the authorities during their various pursuits on the island.

“But all nationals and non-nationals are faced with laws and regulations in a host country, which they are constrained to abide by, or face the consequential penalties, and that while the consulate may probe cases and make representation into various problematic matters, the reality is that the laws of the host country have to be factored in,” he stated.

The announcement by the Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson earlier this year had created widespread outcry by several Caribbean countries, including Guyana and Jamaica, as some had claimed that the attack was a direct one on some member states.

This led to major debate across the region and even ended up as one of the headline agenda items when CARICOM leaders met in Georgetown in July. (Caribnet)

The minister died around 3:00 am on Friday after being hospitalised since Tuesday after her car slammed into a speeding ambulance in the city.

Relatives said a CAT scan on Thursday revealed that Dr Fox had internal bleeding.

On Tuesday last, the minister was driving her SUV with her son, daughter-in law and her grandson in the vehicle when the speeding ambulance with siren slammed into them.

The minister received lacerations to her head and about the body, while her grandson received injuries to his head and hand.

The minister had since been hospitalised.

Fox was one of only three Amerindians serving in Guyana’s 65-member Parliament.

She was a former university professor who served eight years as legislator, and previously led the Amerindian Affairs department at the University of Guyana. (Caribnet)

In its annual report Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2009, the regional commission of the United Nations projects positive growth rates for most countries, but explains that there is still doubts about whether this recovery will be sustainable over time, given that the external scenario continues uncertain, which may affect growth expectations in the region.

“The worst of the crisis is behind us. The motors of growth have been turned on again, but we don’t know how long the fuel will last,” stated ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena, in presenting the report.

The most notable recovery will take place in South America and Central America (with the exception of Mexico), which next year will have growth rates of 4.7% and 3.0%, respectively. Economic growth in the Caribbean is expected to be lower (1.8%).

According to ECLAC, Brazil will top the list of countries with higher growth in 2010, with expansion estimated at 5.5%, followed by Peru and Uruguay (5%), Bolivia, Chile and Panama (4.5%) and Argentina and Suriname (4%).

Mexico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic will grow 3.5%.

Overcoming the crisis has been swifter thanks to a set of countercyclical policies that helped countries address the external turbulence effectively, says the report. These policies included reducing interest rates, increasing State-owned bank loans, expanding public expenditure and implementing a broad array of social programs, such as consumer subsidies and support for low-income households.

The ECLAC report also examines in detail the evolution of the region’s economies in 2009, as the crisis hit, putting an end to six years of consecutive economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean. The region’s economies will contract this year by -1.8% (better than the -1.9% estimated last July), which means that GDP per capita will fall about 2.9%

Unemployment in the region will also be higher than in 2008. This year, it will rise to 8.3% (lower than the 9.0% projected earlier this year) of the economically active population, with a deterioration in the quality of new jobs.

The steepest fall in economic activity this year will take place in Mexico and some countries of Central America and the Caribbean. ECLAC expects positive average growth rates for South America, with the exception of Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela. In any case, growth rates this year will be significantly lower than those experienced between 2004-2008 in all countries of the region, states the report.

For 2010, better growth expectations and the higher prices of some commodity exports from the region will boost fiscal income in the region, improving the fiscal balance.

As growth consolidates, there may be a moderate inflationary pressure that could lead central banks to restrict monetary policies perhaps late in the year.

Economic growth will push up employment and probably improve its quality, says the report. Unemployment could drop to around 8% in 2010, about midway between the unemployment levels before and after the crisis, and this will have a positive effect on poverty indicators, asserts the Preliminary Overview.

Beyond the short-term, ECLAC stresses that the current crisis will lead to profound changes in the international scenario that will create a less favorable environment for growth than that experienced in the region between 2003 and 2008.

This poses the urgent need to redefine standards for productive and trade specialization, encourage innovation, include more know-how and diversification in products and seek new destination markets, with greater participation of Asian countries.

Likewise, nations need to define the role of the State and provide it with the resources and instruments they need to prevent and address crises as well as promote sustainable economic and social development. (Caribnet)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (Reuters) — More than 250 million people risk losing their livelihoods because of dying tropical coral reefs in what a senior UN environmental economist said on Saturday was part of a double climate crisis facing the world.

“We forget that there are two emissions problems. The one that everyone is aware of and is doing something about is climate change,” said Pavan Sukhdev of the UN Environment Programme on the sidelines of the world’s largest climate talks.

“The second emissions problem is the emergency around coral reefs,” he said.

“More than 250 million people are at risk seriously of their lifeblood going away because of the lack of fish on tropical coral reefs,” he told reporters in Copenhagen.

Negotiators from nearly 200 countries are trying to seal the outlines of a broader climate pact that aims to sharply cut emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases.

The leaders of more than 100 countries arrive next week hoping to overcome deep differences on who should cut emissions, by how much and who should pay.

Warming seas are causing corals to bleach, scientists say. Normally corals recover from bleaching episodes, but now reefs are dying, destroying fisheries, because oceans are absorbing growing amounts of CO2 and becoming increasingly acidic.

Sukhdev said millions of people in the Caribbean, Indonesia and elsewhere in Asia dependent on fishing risk being forced to move away from the coast — in addition to people uprooted from coastal areas by rising seas.

Former fishing families who have to move will need food, new livelihoods and housing, he said.

Sukhdev pointed to a report backed by Prince Charles’ Rainforest Project that said in October that financing of 15 to 25 billion euros between 2010-15 could lead to a 25 percent reduction in annual deforestation.

The report said that if payments were made, based on a system that monitored results and helped build up the capacity of developing countries to fight deforestation, the loss of forests could be curbed by about 3 million hectares (7.5 million acres) a year.

That could lead to an annual total emissions reduction of about 7 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent, a sizeable slice of mankind’s yearly greenhouse gas emissions.

The UN climate panel says deforestation is responsible for about a fifth of mankind’s greenhouse gas emissions, though some recent studies say the figure is closer to around 12 percent.

Sukhdev said replanting forests in developing countries was a quick and cheap way to help soak up some of mankind’s CO2 emissions. Trees soak up CO2 as they grow and are a major natural carbon “sink” along with oceans.

He said the suggested financing of 15-25 billion euros could lock away or prevent CO2 emissions at a cost of as little as a few euros a tonne of carbon dioxide. A tiny sum, he said, compared with the trillions spent on economic rescue packages. (Caribnet)

Nikita Braxton South Bureau

A HUSBAND and wife are fighting for their lives at hospital after being burnt during an altercation with a relative.

Andrew Massy, 20, and Leenna Ramdhanie, 21, were burnt at a house at St Marie Emmanuel Road, Cumuto.

Both were arguing with a male relative when he allegedly threw a flammable substance and set them on fire on Friday.

The two sustained serious injuries and were in critical condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, police officers said.

The house was destroyed.

A 51-year-old man is assisting police with investigations.

Police are also questioning a man who is at the San Fernando General Hospital with gunshot wounds.

The man went to the Couva Health Facility around 1 a.m. yesterday seeking treatment for the injury and law enforcement officers were contacted.

Officers believe he was involved in a shooting at a nightclub at Cunupia.

Around 10.30 p.m. on Saturday two armed men entered Night Shade Recreation Club along Mon Plasir, Cunupia, and opened fire on patrons.

An off-duty police officer used his licensed firearm and returned fire.

The men escaped in a gold-coloured Nissan Almera but not before two patrons were shot.

Indar Bhola of Charlieville and Bobby Gopaul of Cunupia were taken to the Chaguanas Health Facility and transferred to the Mt Hope hospital. They were said to be in stable condition.

The suspect remains under police guard at the San Fernando General Hospital. (Trinidad Express)