“I try as a matter of principle to do at least one good deed every day and I see my reward…and we’re a happy contented family. I basically love people; I don’t know what it is to hate. Life is about making choices and we’ve made the right choices and we are happy.” By Leon SuseranThere is a popular saying… “show me your friends and I will tell who you are”. This week’sAbout to deliver a May Day Speech in Moscow in 1981. With Clement Johnson is a translator.‘Special Person’ has close ties, both personally and professionally,Cheap NBA Jerseys, with not one, not two but three of our previously featured ‘Special Persons’.Clement Augustine Johnson has worked side by side etching his mark in Guyanese history and making his contribution to the trade union movement in this country with the likes of previously featured Donald Thom and Norman Semple,wholesale nfl jerseys, both of whom have been actively involved in the Trade Union movement here. He has shared the past years of his life with a woman who has made an indelible contribution to the health sector, veteran nurse, Brenda Johnson, who too was featured in June last year.Early lifeJohnson, who presently resides at Vryman’s Erven, New Amsterdam, undoubtedly has shared some of the best years of his life fighting for workers’ rights and ensuring their needs were being taken care of.He was born on January 18, 1933 at Parika, Essequibo, to Colin Augustine Johnson and Julia Johnson, in one of the Portuguese shops which was managed by his father.The shop was downstairs and the living quarters were upstairs. “The shop had one hundred glass windows, but we had to close one, because only the Government House at the time could have had one hundred windows,” he recalled. He left Parika at age four for the village at Henrietta, Essequibo where he resided with his mother and grandmother.His grandparents did farming at an old sugar estate compound at La Belle Alliance. At age five, he started school at Anna Regina under headmaster of Mr. W. A. King. In 1940, his father left the shop in Parika, and opened his own business at Henrietta, Essequibo coast, which he operated for two years after which he was encouraged to join the British Guiana Postal Service (BGPS) as a postal agent.Having transferred to Danielstown, young Clement also had to move with his father. In 1943, his father was transferred to Parika as a postal agent but the family did not follow him this time.In 1944 young Clement moved to Georgetown to live with his sister who had recently got married and he attended the St. Mary’s R.C. School which was operated by Jesuit priests.During that period, his mother left Essequibo and came to Parika where his father was, so as “a result of that I had to be traveling from Georgetown to Parika with trains”.Clement Augustine JohnsonHe continued this until 1947 when again his father was transferred to Sisters Village on the East Bank of Berbice.Johnson later attended St Stanislaus College in 1950.? He recalled that he was overaged when he went to that school “but due to my father being a good Catholic and so, I was able to get into that school”.He wrote the Junior Joint Board in 1950 which he passed “and I came up [to Berbice] because I realized that my father was getting a stipend—and in those days you had to pay for education and it used to cost him a lot, but he figured I was his only son, he should try, so I came out of school and said I would have looked for a job.”He applied to the Harvey Metal Company and Public Works Department in New Amsterdam. He received a reply from Public Works and decided to accept the offer since “working with government was a sure thing”. He worked as an Assistant Storekeeper under the engineer, Mervin Greave, a Guyana scholar. During this period, Johnson met the love of his life, Brenda Paul.She was 20 and Johnson was 23. How they met each other proved to be quite an interesting story. Her mother used to work at the Guyana House (Government House) as a cook and she would go there to collect her mother’s salary. They would see each other from time to time. “So she would come for the mother’s wages and so on and she would come… we will talk and talking led to one thing and so on, and then we got married on September 15, 1956,” he recalled. As his wife was from the East Coast of Demerara, Johnson wanted to be close to her. He contemplated asking for a transfer. “We discussed before marriage that I should ask for the transfer, because we felt as young people, we must learn to be independent and don’t be dependent on mommy and daddy so we left since I asked for a transfer to work with the Public Works at Triumph. He was employed there from 1956 to 1959. Being a person who likes to be transferred to work in different locations, Johnson “was lucky to work at the Central Mechanical Workshop at Kingston as a Class II Clerk, until 1965”.When asked if a

By Jarryl BryanTen years after the preliminary closure of OMAI gold mines, the largest ever gold mine in Guyana, the impending mid-2015 opening of the Guyana Gold Fields’ Aurora? mine is promising to dwarf OMAI in size, according to the Guyana Gold and Diamond Mining Association (GGDMA).The GGDMA attested to being satisfied that work, which is at an estimated 85 percent completion, was proceeding according to International best practices.Visiting TeamThe Commission, which visited the mine in August 2014, has also lauded the construction already covered,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, declaring it as “enormous and astounding.” According to the GGDMA, their visit was in keeping with their oversight of the mining sector and to also serve as a forum to address certain issues of concern.According to observations by the GGMC, it was observed that renovation works were being conducted at the Aurora Airstrip. In addition, the base camp was relocated in order to accommodate preparation works for protective dikes between the Cuyuni River and the pit mining areas.It was also observed that rushing, milling, mineral separation and cyanide plant infrastructures were already assembled and the tailings management area was also nearing completion, with the pipelines already in place.At the time of the visit, the electrical power generation equipment and distribution network were being installed with the supporting fuel storage systems being fabricated on-site.storage and fuel tanks, feeder system, power generation, conveyor system, mill and processingThe visiting delegation was allowed access to every facet of the construction,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, with explanations and rationale proffered for the various designs and best practices. Guyana Gold fields are on target for the estimated completion of construction of the mine in June 2015 with mining operations commencing in early July 2015.Projected benefits of Guyana Gold Fields on economyThe Mining sector has continuously contributed to the national economy and the development of Guyana. The development and progress of the mining sector after the closure of OMAI in 2005, was as a direct result of the performance of the small and medium scale gold mining operations which declared a record 438,645 and 481,103 ounces of gold in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Gold declarations have continuously increased from 2003 to 2013 until the low price of gold impacted on the sector.Workers AccommodationThe Commission has always sought to work in the best interest of all miners and the sector. In this regard, a commitment was made to continue working with GGDMA to assist small miners in the adoption of new technologies to increase gold recoveries while phasing out the use of mercury. According to the GGDMA, these initiatives will be supported by the Commission and a sum of GYD$1 Billion has been earmarked to assist the processes which are even more critical given the low gold recovery rate, high cost of production and current low price of gold.In this regard, the Chairman of the GGMC has reportedly extended an invitation to the Goldfields to participate in a Mercury Free and Improved Gold Recovery Workshop which the Commission has planned in June, 2015.? This would ensure a forum for the dissemination of expertise and knowledge by the Goldfield’s consultants in the area of recovery technologies.For the large scale mining operations set to come on stream, the Commission has worked in order to foster and promote relationships between Goldfields and entities/Ministries of the Government to ensure that undue delays are not experienced, that could jeopardize the mining project. Interventions were made after requests by Goldfields,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale, who were experiencing lengthy delays which would have impacted on the timeline for completion. The company expressed its appreciation for the intervention of the Commission and the Ministry to avoid and/or minimize such delays.According to the Commission, the importance of the bringing the Goldfields Aurora mines on stream cannot be overstated since the sector can benefit from the estimated proved reserves of approximately 3.29 million ounces of gold over an estimated mine life of 17 years. They also stated that the gold production and declaration will be a tremendous boost to the mining sector and greatly benefit the nation as a whole. The sector will also benefit from the royalties that will be paid on production,Wholesale Jerseys China, in addition to eligible corporation tax payments. Further, the importance of the transfer of technology and international best practices to Guyanese and other mining operations,China Jerseys, the time of construction to operat