The agency upon which the Caribbean will depend to strengthen agricultural health and food safety and ensure the highest standards for trade in agricultural products, was launched Thursday in Paramaribo,Cheap China Jerseys Authentic, Suriname.The Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) was inaugurated at an elaborate ceremony on the grounds of the Ministry of Agriculture in Suriname, where it will be housed.CAHFSA was given the green light last week in Roseau,Nike NFL Jerseys China, Dominica, at the Twenty-First Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government.Among CAHFSA’s tasks are developing technical measures and protocols required to achieve SPS certification for agricultural trade. CAHFSA will also devise arrangements to reduce the use of SPS measures as non-tariff barriers, including undue administrative delays in the clearance of perishable agricultural goods as restrictions to agricultural trade.Ronald Venetiaan,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, President of Suriname and Kermechand Raghoebarsing,Cheap Jerseys Store, Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries of Suriname and Edwin Carrington,NFL Jerseys From China, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) officiated at the ceremony which featured the signing of the CAHFSA Headquarters Agreement, the opening of an integrated laboratory, the unveiling of the CAHFSA plaque, a mini fair of products and a reception and cultural programme.According to the CARICOM Secretariat,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, President Venetiaan told the gathering that there was need for clear rules and harmonisation in the region and a complete safety system in agriculture.Recent diseases that posed threats to the agricultural sector such as the H1N1, Bird Flu and BSE (Mad Cow disease) made the region painfully aware of the need for food standards, Venetiaan was quoted as saying.He added that investment in food safety would be of strategic importance in keeping the Region’s export markets open, saying the total value chain must be assessed when considering safety of food and that producers and food handlers were all participants in the food safety quest.According to the Secretary-General, CAHFSA’s operations are vital to fulfilling the provisions of the Treaty of Chaguaramas which called for the establishment of effective Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary regime and for the harmonisation of laws, administrative practices and procedures in respect of agriculture.He noted that the Jagdeo Initiative had identified the current agricultural health and food safety system as a key binding constraint to the further development of the Region’s agricultural sector.“Undoubtedly therefore, this Agency will undergird the drive toward greater Community trade in food and agricultural products giving impetus to the CSME,” Carrington stated.“In particular, in the context of increasing the Region’s share of the global trade in agricultural products and the dearth of national capacity in agricultural health and food safety, CAHFSA’s role assumes even greater significance,” the Secretary-General said at the launching.The inauguration of CAHFSA was held during a week of events in Suriname devoted to agriculture including a seminar on CAHFSA, a meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) and a Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture.

… Wage and salaries negotiationsThe Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) and its workers’ union are at a stalemate over the disclosure of some workers’ pay. On one hand,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, the Guyana Postal and Telecommunications Workers’ Union (GPTWU) says that it wants data on workers with the bargaining unit, including years of service and the salary scale.GT&T is refusing on the grounds that some workers may not want to disclose their details. The company said, however, that it is prepared to accede to requests once workers give their permission.GT&T's CEO, Yog MahadeoSalary and wages negotiations, which the union was initially demanding a 45 per cent increase, are ongoing for the period up to September 30, 2012. Yesterday, during a press conference at the union’s headquarters in East Street, GPTWU’s President, Harold Shepherd, claimed that negotiations for its 400-strong members has been ongoing since November but GT&T management is still reluctant to provide notes of the accounts for the financial year ending December 31, 2009.ListAccording to Shepherd, the request for information includes a list of persons within the bargaining unit,Cheap Jerseys From China, their years of service, their positions on the salary scale and their positions along the steps on its membership, which would have hopefully propelled the negotiations process.? He said that the GPTWU is the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for the employees of the company, in the A10-SO salary scales, and believes very strongly that its request should not be denied.“The Union had since written the Chief Labour Officer requesting conciliation on the issue of the Company’s reluctance to provide the requested information. That meeting was held and the Management of GT&T has again restated that the information will not be disclosed,NFL Jerseys China,” Shepherd said.Arguing for better pay in light of GT&T’s excellent financial performance, the GPTWU president said that the wages leave much to be desired.“While the union is not against the company giving back to the Guyanese populace, at the same time, the employees of the company who have been doing their best under extreme circumstances must be given a fair share of the cake,Cheap NFL Jerseys Supply,” the official stressed.He said that the Company has the ability to pay the increases in wages and salaries but prefer to tie it to annual inflation.“The union wishes to also express its concerns about the high influx of a steady stream of temporary staff that is being employed by the company to function in permanent positions…we are calling on management to appoint those employees to the positions within the establishment,Wholesale NFL Jerseys,” Shepherd urged.RefusalBut GT&T also hosted it own press conference with Chief Executive Officer, Yog Mahadeo; Deputy General Manager of Public Communication, Terry Holder, and Charlene Parris-Sinclair, Industrial Relations Manager, also present.Making it clear that GT&T stands committed to resolving the issues,jerseys nfl wholesale, Mahadeo explained that the union wanted information on staffers but after reviewing the request, GT&T decided not to allow it since it was felt that workers were the one to give such permission.GT&T and GPTWU last met in early January.The CEO, in addressing the accusations that GT&T preferred to work with temporary staffers denied that it was such a policy but rather a situation where the company is going through changes and decisions are now being made as to the directions. Regarding accusations that some workers may not be getting promotions, the official noted that he was one of the staffers that benefitted. He also pointed out that staffers who upgraded themselves would have been more likely the ones moving up.Even union officials benefitted from training, he argued, declining to dwell on the 45 per cent pay raise being demanded by the union. He expressed surprise at the union calling a press conference and said that it was only when the press called that GT&T was aware that the matter had now spilled over to the public.Regarding the matter reaching conciliation with the Ministry of Labour, Mahadeo noted that the “Conciliator” did not find GT&T refusal too unreasonable since the union could have gotten the details from their members.The officials also stressed that it still stands willing to continue dialogue with the union and pointed out that details of finances is also available every quarter and mid-year when its US-parent company, ATN releases them.

Less than half of the collectable rates and taxes were collected by the New Amsterdam Mayor and Town Council (M&TC) for last year. This was revealed by the town Treasurer,Wholesale Jerseys, Ms Sharon Anderson.The Town Council collects revenues from several entities, among them the New Amsterdam Market and Abattoir. There are cemetery fees,Jerseys NFL China, processing fees, issuing of health certificates and rates and taxes.The council also collects a bit,Jerseys From China, now and again,Cheap Jerseys, from renting the Town Hall and some other municipal facilities.Ms Anderson stated that the council would collect most of its revenues from taxes and the least from the abattoir.She is not pleased with members of the public and officials who say that they do not know what the council is doing with the rates and taxes. She said that the taxes are just meager sums of monies that are only paid by some citizens of the town.It was revealed that a new tax rate was supposed to have come out, but because this has not yet materialised, there are no significant amounts of taxes collected by the council.The official also stated that one major hindrance to collection of reasonable amounts of rates and taxes is the low valuation of properties and lands. For example, if a property is valued at $800, that homeowner would pay only $3,120 in taxes annually.She stated that many properties around the town have very small values attached to them. Tax is calculated at 390 per cent, a rise from 325 per cent in 2006. The Treasurer also said that tax collections are dropping significantly every year.She cited empty lots around the town,China Jerseys Cheap, especially in the Tucber area, where the council cannot locate the owners to collect taxes.Not much has worked to get citizens to pay rates and taxes. Sending out demand notices, lawyers’ letters and offering persons payment plans have not worked at all. “We have persons who owe the municipality since the 90’s”, she said.The Treasurer was responding to accusations by Region Six officials who claim mismanagement of taxpayers’ funds. “The only thing the council is guilty of is not letting the public know what is going on,Jerseys Wholesale,” she said.Responding to allegations of financial mismanagement, the Treasurer showed Kaieteur News the past receipts and bank statements of collections of the $10M Government subventions.Anderson said that even though the last State audit of the town was done in 1996 (a period when she was not working there), financial statements were submitted from 1997- 2009 to the Ministry of Local Government. If the statements were found questionable the Ministry would have sent auditors to check the council’s books, she said.(Leon Suseran)