“I hope what I have been able to experience and achieve will serve as an example…to let young women, and females in general, know that there is nothing to fear in the “man’s” world. Once you prove yourself, you will be respected.” – Paula Mc AdamBy Leonard GildarieThe evidence is clear. More and more women are taking the reins of influential positions traditionally held by men. As a matter of fact, business magazine, Forbes, said that 2012 was a standout year for women in business. For the first time in history, there were 20 female CEOs at the 500 biggest U.S. corporations, with several foreign businesswomen moving into global power positions and a growing number on major company boards.In Guyana, there are numerous examples of women stepping up in male-dominated areas. This week’s ‘Special Person’ is a perfect example. Though working behind the scenes, Paula McAdam has worked her way up in the aviation industry, now holding one of the most powerful positions in the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) – the body that regulates the country’s airspace.Paula Mc AdamShe has achieved many firsts in an industry which has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, most notably with the expansion and accreditation of Ogle Airport.A mother of three and set to retire this year, Mc Adam is currently GCAA’s Director of Aviation Safety Regulation – and the longest serving staff member.Her career spans more than three decades. She was appointed Air Traffic Control Officer in 1979 – Guyana’s first female to have been hired for that job.She was also the first female to be appointed Senior Air Traffic Control Officer; Assistant Aviation Inspector – Personnel Licensing; Aviation Inspector – Aerodromes; Deputy Director Acting and currently Director of Aviation Safety Regulation.She is the lead investigator in the Flight BW523 accident that occurred on July 30, 2011, which left a Caribbean Airlines aircraft broken in two and the spotlight on the aviation industry. She is tasked with preparing the crash report of that high-profile accident. It would be the first time that Guyana would undertake such a report, and it will have to withstand international scrutiny.SHOT AT…Paula Mc Adam has not had an easy time. Her home at Annandale was shot at and grenades thrown during the crime wave that rocked the country in the mid-2000s. Gunmen mistook her visitors for rival gang members. She almost gave up and left Guyana. That home has been sold.In the 1990s, while flying to Aishalton, a small plane she was in encountered bad weather and had to make an emergency landing in a half-completed runway. She still receives calls every Holy Thursday, wishing her a “happy birthday”, for her miraculous escape.She was heavily pregnant in late 1970s when the training began for new Air Traffic Control Officers. She gave birth and eight days into the training, a determined Paula who dreamt of becoming an officer, attended classes. Her perseverance paid off and she became the only female among the 10 or so persons hired.Moments after receiving a plaque from Prime Minister Samuel Hinds at a recent ceremony honouring women in the aviation sectorKaieteur News caught up with the former Bishops’ High School student at her office. She is about to proceed on pre-retirement leave and there are talks to have her stay on.The fifth of 10 children, the little city girl always knew she wanted to do something different. When all the girls were eyeing careers in teaching, and as office clerks and secretaries, Paula took classes in cartography, landing her first job at 17 years old at the then Lands and Surveys Department..“Being in the middle, I was forced to carve my own way. I was always independent.”Paula’s father was a postal worker, retiring eventually as Chief Postmaster at Linden Post Office.While her father held his job in Linden, the family stayed in the city,Cheap Sports Jerseys, living in West Ruimveldt and then Lamaha Gardens.“My dad would come down on the weekends. As we got older and became independent, my mother spent more time with him.”While working at Lands and Surveys, Paula saw the advertisement for Air Traffic Control Assistant at what was then called the Civil Aviation Department. The interviewing process was a tough one, testing applicants’ simultaneous capacity to listen, write and answer questions, all at the same time.“Yes, it was stringent, with the pass mark at 70%, but I did well.”IMPORTANT TO BE ALERTIt was not easy work in the beginning. Paula had to travel from the city to Timehri working the shift system at the Control Tower, and it did take its toll on her personal life, but she persevered. She was promoted seven times.Her first major incident involved a BWIA flight which encountered bad weather as it was about to take off.“I gave the okay for the flight to take off. The area was clear around the tower. However, bad weather and poor visibility came on rather s

By Rustom SeegopaulThe Berbice River Bridge is now expected to open sometime around the middle or end of October, approximately one month after the initial deadline for the opening of the structure. So says the Chairman of the Berbice Bridge Company Incorporated’s (BBCI) Technical Committee, Bert Carter.The primary reason given for the setback of the Bridge’s completion is the delay of vital supplies and parts needed in the construction of the Retractor Span. Sources have explained that the parts which were en route to Guyana via the Europe West Indies Line (EWL) shipping line were returned to their point of origin in the United Kingdom after that particular shipping line declared bankruptcy on July 2, 2008.Upon the return of these parts, the containers were apparently unpacked and then repacked and shipped using the European Caribbean Line (ECL) shipping entity. It is yet unclear as to when exactly the shipment will arrive here, but the new date of completion of the Bridge has been adjusted as a consequence.Carter further noted that while the arrival of the parts had been delayed,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, it did not play a significant role to BBCI, in terms of cost, as the contract which had been awarded for the construction of the Bridge was a fixed price agreement.Carter highlighted that while there had been some minor oversights in the construction,cheap nfl jerseys china, and several small changes were made to the original plans, all of these were anticipated and because of this,Wholesale Jerseys Cheap, they had been budgeted for.Over the weekend, additional work had been done on the Landing Spans of the Bridge, and now the Bridge is connected to both banks of the Berbice River.Despite the delays in the completion of the Bridge, the Demerara Harbour Bridge’s General Manager Rawlston Adams,Cheap China Jerseys, who is also overseeing the building of the access roads for the Berbice Bridge, has confirmed that the access roads leading up to and from the Berbice Bridge will “be finished by the time the Bridge is completed.”According to the contract signed by DIPCON, the contracting company charged with building the access roads, time has been allocated until April of 2009 to complete the roads, with the necessary lighting and markings valued at US$8.7 million. Adams clarified that there were two different deadlines in the contract with DIPCON.The first was an 18-month deadline, which stipulated that by then the asphalting of the road needed to be completed. Adams noted that by the looks of things, this deadline would be met. The second deadline was a 24-month deadline. By this deadline (in April 2009), the drainage, lighting and marking of the access roads needed to be finished.The construction of access roads have displaced some 35 families, who had to relocated to facilitate works on the Western Bank, while on the Eastern Bank, persons were compensated for 87 strips of farmland.According to sources, the Berbice Bridge will be handed over to the Government of Guyana 22 years after it has been opened. The bridge was built by a group of six private shareholders; however, the process of the construction of the bridge was facilitated by the Government.The bridge will be privately owned for 21 years, and at the end of the 21st year,Wholesale NHL Jerseys, the Government will take ownership of the bridge, as the shareholders would have been expected to have recuperated their money by the end of this period of time.

The Spanish EU Presidency views the Latin America and Caribbean summit in Madrid next week as a “golden opportunity” to better relations between the two regions at a global level.The official website of the Spanish EU Presidency considers Tuesday’s summit “one of the central points on the Spanish Presidency’s agenda,” given that Madrid has actively promoted its relationship with Latin America and that Spain is the “natural bridge” between the two regions.Spain believes “the moment has come to give the bi-regional relations new depth,Cheap Jerseys Wholesale, so they can be more intense,Cheap Jerseys From China, more useful and able to respond to international circumstances.”The presidency hopes that the meeting will “end with an ambitious final declaration,Nike Air Max Shoes For Women, with the creation of a foundation to enable civil society to participate in the construction of bi-regional relations, and with the approval of an action plan, which will be the first to be adopted at a EU-LAC summit.”“This action plan includes co-operation in five areas: science, technology and innovation; the environment,Cheap Jerseys From China, climate change and energy; regional integration and cohesion; education and employment and the battle against drugs,” the website statement says.The final declaration of the summit, titled “innovation and technology for sustainable development and social inclusion”, will stress that the regions are “partners in tackling global challenges”, such as overcoming the economic crisis and building a new global financial structure.Four sub-regional summits will also be held in Madrid,Mens Nike Free Run, starting on Monday with the EU-CARIFORUM (Caribbean Forum) and the summit with Mercosur, a Latin American trading bloc which groups Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.