Black Immigrant Daily News

Member of Parliament for Manchester Central, Rhoda Crawford, has called for the National Water Commission (NWC) and the National Works Agency (NWA) to better coordinate their activities to prevent situations where freshly paved roads are constantly dug up by the water utility.

Crawford made the call on Tuesday during her contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives. She said she was particularly disheartened a few months ago when a NWC team dug up a section of a roadway in her constituency mere hours after it was paved.

Crawford said she accepted that there will always be challenges.

“But there are some man-made hurdles that can be removed or systems can be implemented to allow for greater effectiveness. Consequently, permit me to call upon the National Works Agency and the National Water Commission to enter into, and or enforce a Memorandum of Understanding to ensure that the two entities execute their duties collaboratively,” Crawford said.

“We have far too often borne witness to the dismantling of freshly asphalted roads to facilitate the installation or repairs of pipelines,” she added.

Crawford told her colleagues that: “My heart broke a few months ago when I received pictures and a phone call from an angry and frustrated constituent who saw a work team from the NWC digging into a section of the roadway less than two hours after my ‘ROAD-A-FIX’ team had concluded road repairs. This practice must not continue, too much of taxpayer’s monies and time are being wasted”.

Meanwhile, the first-term Member of Parliament wants the Minister with responsibility for Water, the executive management team of the NWC and the managers of UC Rusal Windalco to jointly consider the feasibility of Government’s lease or purchase of at least three of the four wells located at Windalco’s Williamsfield plant in the constituency.

Crawford pointed out that the existing wells have the capacity to store and produce approximately three to four 4 million gallons of water daily.

“This far exceeds the existing 1.3 to 1.5 million gallons made available daily in the constituency through the NWC. With access to some of Windalco’s wells, many of the communities within the constituency that are not serviced by the NWC could for the first time gain access to potable water. This access would also create a more consistent flow of water into the homes of existing customers thereby tackling the issue of frequent water lock-offs,” Crawford said.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

El secretario del Departamento de Agricultura, Ramón González Beiró, indicó que las pérdidas económicas en dicho sector tras el impacto del huracán Fiona ascienden a los $100 millones, y que el típico pastel que se degusta a partir de noviembre y hasta febrero, en el periodo navideño, será a base de producto importado, debido a la pérdida de cultivos de guineo y plátano.

Aunque aclaró que no ha culminado el proceso de inspección y que no puede precisar las pérdidas en las industrias del plátano, el guineo y el café, informó que la pérdida general, “según los cálculos, a través de las ocho regiones, ya sobrepasan los 100 millones […] Definitivamente, plátanos y guineos, esta Navidad, los comeremos importados. Vamos a comenzar la próxima semana un proceso de identificar fitopatólogos para enviarlos a fincas en el exterior, certificarlas y establecer cuál va a ser el procedimiento para importar plátanos y guineos de forma segura y que no traigamos enfermedades que, posteriormente, sean peores para nuestros campos”, señaló el funcionario.

Asimismo, González Beiró indicó que espera que se sumen más solicitudes por parte de agricultores para reclamar daños y pérdidas en sus áreas de trabajo. La senadora por el Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (MVC), Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, pidió en la tarde de ayer, jueves, que se extienda la fecha límite para dicho proceso.

“Hasta anoche había dos mil reclamaciones y hoy esperamos muchas más. Obviamente, hay reclamaciones que ya están en el correo. Hay agricultores que la sometieron por correo. Pero [de] esas dos mil, la mayoría son vía correo electrónico, así que debemos estar por ahí. Yo pienso que hoy llegarán 800 o mil adicionales, y ya los inspectores están en el campo”, indicó el secretario.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Pawn shop Cashwiz has opened a sixth Jamaican location in Half-Way Tree. It also aims to launch two additional consignment stores in the country by the end of this year.

Cashwiz Regional Manager for Jamaica, Cargill Brown, said the additional location would continue to serve as a gateway for survival for the people it serves.

“With the global volatility and uncertainty that we now face and the continued global shortages of resources and rising inflation, our solution is to provide quality retail products to consumers. Our core – the people we serve – see us as a gateway for survival and continuity,” Brown said.

“Our mission is to be the largest and most profitable chain of pawn stores in the world, and this new location will enhance the speed at which our clientele can buy, sell and trade their items with us.”

Brown also disclosed the company’s intention to expand its footprint on the island this year.

“We are in the advanced stages of preparation to open a third store in Kingston, as well as a second Montego Bay location in the coming months,” he said.

He added: “These locations were strategically selected based on demand, and as time progresses, we intend to move into other parishes to better meet the needs of our clients.”

Cashwiz Regional Manager for Jamaica, Cargill Brown.

Located at Shop 21 Spring Plaza, the new store joins the company’s State Mall, Half-Way Tree Road in the corporate area, and its four other locations in Portmore, Montego Bay, Mandeville and May Pen, respectively.

Like its other stores across Jamaica and the Caribbean, the Springs Plaza Cashwiz will boast a wide selection of new and pre-owned valuables including (but not limited to) jewellery, electronics, household appliances, conch pearls and diamonds, musical instruments, tools and motor vehicles, and will allow clients to sell, trade, and even buy back their own items in mint condition.

General manager for the new location, Nyoka Blake, shared that she anticipates the Springs Plaza store to perform as well as the other location across the region and serve as another lifeline to those who need it.

“We’re looking forward to delivering exceptional service to all our different types of clients,” she expressed. “At Cashwiz we are always finding innovative solutions to assist our customers, some of whom are searching for credible ways to get by, and we will continue to deliver that at this location.”

Cashwiz, which is a Caribbean company operating in 10 regional markets, made its debut in Jamaica in 2012 and opened its flagship store in Portmore in 2017.

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From left, Claire Fitzpatrick, outgoing regional president, bpTT, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young, and David Campbell, incoming country head, bpTT.

Energy Minister Stuart Young on Friday met the new country of bpTT, David Campbell who replaces outgoing regional president Claire Fitzpatrick.

Campbell has been with bp for 38 years and held leadership roles in commercial, operational and technical fields, stated a release from the Energy Ministry.

Fitzpatrick accompanied Campbell to the meeting at the ministry’s office in Port of Spain. She paid her respects and appreciation to Young.

Fitzpatrick, who has been at bpTT since 2018, moves on to a new role at the energy giant in London. She has been a part of key projects with the ministry including the restructuring of Atlantic LNG, in which bpTT is a shareholder.

Young thanked Fitzpatrick for her support and looked forward to working with Campbell on ongoing and future projects.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The Kuru Kuru Co-operative Society is now in a better place as an Interim Management Committee (IMC) has been established to manage the affairs of the organisation.

This was revealed by Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton, who on Thursday responded to spurious claims made by Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton.

Norton was at the time addressing a press conference when he made the baseless allegation that the PPP/C Government acted to “take away land from the African Guyanese at Kuru Kuru Co-op to give to PPP supporters”.

This, however, was described as a “patent lie” by Minister Hamilton, who has overarching responsibility for Co-op societies.

Documentation seen by the Department of Public Information revealed that the society was in financial shambles before the intervention of the labour ministry.

“The former management committee could not get dues collected from members, because [the members] had no confidence in them to spend their money and to manage,” the minister pointed out.

This lack of confidence, the Minister said, could have been premised on the fact that the management committee was unable to produce any audits for several years and could not properly account for monies received and spent.

However, since the establishment of the IMC, several developmental plans have been outlined for the community.

The trust of the members has also been retained by the administrative body.

“From the period when the IMC came into being, which is less than a year, they were able to get $9.4 million in dues during that period because the people now have confidence in them and what they’re doing.

“They are opening up lands. They are seeking to have constructed new roads…The ministry of public works has started to do a new road in there…they have reached home affairs to seek to have the police put a police station in the area. They have [also] reached out to the health ministry to seek to have the ministry put a health centre in there and they have already cleared the land,” the Minister stated.

The co-op, Minister Hamilton said, can now stand on its own financially as it is no longer “in the red”.

“These people have moved this co-op society from a society that was limping. When you look at what they have done…the bank balance, as I speak to you, is $28.8 million, moving from a position of R-E-D.”

He affirmed his Ministry’s commitment to ensuring the smooth and effective functioning of all co-op societies in Guyana.

“These things were established to help ordinary people and if people are utilizing them to rob ordinary people, I will bring an end to that. I have no apologies for Norton or nobody…that is what I will continue to do,” the Labour Minister assured.

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