Unreliable Ferry Service Between Supenaam and Parika - Archie Cordis, AFC Region 2 Councillor

Over nearly a decade now, the residents of the Essequibo Coast have been subjected to a very irregular and unreliable ferry service between the Adventure but now Supenaam and Parika Stellings.

Because the practice of dredging the Essequibo Channel was discontinued in this time, there has been the formation of obstructing sandbanks in the areas between Hogg Island and Wakenaam. This has to be seen as an abysmal failure of the Ministry of Works and Hydraulics. The AFC understands that the M.V. Steve. N which previously did dredging in the Essequibo channel many years ago is currently moored at the Transport and Harbours Department in Georgetown and has been out of operation for the longest while.

The AFC notes that the PPP’s presidential Candidate Donald Ramotar told residents at one of his recent propaganda stops on the coast that approximately $170m has been budgeted for capital works in Essequibo for 2011. The Chronicle, in typical propaganda fashion, when it reported this statement of Ramotar, printed that section in bold. However, Ramotar neglected to mention why the Essequibo channel has not been dredged for nearly a decade.

The dredging of the Essequibo channel was a regular and routine practice many years ago intended to efficientize the transportation schedule between the Essequibo Coast and Parika. Because of such regular dredging, the T&HD was able to maintain a regular schedule for the operation of the ferry service.

All of this has broken down as a result of the PPP’s gross incompetence. Because of the sand banks in the Essequibo channel, the ferry service plying the Supenaam to Parika route has been limited to one trip per day. The removal of the sandbanks would enable at least two trips per day. Also, because the service is at the vagary of the tide, many times commuters are forced to wait at the Stellings for hours before they can travel.

It has to be pointed out very clearly here that the majority of commuters using this service are primarily poor people unable to pay on a regular basis the $1300 charged by the speed boat service. The ferry service is the sole mode of transport for vehicular traffic between the Essequibo Coast and Parika. This fact alone underscores the difficulty and inconvenience experienced by drivers who cross this channel on a regular basis. It goes without saying that this irregular and unreliable mode of transport is harmful to trade and thus the development of Region 2.

The AFC calls on Minister Benn under whose remit this issue falls, to expedite the dredging of the Essequibo Channel. It is a real shame that such practice which had become an entrenched routine infrastructural work has halted completely causing much hardship and inconvenience to the residents of Region 2.

This is indeed tantamount to infrastructural neglect and a breakdown of governance. Contrary to what was circulated in the electioneering tour recently made by Jagdeo and Ramotar into Region 2, the issues crucial to development have indeed been subject to the PPP’s endemic incompetence and rampant corruption.

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Fixing Guyana’s Gold - Dominic Gaskin, AFC NEC Member, Treasurer

The AFC has noted recent reports of record levels of declared gold production by the local mining industry. In fact in 2010 gold accounted for 42% of Guyana’s exports and in 2011 is expected to exceed 50%.

The actual increase in declared gold production from 299,822 ounces in 2009 to 308,437 ounces in 2010 represents an increase of 3% which, while welcome, is not unusual since year-to-year fluctuations have tended to be much higher than this in the past. On the other hand the increase in the price of gold on the world market from an average of US$972 per ounce in 2009 to US$1,224 in 2010 represents a 26% jump and an unprecedented bonanza for the industry. The AFC posits that it is this unprecedented jump that is largely responsible for the US$65 million increase in gold exports in 2010 over 2009 which contributed significantly to the 3.6% of real GDP growth experienced in that year. It should be noted that the price of gold on the world market is in no way influenced by the Government of Guyana or its policies.

According to Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, in his 2011 budget presentation, the performance of our economy in 2010 was “further evidence of the returns that can be had from sound policies and sustained implementation”. He then proceeds to top this off with the claim that “the increased output in recent years has relied less on the traditional sectors and increasingly on new and emerging sectors”.

When one considers the US$40 million increase in Guyana’s rice exports of 2010 over 2009 in addition to the US$65 million gold bonanza one is forced to wonder whether he considers gold and rice to be emerging sectors. Guyana has been exporting gold and rice in significant quantities for well over a century. These are very “traditional” sectors and the increase in legitimate export earnings from these sectors is what has really saved Guyana from economic decline in 2010.

The PPP/C has been in Government for almost two decades and had their policies been really sound Guyana could today have been benefitting from value added input to its gold production by means of a gold refinery and a modern jewellery industry.

An AFC government will develop modernization and export strategies for the Guyanese jewellery industry aimed at creating jobs, increasing foreign earnings and transforming Guyana into a regional jewellery centre. We will begin by removing all impediments to private sector involvement in gold refining since access to refined gold and refined gold products is the very basis of modern-day jewellery manufacturing.

We will also engage the necessary expertise required. It is mind-boggling that successive governments have employed scores of experts on sugar, timber, bauxite and oil, the exports of which combined have never exceeded US$500 million per annum, yet there is not a single person in any state agency or department with any real knowledge of the international jewellery industry or even the local jewellery sector. We believe that policy makers without access to expertise in specific sectors cannot create conditions that will guide and encourage investment in those sectors.

The following excerpt from the 1997 National Development Strategy is still very relevant today: “Consecutive governments have focused policy largely on the foreign exchange potential, particularly of gold, and less so on diamond and semi-precious stones, rather than more comprehensively on the potential contribution they could make to expanding the national manufacturing base.”

ress-releases&Itemid=55" target="_blank">Source

AFC Statement on Kevin Simon - Dominic Gaskin, AFC NEC Member, Treasurer

It is quite ironic that the PPP claims it is the party for the working class of Guyana and for the youth of Guyana when it quite hastily held 18-year old Mr Kevin Simon without bail for two weeks, allegedly for making a lewd manual gesture at the Presidential motorcade.

It is important to note that these are the actions of a government that is too full of itself. Can you imagine how many lewd gestures Mr Obama gets daily? Yet no one is prosecuted there because that is a country that has freedom of speech enshrined in its constitution.

The PPP claims it is here for our youth and working hard for our youth. Is this how you will deal with youthful exuberance PPP? The PPP has a penchant for going overboard on minor matters and abusing its power. This is why it has seen no reason to get rid of the 72 hour holding period whereby they can hold citizens for minor infractions and this has been done in a few cases.

Now let us contrast this with the 14 year old Trinidadian girl of African descent, who issued death threats, used obscene language and made racist remarks to the Prime Minister, Ms Kamla Persad-Bissessar over the declaration of a State of Emergency in the country and curfew restrictions in some areas. Among her comments were that a sniper would shoot the Prime Minister and “leave no evidence”.

But was the girl locked up? No, instead, the Prime Minister said, "I saw in the newspaper today that there is a 14- or a 15-year-old girl, it is alleged that she made some abusive remarks about me on Facebook and the AG had talked about it, and said it was in the hands of the police and the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions)." "And then I'm reading today that this young girl has apologised on the Facebook. And I would like to say that I am a mother and a grandmother and this is a teenager, this is a child and I am sure you will agree with me when we say that I should meet her, that I should accept her apologies." "And we should find out why, as a young girl she felt it necessary to do such a thing. I am not of the view in the circumstances that she should be punished in any way. I think first we should talk with her and see what help we can be, all these things are possible."

Recently the President referred the youths of Guyana to the Burnham era. While we acknowledge that those were hard times indeed, the question begs what has the PPP done for youths in Guyana in their 19 years of office? How many jobs have they created for youths? Why is it that the PPP imports computers when our youth could be building them right in Guyana? Why is there so little vocational training? Why are there no internships in the public and private sectors for UG and other students? How many sport based education scholarships has the PPP created in 19 years? These of course, are all things an AFC Government would address.

The Youth of this country should take a cue from this issue and send a strong message to the PPP in the next election and collectively give the PPP the most powerful gesture ever which is to get out of office.

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Acknowledging Amerindian Heritage - Neilsen McKenzie, AFC National Coordinator

The Alliance For Change acknowledges and extends well wishes to the indigenous peoples of Guyana as our nation prepares to observe Amerindian Heritage month 2011.

Historical Overview

It has been unearthed that the early Guyanese geography was settled by four main groups: the Caribs (who occupied the upper Essequibo, Mazaruni, upper Cuyuni, and the Pomeroon and Barima Rivers); the Akawaois (who lived in the Essequibo near the Siparuni, Cuyuni, Pomeroon and Demerara Rivers); the Arawaks (who occupied the region of the Corentyne and Waini Rivers); and the Warraus (in the Barima River).

It is a difficult task to date Amerindian presence in Guyana. However, the renowned Anthropologist Dennis Williams in 1984 during the course of intensive archaeological work in the North West of Guyana discovered a virtually intact 7,000 year old skeleton of an indigenous Guyanese.

The post Colombian history of our indigenous peoples has to be seen as a facet of the Caribbean and Central American experience of out-manoeuvring, oppression and even elimination. While the early Dutch focus in the Essequibo was on commodity trade with the Amerindian population, there was in fact the enslavement of Guyana’s first peoples.

The period of the rise of the new plantation economy was also a period of a shift in cultivation from the hinterland to the coast, and the influx of British planters into the Dutch colony. In this new milieu, Amerindians were used as a frontier police force to prevent the runaway of slaves and to subdue Maroon communities. They were used to put down the 1823 and other slave rebellions. On the other hand, however, there were examples of Amerindian communities harboring maroons and of alliances, as with a group of Berbice Caribs, between slaves and Amerindians against the planter class.

During the mid–nineteenth century, the British Colonial approach to the hinterland saw the extension of governance through missionization via the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches. The essential Colonial approach could be demonstrated in the events that occurred in the upper Mazaruni in 1959. The Upper Mazaruni was turned into an Amerindian reservation in 1947. An Administrative headquarters was built at Imbaimadai, with William Seggar appointed as District Officer. A health dispensary was built, Anglican missionary Father John Dorman moved to the district, malaria and tuberculosis programs were initiated and commodity production encouraged. However, after a diamond find at Imbaimadai in 1959, one third of the Upper Mazaruni district was de-reserved and Amerindians were relocated.

In the post-independence period, though there have been concerted efforts at reforming the colonial manipulative policy, much of the disregard for Amerindian interests and concerns were perpetuated.

Christopher Carrico in his paper Guyana and the Amerindian Question has pointed out that from the mid- 1980s, exploratory rights were granted to multi – national mining companies in large expanses of the Western half of Guyana, without regard to Amerindian village boundaries.

Contemporary Development Issues

In the more contemporary period, it must be recalled that only some weeks ago, Mr. Devroy Thomas from Arrau Region 7, said at one of these very press conferences that “allow us to make it known that we still have grave problems with 1. The cost of living 2. proper running of our schools 3. health facilities 4. communication and thus access to information and 5. Transportation”.

On August 14, 2011, we read in the Stabroek News that in Kurutuku, Region 7, few can read and write and that the village was without a teacher for 33 years. John Lewis, a resident of this village is reported as saying that the Upper Cuyuni “is probably the most lawless area in Guyana… any illegal activity you can think of, it happens there”. He continued that Kurutuku is a village… it seems that people don’t know about us. We don’t get any help from anywhere”.

In the AFC’s Action Plan, some of the important policies adumbrated included:

1. Review financial proceeds from the LCDS initiative to Indigenous Communities and engage them in meaningful consultation with the view of initiating relevant economic and social projects of their choice;

2. Expedite land demarcation, new land title applications and applications for extension of titled lands simultaneously after dialogue with the Indigenous communities and other stakeholders;

3. Ensure that the Indigenous Communities benefit from mining, forestry and eco-tourism ventures in their lands and lands contiguous;

4. Review the Amerindian Act of 2006 in partnership with Indigenous Communities to address contentious provisions.

Cultural Preservation

On the cultural front, the AFC recalls that anthropologist and artist George Simon, working in a cave in the Pakaraima Mountains came across an urn with a distinctive carving around its rim of a serpent swallowing its own tail, a symbol of continuity of the cycle of life and death. The vessel contained human bones and was obviously a burial urn. Simon later pointed out that the Serpent, or a variation of it, is a symbol of the life force in many cultures.

Such discoveries bring to the fore that Guyana’s first peoples were not “primitive” but on the contrary were and are profound peoples who grappled with serious philosophical questions.

The AFC submits that the Caribbean Research Library, the Learning and Research Center and the Amerindian Research Unit of the University of Guyana as well as the Walter Roth Museum and the National Trust (all of which are seriously underfunded) must be significantly enhanced and strengthened to better document and preserve the oral and written history of Guyana’s first peoples. It is out of this history that our nation will be enriched by the multifaceted components of Amerindian culture and heritage.

ress-releases&Itemid=55" target="_blank">Source

quote:

Originally posted by Gerhard Ramsaroop:

Unreliable Ferry Service Between Supenaam and Parika

Over nearly a decade now, the residents of the Essequibo Coast have been subjected to a very irregular and unreliable ferry service between the Adventure but now Supenaam and Parika Stellings.

The ferry from Adventure to Parika, in my days, used to be superb, ...

... except for the odd times when the ferry would get grounded.

Heavy trucks on our roads - Gerhard Ramsaroop, AFC NEC Member

The AFC notes with concern the marked increase in three and four axle trucks in recent years on our roads. While these 20 and 25 tonne trucks may be a sign of progress, a progress that is exemplified in Guyana by the rich getting richer, there are a number of other significant negatives.

First and foremost, these vehicles were not meant in any way, shape or form for our roads, both in terms of weight and speed – they were designed for the highways of North America and Europe. Secondly, the problems are made worse by overloading and “hard” driving, especially by inexperienced drivers. This leads to much greater than normal damage to our roads, and can be seen particularly on the East Bank Highway. The northbound (to Georgetown) lane suffers severely from excessive damage, both in terms of sinking and potholes.

There is more. These larger trucks have also forced most of the smaller 7 tonne trucks, out of business, with very few from just ten years ago still working today. Further, drivers of 10 and 12 tonne two axle trucks in an effort to compete, overload severely. This leads to premature failure of among other things, engines, gearboxes, axles, springs, brakes and tyres. These are all imported, leading to unnecessary foreign exchange expenditure which slows economic growth. Making this worse is that these drivers generally undercharge in relation to the damage their trucks suffer.

The AFC therefore, urges the Government to immediately and continuously enforce weight and speed restrictions on trucks. We call for separate speed limits for trucks as well, which is normal in many other countries in the world with roads similar to ours. Trucks being allowed to drive at 80 kph on our regular roads are but a disaster in the making. Given the present unabated vehicular carnage, and the continued exodus of our people, this is something we can ill afford as a young nation needing all hands on deck.

Another significant positive from these seemingly simple measures, is that small truckers will be able to compete once more as the speeds and weights of the larger trucks are restricted.

An AFC Government will also set policies to promote articulated/semi-trailer trucks. Traditionally, rigid chassis trucks have been preferred to articulated trucks because of their better performance in bad conditions. Recent innovations such as sliding bogie trailers and various anti-jack-knifing technologies, along with lift axles and differential locks have however, improved their performance substantially. Articulated vehicles allow for a lower amount of trips with better fuel consumption - loads can be up to 50% more using the same amount of fuel as a rigid, better weight distribution - hence less damage to roads and lower tyre replacement costs, greater manoeuvrability, increased reliability - if a tractor breaks down another can come and replace it, and lower costs to a comparable fleet of rigids - one tractor can pull a variety of trailers.

Therefore, if articulated trucks are used wherever they have advantages over rigid chassis trucks, it can add significantly to economic growth with a lower environmental impact, and resulting in less traffic at the same time. It can also lead to the establishment of a meaningful trailer industry in Guyana. This embodies the AFC’s approach to development in Guyana; development that will see all our people progress, and not just the rich and connected.

ress-releases&Itemid=55" target="_blank">Source

quote:

Originally posted by Gerhard Ramsaroop:
Heavy trucks on our roads - Gerhard Ramsaroop, AFC NEC Member

The AFC notes with concern the marked increase in three and four axle trucks in recent years on our roads. While these 20 and 25 tonne trucks may be a sign of progress, a progress that is exemplified in Guyana by the rich getting richer, there are a number of other significant negatives.

First and foremost, these vehicles were not meant in any way, shape or form for our roads, both in terms of weight and speed – they were designed for the highways of North America and Europe. Secondly, the problems are made worse by overloading and “hard” driving, especially by inexperienced drivers. This leads to much greater than normal damage to our roads, and can be seen particularly on the East Bank Highway. The northbound (to Georgetown) lane suffers severely from excessive damage, both in terms of sinking and potholes.

There is more. These larger trucks have also forced most of the smaller 7 tonne trucks, out of business, with very few from just ten years ago still working today. Further, drivers of 10 and 12 tonne two axle trucks in an effort to compete, overload severely. This leads to premature failure of among other things, engines, gearboxes, axles, springs, brakes and tyres. These are all imported, leading to unnecessary foreign exchange expenditure which slows economic growth. Making this worse is that these drivers generally undercharge in relation to the damage their trucks suffer.

The AFC therefore, urges the Government to immediately and continuously enforce weight and speed restrictions on trucks. We call for separate speed limits for trucks as well, which is normal in many other countries in the world with roads similar to ours. Trucks being allowed to drive at 80 kph on our regular roads are but a disaster in the making. Given the present unabated vehicular carnage, and the continued exodus of our people, this is something we can ill afford as a young nation needing all hands on deck.

Another significant positive from these seemingly simple measures, is that small truckers will be able to compete once more as the speeds and weights of the larger trucks are restricted.

An AFC Government will also set policies to promote articulated/semi-trailer trucks. Traditionally, rigid chassis trucks have been preferred to articulated trucks because of their better performance in bad conditions. Recent innovations such as sliding bogie trailers and various anti-jack-knifing technologies, along with lift axles and differential locks have however, improved their performance substantially. Articulated vehicles allow for a lower amount of trips with better fuel consumption - loads can be up to 50% more using the same amount of fuel as a rigid, better weight distribution - hence less damage to roads and lower tyre replacement costs, greater manoeuvrability, increased reliability - if a tractor breaks down another can come and replace it, and lower costs to a comparable fleet of rigids - one tractor can pull a variety of trailers.

Therefore, if articulated trucks are used wherever they have advantages over rigid chassis trucks, it can add significantly to economic growth with a lower environmental impact, and resulting in less traffic at the same time. It can also lead to the establishment of a meaningful trailer industry in Guyana. This embodies the AFC’s approach to development in Guyana; development that will see all our people progress, and not just the rich and connected.

ress-releases&Itemid=55" target="_blank">Source

Come on Gerhard..really ??????? this is what yall gat fu offer the Guyanese people bro ???? WOW

Up comes the Ramotaur to Ramjattan and oh my god, six runs on this fisherman statement.

quote:

Originally posted by Gerhard Ramsaroop:


The fishermen’s suffering at the hands of pirates is as a result of the PPP/C Government's incompetence - Khemraj Ramjattan, AFC Presidential Candidate, Chairman of the AFC

The Alliance for Change expresses grave concern that the PPP Government still cannot competently protect its fishermen from pirates on the high seas. Come October, the Minister of Agriculture will again celebrate the critical role fishermen play in our economy and national heritage especially in our own local boat building industry, yet the PPP continues to fail fishermen. As more fishermen went missing on August 6th, the AFC notes another PPP promise was broken to the families of these people on their personal security. When will the terror end?

The Police and GDF have been unable to manage the scourge of piracy and murder on the high seas since they do not posses adequate resources to identify the culprits and conduct continuous patrols. Guyanese continue to be reminded of this scourge on August 6th 2011 when Khemraj Dhanpat, 42, called Manohar or Rajin, who was the boat captain and a married father of four, of Number 64 village; his brother Narine Dhanpat, 38, called ‘Shrimp’, a married father of two, also of Number 64; Clifford Singh, 28, a married father of one, of Number 62 village; Ouditnarine Ramnarine, 37, of No. 64 and Suresh Martin, 34, a married father of two went missing on the high seas.

The AFC wishes to remind the nation of just a few other instances of piracy where investigations led to crimes being unsolved. In November 2009, Satrohan Jagdeep Persaud, 53, of Little India Squatting Area, Corriverton, died during a pirate attack. So did Vasedeo Persaud, 39, of Parika Façade, East Bank Essequibo in March 2010. From our research dozens of others have either died, or lost millions of dollars in valuable tools of their trade to pirates who conduct their crime with impunity.

The fishing industry employs thousands directly and indirectly and brings in billions of dollars to the country. The PPP Government, however, is unable to find the resources to set up the Police Air Unit and to enhance the Coast Guards and GDF Air Corps Search and Rescue capabilities at sea. Yet it can find $1 billion for executive travel and it can legislate for a Presidential pension package approximating $3 million per month!

The fishing industry remains a vital sector for creating new jobs and a source of increase export earnings. That is why it is extremely difficult for anyone to comprehend why the PPP continues to leave Guyanese fishermen to the mercy of brazen pirates on the high seas with no tangible solution on the horizon.

The AFC’s plan to resolve this situation will include the following:

1. Establish a Fisheries Surveillance and Enforcement Coordinating Committee with suitable representa­tives of the Department of Fisheries, the Coast Guard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Customs and Excise Department and the Marine Police, and most importantly the genuine representatives of the fishermen;

2. Form a Police Air Unit with support from the GDF and will put at the disposal of that Unit an search and rescue aircraft that will work to offer greater surveillance of the fishermen at work on the high seas;

3. Will equip all fishing boats with GPS transponders and high power radios which they shall pay for over a period of time; all mercy calls with messages of a pirate attack being responded to with the full force of the law.

On the broader question of further developing the industry, the AFC shall:

1. Conduct an equipment audit of all fish complex to offer the right incentives to investors to re-energise the industry such as investments in a fish meal plant, more cold storage and ice making capacity to better support the existing fish port complexes;

2. Allocate suitable areas of land for aqua-cultural activities and arrangements will be made for that land to be held in freehold or in 99-year transferable leases;

3. Construct National Aquaculture Research Stations.

The Alliance for Change will engage the fishermen in updating the current inadequate policies on the industry and will complete a comprehensive National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Aquaculture industry to cover all areas such as economic development in the industry, a comprehensive needs assessment but more importantly a clear policy on search and rescue and coastal surveillance by the law enforcement authorities.

This National Policy will make more effective use of State resources by addressing the most critical issues facing our fishermen. It will establish a new approach to bringing together Central Government, Regional Government and Local Government along with all agencies of the state and the private sector to better plan for, manage, and sustain the myriad of issues that face the industry.

The AFC will also provide access to low interest capital through the establishment of a State Development Bank which will support fishermen, and additionally our rice farmers millers, as well as livestock farmers.

The AFC is all too aware that like in the sugar industry, the PPP will provide no leadership and solutions on the many issues troubling the fishing industry. For too long the PPP has deceived the fishermen of Guyana.

ress-releases&Itemid=55" target="_blank">Source

To all the PPP boys out there you ask if this is what we have to offer. Yes this is what the AFC got to offer, represnetation to the fishermen of Guyana. While they get stolen from their families by pirates, the PPP is asleep at the wheel. WE WILL SET UP THE POLICE search and rescue air unit, what and see the AFC in action.

quote:

Originally posted by Sase Singh:
Up comes the Ramotaur to Ramjattan and oh my god, six runs on this fisherman statement.

quote:

Originally posted by Gerhard Ramsaroop:


The fishermen’s suffering at the hands of pirates is as a result of the PPP/C Government's incompetence - Khemraj Ramjattan, AFC Presidential Candidate, Chairman of the AFC

The Alliance for Change expresses grave concern that the PPP Government still cannot competently protect its fishermen from pirates on the high seas. Come October, the Minister of Agriculture will again celebrate the critical role fishermen play in our economy and national heritage especially in our own local boat building industry, yet the PPP continues to fail fishermen. As more fishermen went missing on August 6th, the AFC notes another PPP promise was broken to the families of these people on their personal security. When will the terror end?

The Police and GDF have been unable to manage the scourge of piracy and murder on the high seas since they do not posses adequate resources to identify the culprits and conduct continuous patrols. Guyanese continue to be reminded of this scourge on August 6th 2011 when Khemraj Dhanpat, 42, called Manohar or Rajin, who was the boat captain and a married father of four, of Number 64 village; his brother Narine Dhanpat, 38, called ‘Shrimp’, a married father of two, also of Number 64; Clifford Singh, 28, a married father of one, of Number 62 village; Ouditnarine Ramnarine, 37, of No. 64 and Suresh Martin, 34, a married father of two went missing on the high seas.

The AFC wishes to remind the nation of just a few other instances of piracy where investigations led to crimes being unsolved. In November 2009, Satrohan Jagdeep Persaud, 53, of Little India Squatting Area, Corriverton, died during a pirate attack. So did Vasedeo Persaud, 39, of Parika Façade, East Bank Essequibo in March 2010. From our research dozens of others have either died, or lost millions of dollars in valuable tools of their trade to pirates who conduct their crime with impunity.

The fishing industry employs thousands directly and indirectly and brings in billions of dollars to the country. The PPP Government, however, is unable to find the resources to set up the Police Air Unit and to enhance the Coast Guards and GDF Air Corps Search and Rescue capabilities at sea. Yet it can find $1 billion for executive travel and it can legislate for a Presidential pension package approximating $3 million per month!

The fishing industry remains a vital sector for creating new jobs and a source of increase export earnings. That is why it is extremely difficult for anyone to comprehend why the PPP continues to leave Guyanese fishermen to the mercy of brazen pirates on the high seas with no tangible solution on the horizon.

The AFC’s plan to resolve this situation will include the following:

1. Establish a Fisheries Surveillance and Enforcement Coordinating Committee with suitable representa­tives of the Department of Fisheries, the Coast Guard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Customs and Excise Department and the Marine Police, and most importantly the genuine representatives of the fishermen;

2. Form a Police Air Unit with support from the GDF and will put at the disposal of that Unit an search and rescue aircraft that will work to offer greater surveillance of the fishermen at work on the high seas;

3. Will equip all fishing boats with GPS transponders and high power radios which they shall pay for over a period of time; all mercy calls with messages of a pirate attack being responded to with the full force of the law.

On the broader question of further developing the industry, the AFC shall:

1. Conduct an equipment audit of all fish complex to offer the right incentives to investors to re-energise the industry such as investments in a fish meal plant, more cold storage and ice making capacity to better support the existing fish port complexes;

2. Allocate suitable areas of land for aqua-cultural activities and arrangements will be made for that land to be held in freehold or in 99-year transferable leases;

3. Construct National Aquaculture Research Stations.

The Alliance for Change will engage the fishermen in updating the current inadequate policies on the industry and will complete a comprehensive National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Aquaculture industry to cover all areas such as economic development in the industry, a comprehensive needs assessment but more importantly a clear policy on search and rescue and coastal surveillance by the law enforcement authorities.

This National Policy will make more effective use of State resources by addressing the most critical issues facing our fishermen. It will establish a new approach to bringing together Central Government, Regional Government and Local Government along with all agencies of the state and the private sector to better plan for, manage, and sustain the myriad of issues that face the industry.

The AFC will also provide access to low interest capital through the establishment of a State Development Bank which will support fishermen, and additionally our rice farmers millers, as well as livestock farmers.

The AFC is all too aware that like in the sugar industry, the PPP will provide no leadership and solutions on the many issues troubling the fishing industry. For too long the PPP has deceived the fishermen of Guyana.

ress-releases&Itemid=55" target="_blank">Source

Since Gerhard peeping in, I want to remind him of what a valuable resource he is to the AFC with this thread.

 

HOME is with Uncle Moses.

When last did Gerhard made a public appearance on the behalf of the AFC?, its not within his character to stay in the shadows...

Well all will play out in good time.

Kwamee, Gerhard is not a little boy.