| By Leonard GildarieClimate change has severely hampered the sugar industry to the extent that the number of days that the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has to till and harvest cane has been reduced by half.According to Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud,Blank Manchester Jersey, out of the expected 120 days annually, GuySuCo now has only 60 days and significant sum of monies have to be spent to double the fleet of equipment needed to ensure that production targets are met.GuySuCo may well have to work on a 24 hour basis to get work done.The Minister made the comment Thursday at the opening of Inception Workshop of the Second National Communication, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was held at the Tower Hotel.Guyana, in an effort to combat the effects of climate change, has adopted several measures including incentives for farmers using new technologies that help in the fight. Additionally, Guyana has kick-started a “Grow More Food” campaign which encourages farmers to use modern farming techniques.Currently, in the rice industry, some 36 varieties of rice paddy with the ability to resist extreme weather conditions are being developed.Climate change has forced reality on the world, Persaud said, with droughts and other natural disasters affecting global food supplies and causing shortages.Experts are estimating that 850 million persons will face hunger with a staggering 820 million of them coming from developing countries.The impact of climate change on the agricultural sector has manifested itself in many ways with flooding,Luis Tiant Red Sox Jersey, erosion and production loss high on the list.Guyana cannot wait anymore and must find the money to invest to meet the challenges of climate change, but limited resources and other priority area are competing for attention also, the government official warned.Already this year,Evan Engram Giants Jersey, Guyana will expend some $2.7 billion on drainage and irrigation which has been geared to meet climate changes. And the country is looking for US$60 million from the Japanese to complete the MMA-ADA agricultural project.Present at the workshop Thursday were several of the stakeholders involved in the fight against the effects of climate changes, including Chairman of the National Climate Committee, Shyam Nokta; UNDP Resident Representative Abubachry Tall, and Advisor to the President on Sustainable Development, Navin Chandarpal.On July 10, 2007,Phil Jones Jersey, the Guyana Government signed an agreement with the UNDP for some US$455,000 to assist in the fight against climate change and prepare for the country’s Second National Communication to the Conference of Parties to the Convention.Guyana has since established a National Climate Unit at the Ministry of Agriculture and promoted the use of renewable energy with increased focus on the agri sector and coastal infrastructure towards adapting to climate change.Meanwhile, the UNDP official, Mr Tall,Victor Valdes Manchester United Jersey, lauded Guyana for responding so well to the challenges with “seriousness and purpose”.“For a country like Guyana with 90 per cent of its population and a similarly large portion of its economic assets on a coastal plain roughly a meter below sea level, a lot is in balance. The stakes are high. And there is little choice but to act and to act boldly to reverse unfavorable odds.”Guyana re-examines Crime Stoppers againYesterday, Minister of Home Affairs,Jonas Hector Germany Jersey, Clement Rohee, along with members of the board met with Alex MacDonald, of Crime Stoppers Bermuda, and the Regional Director of CRIME STOPPERS International Caribbean/Latin America.MacDonald, who began by seeking to emphasise the importance of the programme, gave the board members a brief history of Crime Stoppers and called into account that Crime Stoppers is established in five continents and has been extremely successful in the regions and countries where Crime Stoppers has been established.The concept behind Crime Stoppers is that members of the public can anonymously call a chosen telephone number and provide them with information related to criminals or criminal activity.The information is then relayed to police by Crime Stoppers at which time they (Police) will use this information to their advantage.Members of the public who call will not be required to provide their names or any contact information.MacDonald added that the mission of Crime Stoppers is to develop an effective crime fighting organisation by bringing together communities, law enforcement and the media to work together to prevent/solve crimes.He went on to explain that the vision of Crime Stoppers is to create a safe, secure world.MacDonald told the Minister that Crime Stoppers is a successful programme and backed this up through the examination of various case studies.He also went on to explain how even though calls from a particular country were answered in a different country (via call centres) that the information provided was still valuable.He noted that the reason call centres are used is that in small communities, everyone knows everyone else’s business and for this reason it would be impossible to run a call centre in these small communities.Overseas call centres are therefore used as long as the person answering the call was familiar with what was transpiring as it relates to crime in that region.The information provided by the public is relayed back to the local authorities who take action from there. |
