National Events Director Lieutenant Godfrey Bess said yesterday that asite visit to D’Urban Park, where the 51st Independence Anniversary Ceremony and other celebratory events will be held, revealed that it still needs additional work and “sprucing up”.
Speaking at a press conference at the National Racquet Centre, Bess said the sprucing up commenced yesterday.
Asked to elaborate on the work that has to be done, Bess related that they were going to be doing work on the VIP section, including the stands and the tarmac where a host of events will be held.
Minister within the Ministry of Education Nicolette Henry interjected that once a venue is selected checks are done to ensure that it is in the ideal condition. “…So that’s routine maintenance work that will be required for this big event. We anticipate that it [D’Urban Park] will be filled to capacity and we have to ensure that all of the pavilions meet the minimum requirements,” Henry said.
Initially, it was announced that the Stabroek Market Square would have been prepared at the cost of some $100 million, since it was decided that the ministry was planning to host the ceremony there. However, when asked why the decision was made to revert to D’Urban Park, Henry explained that it was never decided to use the Stabroek Square, it was only an option that was being discussed.
“I would like to point out that in the planning stage there are always options on the table and sometimes things get misconstrued but it certainly was one of the venues under consideration. We wanted to be different and creative and bring something more to the people,” Henry said, adding that while they have not been able to come to a total figure that will be spent on the celebrations, it will be “conservative.”
She also pointed out that government plans on having a grand celebration at every five-year milestone and since one was done last year for the 50th, the next big celebration will be for the 55th anniversary.
As regards the events planned for this year, Bess reemphasized that all of the activities will see the participation from various ministries along with the joint services.
According to Bess, from Sunday May 21 to May 27, there will be a youth week that will see a “plethora” of youth related activities along the theme – ‘Inspiring Youth; Celebrating our achievements’. The event will include a parade, an interfaith concert, a youth exhibition and a career and training exposition along with other activities and is set to target more than 5,000 young people.
Elaborating, Director of Youth Melissa Carmichael said the career and training expo will feature some 56 organizations that will give information to students and other youths about career choices and their respective fields. “Some organizations will be there to look specifically at employment and will be walking with forms and other relevant documents to help young people to understand their organization,” she said.
While she could not relate what organizations from the private sector would be part of the expo, Carmichael listed the Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Agriculture, the Guyana Technical Institute, Cyril Potter School of Education, University of Guyana and the Guyana School of Agriculture as some from the public sector that would be present.
On Wednesday, May 24, there will be a 50th appreciation ceremony, set for the National Cultural Centre, where awards will be distributed to various persons who assisted with the Golden Jubilee celebrations. From May 23-25, there will also be a fine art exhibition in the lobby of the National Cultural Centre.
The flag-raising ceremony is slated to begin at 10.30 pm on May 25, at D’Urban Park.
“There will be the military flag-raising activity and the programme will commence with a mega filled, colourful, bright and breathtaking 40 minutes of cultural activities, which will then culminate with the hoisting of the Guyana National Flag and a firework display,” Bess said. “The cultural programme will capture Guyana’s diversity in drama, dance and music.”
After the smoke settles from the flag-raising ceremony, Bess related that there will be a grand farmers, cottage industry and small business expo. “At this event fresh and processed agricultural produce as well as plants and livestock will be on sale at reasonable price and affordable costs,” Bess explained, while also adding that information on the different stages of agro business will also be provided.
The expo will focus heavily on young upcoming farmers. “We are delighted to be a part of the activities for the 51st anniversary celebrations and particularly to bring produce from farmers, particularly the youth farmers to this exposition,” a representative from the Ministry of Agriculture related at the press conference.
“The primary goal is to bring the buyers to a place where they can interface directly with farmers. We were also asked to encourage the young farmers and have asked the agencies to get the young people out there to put on display what is produced and packaged in Guyana and make it available to the buying public,” the representative added.
In terms of the security measures that will be put in place by the Guyana Police Force, Commander of ‘C’ Division Calvin Brutus explained that more than 200 officers will play a role in ensuring that the vicinity and its environs are safe and that traffic flows properly.
“We have to ensure that persons are safe and secure to and from the venue, hence the police will be deployed, both general duty, CID, special ranks and traffic ranks to provide security and traffic arrangements the citizens deserve,” Brutus said, while pointing out that they will also be working in tandem with the Guyana Fire Service and the Civil Defence Commission.
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IMG_122: Minister within the Ministry of Education Nicolette Henry (centre) and Director of National Events Lieutenant Godfrey Bess (third, right) with other stakeholders at yesterday’s press conference. erty management.
According to Hand-in-Hand’s financial statements published in the April 22 edition of the Guyana Chronicle, interest income for 2016 was $696.7 million compared to $525.6 million in 2015. Interest expense rose from $196.5 million in 2015 to $251.7 million last year. Operating expenses also climbed from $275.5 million in 2016 to $296.3 million in 2016. Provision for losses jumped from $195.7 million in 2015 to $236.4 million in 2016. Loan losses have become a severe problem across the finance industry.
Profit before impaired investment was $25.6 million in 2016 compared to a loss of $8.6 million in 2015. Impaired investments totalled $4 million in 2016 compared to $33.3 million in 2015. Taxation for 2016 was $7.1 million compared to $6.5 million in 2015.
In his Chairman’s remarks, Paul Chan-A-Sue said that several initiatives “were pursued to enhance the viability of the institution and shall be continued during the new financial period”.
Maurice Solomon and Co in its independent auditor’s report addressed as a key audit matter, the impairment provision for loans and mortgages. It said that loans and mortgages of $5.65 billion after the impairment provision represent 80% of the total assets of the Trust. It noted that the impairment provision for loans and mortgages included in the financial statements for the current period totaled $377.9 million or 6.2% of the total loans and mortgages. The auditors said that they found the assumptions employed by management in arriving at the total impairment provision to be in line with its expectations.
It drew attention to the note in the accounts on liquidity risk.
“As can be seen from this Liquidity Risk Table there is an asset/liability gap of over $4 billion in the projected 3-12 month period. Management has assured that they are addressing this situation as a matter of urgency to correct this projected asset/liability. We recommend urgent attention in this matter,” the auditor’s report said.
