Black Immigrant Daily News

… as Ministry making strides to clear backlog of 14,000 applications

Some 1,200 house lots in the West Coast Demerara corridor have been distributed by the Housing and Water Ministry on Friday during another leg of the ‘Dream Realised’ housing drive in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).

Hosted at the Uitvlugt Community Centre Ground, West Coast Demerara (WCD), the event was attended by hundreds of persons. House lots were delivered in two areas: Meten-Meer-Zorg and Stewartville, and allottees were from low to high-income categories.

Minister within the Housing Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, said this distribution would move the Government one step close to reducing the deficit in Region Three, which has the second largest demand for house lots. She added that new applications are welcome.

“There was a lot of neglect in the housing and water sector in the previous administration, so we had a buildup of applications. The demand was very, very high in the housing sector, so we have a lot of work to do,” she said.

Residents at Friday’s ‘Dream Realised’ exercise

“When we came into office, we found a backlog of approximately 14,000 pending applications in this region. So far, we have distributed approximately 4,000 house lots, thereby reducing our deficit here in the region.”

“We welcome the new applications as well, because we are continuously and always in pursuit of our national target of 50,000 lots in the first five years in office,” Rodrigues has expressed.

Apart from land distribution, the Minister pointed to the robust effort to construct homes. This, she said, is one of the fastest ways to assist persons to own their homes.

“We especially like to support our young people to ensure that they realise their dreams. While we have been focused on reducing our pending applications, we also have an aggressive housing construction drive. You will see hundreds of houses being constructed in Region Three,” she has promised.

Accompanying the advancements in housing is the commitment to better water quality for the region, as part of the Government’s five-year plan. By 2025, five new water treatment plants will be constructed in the region.

She posited, “We know there are many challenges here with the quality of water, but we have a very ambitious target, a strategic plan at the Guyana Water Inc, with which we’re pursuing 100 per cent treated water by 2025.”

Meanwhile, Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal, revised numbers from recent years, showing that only 496 lots were distributed in the region during the last administration’s five-year stint in office.

During the International Building Expo in July, close to 3,000 persons received their lots from the Ministry. Now that there has been a turnaround in these numbers, other major infrastructural works are also in the pipeline. These include the new Demerara Harbour Bridge, the four-lane roadway from Crane to Schoonord, and the gas-to-shore project.

Deputy Director of Projects, Intakab Indarjeet, and a team of engineers meeting with contractors

“You can see development is happening at a rapid pace. We also will see, by the end of this year, the tenders going out for new development within Meten-Meer-Zorg, Anna Catherina, Stewartville, Leonora, and this will form part of our 2023 infrastructure programme,” he said. “Just for new infrastructure, next year will be at least $4 billion injected in Region Three.”

Eight contractors who will be constructing the $11.8 billion Schoonord-to-Crane 4-lane Highway visited the area on Friday, and were taken to their individual lots to determine access points, traffic management, and other logistics, as mobilisation for works is expected to start on Monday.

These contractors were also given the opportunity to get acquainted with the surveyor and engineers of the CHPA who will be supervising each lot throughout the project’s timeline. Additionally, an engagement on environmental health and safety measures is slated for tomorrow.

The new four-lane highway will significantly reduce commute time along the route and create avenues for housing and commercial developments. It features 4.1 kilometres of dual carriageway reinforced concrete roads with emergency lanes. Scope of works also includes the rehabilitation of 2.4 kilometres of roadway, construction of 2 roundabouts, 11 reinforced concrete box culverts, 36 pre-stressed bridges, and road signage and markings.

The contracts for the project were signed on September 7, 2022 by VR Construction Inc, Avinash Contracting & Scrap Metal Inc, L-Heureuse Construction and Services Inc, GuyAmerica Construction Inc, AJM Enterprise, Vals Construction, Puran Bros Disposal Inc, and JS Guyana Inc.

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One man is now dead while his twin brother and another person are injured after coming under gunfire at the hands of a father and son duo.

Dead is 22-year-old Ray Wame Narine, a miner of Spring Garden, Essequibo Coast. His twin brother, Ron Keme Narine, and 30-year-old Rakesh Chunilall, also a miner of Banana Land, Berbice managed to escape and go into hiding.

The suspects – a father and his son duo – are from Pearl Village, East Bank Demerara.

The incident occurred on Thursday between 23:30 hours and 00:00 hrs at Sandhill Landing, Cuyuni River, Region Seven.

Police say the motionless body of Ray Narine was found covered with several tree branches in the northern corner of the main access road which runs East to West.

The body was clad in a grey jersey and black/white trouser. Upon examination, investigators observed two suspected gunshot wounds to his chest area along with one-inch lacerations to the abdomen and shoulder, and a 2-inch laceration to his right arm.

One suspected exit wound was observed on the right side of his back.

Additionally, a suspected warhead was also recovered in close proximity of the victim which appear to be of .32 (Caliber) ammunition.

Investigations so far revealed that the two brothers operate a dredge in the Sandhill Backdam.

According to the surviving twin, Ron Narine, about 23:30h on Thursday, he and his brother left their 4-inch mining operation and went to Sandhill Landing, Cuyuni River. He said while sitting on the front step of Shanaz Allicock shop, a Honda XR motorcycle (# unknown) rode up from a Western direction with both suspects (father and son).

Ron Narine said he recognized the pillion rider – with whom he had an altercation days before. Ron had relieved the suspect of a firearm and ammunition, which was later handed over to the Police.

The suspects dismounted the motorcycle, hurriedly walked towards the brothers’ direction with what appeared to be handguns and started to discharge several rounds in their direction.

As a result, they ran in a westernly direction with the suspects still discharging rounds in their direction.

Ron Narine recalled seeing his brother collapsed on the roadway as he continued running and sought refuge in some bushes, where he remained for about two hours after which he returned to the landing.

Upon arrival, he found his brother lying motionless on the road with what appeared to be blood on him. He later learnt that the suspects had made good their escape after shooting his brother.

Ron Narine also observed a gunshot wound to his right forearm, which was received while he was evading the suspects.

He later contacted the police and reported the matter.

Meanwhile, according to Rakesh Chunilall, he was a customer at another shop next to where the brothers were seated. He recalled he was at ‘Momo shop’ when he saw the two suspects passed him on a motorcycle and they parked the cycle in a dark area. Thereafter, he saw when they walked towards the two brothers who were sitting at a nearby shop and he saw when they pointed what appear to be handguns towards them, and he began hearing loud explosions which sounded like gunshots.

On hearing that, he and others at the shop ran to take cover and during that process, Chunilall said he felt a burning pain in his lower abdomen. He fell to the ground and became unconscious.

He was picked up by public spirited persons, placed in a motor car and taken to the Bartica Regional Hospital where he was seen and examined by the doctor on duty who observed a single suspected gunshot wound to his lower stomach which exited through his lower back.

Chunilall was thereafter referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he underwent an emergency surgery and admitted a patient currently in the recovery room.

His condition is regarded as serious but stable.

The body of Ray Narine was escorted to the Bartica Regional Hospital where it was pronounced dead on arrival and subsequently escorted to the Hospital’s Mortuary for storage, awaiting PME.

The Area was canvassed for CCTV but none was seen. Several persons were contacted, interviewed and useful information was received. Statements are currently being taken.

Police are currently looking for the two suspects.

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Senior UN officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres, took part in a High-Level event at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday, noting the encouraging progress that has been made towards ending the COVID-19 pandemic, while acknowledging that work still needs to be done to ensure the most vulnerable are protected.

Mr. Guterres celebrated rising vaccination coverage worldwide, particularly among high-risk populations, and the fact that, on average, countries have vaccinated around three-quarters of health care workers and older people.

COVID-19 measures are increasingly integrated into routine health programmes, and new antiviral drugs are about to become available.

Gaps remain

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However, gaps in coverage and protection remain, said Mr, Guterres. There is minimal vaccine booster coverage in all countries, and there are low vaccination rates in poorer countries. He also warned of a “shadow pandemic” of vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation, that needs to be tackled.

The UN chief also called for testing rates to be drastically improved, and for countries to ensure they are fully prepared for future pandemics.

“Making progress towards closing these gaps is what today is all about, declared Mr. Guterres. “It’s time to build political momentum to finish the job on COVID-19”.

‘We have never been in a better position to end COVID-19’

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of UN health agency WHO, has had to deliver many downbeat remarks since the beginning of the pandemic but, at Friday’s event, he was able to send a remarkably positive message.

With so many people vaccinated, and reported deaths from the virus at the lowest levels since the beginning of the pandemic, the international community, he said, has “never been in a better position to end COVID-19 as a global health emergency”.

However, Tedros echoed the concerns raised by Mr. Guterres, and referred to a report, issued on Thursday by the WHO Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Council, which revealed that most low and middle-income countries have virtually no access to new antivirals.

Whilst the Accelerator is making progress, providing almost 1.5 billion vaccine doses, and supporting 68 new countries to reach vaccination coverage of at least 40 per cent, much more needs to be done, said Tedros: “we’re not there yet, but the end is in sight”.

‘Step by step, we are making progress ‘

The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, has played a key role in making sure vaccines are administered to those who need it, especially the most vulnerable.

In his opening remarks, Omar Abdi, the UNICEF Deputy Executive-Director, reminded those at the event of some of the achievements of her agency in tackling the health crisis.

These include the administering of more than 12.4 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines; financing and implementing the largest ultra-cold chain scale-up in history (UNICEF financed and delivered 800 ultra-cold chain freezers to nearly 70 countries in 2021 alone); and shipping over 1.2 billion items of personal protective equipment to protect frontline and healthcare workers and others in 142 countries.

“Step by step, we are making progress”, said Ms. Russell, “but we need to keep up the momentum to protect the world against future surges and new variants. Because as long as coverage continues to be inequitable, the pandemic will continue, and so will the serious risks it poses to children”.

The head of UNICEF drew the audience’s attention to some of the knock-on effects of the pandemic on children who, she said, figure amongst its biggest victims, having faced the devastating impacts on health, education and well-being.

Routine jabs plummet

Routine vaccinations for other diseases have been significantly disrupted; Ms. Russell pointed to data from WHO and UNICEF which show that 25 million children did not receive the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis – a marker for immunization coverage in general – in 2021.

“This is the largest, sustained drop in the rates of routine childhood vaccinations in a generation”, she warned, “potentially wiping out 30 years of progress if we don’t get back on track.”

SOURCE: UN News. Headline photo: Stock image.

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Humedad periferal asociada a la Tormenta Tropical Ian ahora sobre el centro del Caribe al sur de La Española, continuará afectando la región esta mañana, trayendo aguaceros y tronadas aisladas sobre las aguas costeras y partes del este y sur.

Los estimados de radar fueron mínimos y menos de un décimo de pulgada con la lluvia más fuerte. El viento estuvo generalmente leve y variable. Las temperaturas mínimas estuvieron en los altos 70s a cerca de 80 grados en áreas costeras y los altos 60s y bajos 70s en elevaciones altas.

Se espera que el tiempo se vaya secando tarde en la mañana y temprano en la tarde a medida que una masa de aire más seca se acerque a la región para el resto del día. Sin embargo, humedad disponible y los efectos locales se deben combinar para generar aguaceros en la tarde y tronadas aisladas son posibles. Las máximas estarán en los altos 80s y bajos 90s en áreas costeras y en los altos 70s y bajos 80s en elevaciones altas.

El oleaje continuará de hasta 6 pies en el Canal de la Mona y de 5 pies o menos en el resto del área, con vientos del este de 10 a 15 nudos. Existe riesgo moderado de corrientes marinas para la mayoría de las playas.

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The woman was asking a question at a town hall meeting in New York attended by Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Cabinet colleagues. CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP

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