After being more than a year behind schedule, the Guyana Government is finally preparing to impose the penalty clause on contractors, should the Hope/Dochfour Canal not be completed by next month.This is according to Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who noted yesterday that his Ministry has been quite patient with the three contracted companies, especially as it relates to accommodating extensions of proposed deadlines.The construction of the $3B Hope/Dochfour Northern Relief Channel was aWorks ongoing on the Head Regulator in Julyventure undertaken by the former Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, who estimated an 18-month completion, when construction commenced in February 2011.Late last year Dr. Ramsammy, in his capacity as Agriculture Minister,Wholesale NFL Jerseys China, announced an extended completion date – June 2013. This deadline was subsequently extended to August 31, and later to December-January 2013.“The government will not accept another extension,” Dr. Ramsammy stressed.One of the largest infrastructure initiatives in Guyana’s history, overall works on the Hope/Dochfour Canal is approximately 80 percent completed.It has been purported that the relief channel would have the capacity to withstand floods greater than that which occurred in 2005.So far, the three-gated Head Regulator- the component assigned to BK International, is near completion.The excavation of the 10.3km long earthen channel, which is being carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, is about 90 percent complete. The process of shaping the dam is currently ongoing, with 30 percent already done.“It has been anticipated that the canal would be completed last, since this is dependent on the completion of the other structures,” Dr. Ramsammy said.The channel is being constructed to ease the pressure of water on the East Demerara Water Conservancy at times when it reaches its maximum capacity,Cheap NFL Jerseys, releasing it into the Atlantic Ocean, via an eight-gated high level outfall, the component which is being constructed by Courtney Benn Contracting Services.Meanwhile,China Jerseys Cheap, the bridge, sited on the East Coast Public Road, is about 80 percent complete.Works are being carried out by DIPCON Engineering. Dr. Ramsammy said that the process of building an incline road to the bridge is also currently ongoing.Minister Ramsammy pointed out that while he would not entertain an extension of the project’s deadline,Authentic China Jerseys, the works being carried out so far are impressive.“Even people close to me had said that this project would be impossible, but today, for us to be talking about a deadline, is a major accomplishment,” Dr. Ramsammy said, adding that he is hopeful that none of the contractors would let him down by failing to meet the December deadline.Earlier, in July, a Parliamentary committee visited the multibillion dollar relief channel.? Opposition Members of Parliament Joseph Harmon and Rupert Roopnaraine said that they were generally impressed with the works.Roopnaraine had said that even though he was skeptical at the outset about the project and its significant cost, it is commendable that the local engineers and their subordinates were able to overcome the many technical challenges and complete a considerable portion of the overall project.He had said however that initially, he was for the upgrading the East Bank Demerara outlets,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, rather than the major investment in the Hope Canal.“I think that when it’s completed,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, the Hope Canal will serve its purpose. I think the work that these engineers were able to complete, with all the technical challenges, is impressive,” A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s Roopnaraine added.Joseph Harmon had told Kaieteur News that the works being carried out by the local engineers are testament to the fact that “We don’t need so much of the Chinese and other foreign contractors.”The project is being spearheaded by Chief Executive Officer of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority, Lionel Wordsworth, and is being supervised by Raymond Latchman Singh and Dr. Ramsammy. (Rehana Ashley Ahamad)

-hackers demand payment to restore data The Guyana National Computer Incident Response Team (GNCIRT) is putting local businesses and organsations on alert to the threat of individuals who are causing damage to computer data and demanding payment for that data to be restored.The warning comes in the wake of a recent? incident in which computer data from one prominent Government agency was? infected by ransomware.“The Guyana National Computer Incident Response Team (GNCIRT) had one recent report of? ransomware that infected several computers at a prominent Government agency in Guyana and caused irreparable damage to important data files and inconvenience to users,” the GNCIRT release stated.“Given the global trend, GNCIRT has reason to believe that Guyanese users, especially organisations and businesses processing financial transactions via email,Cheap NBA Jerseys China, are at high risk.”“Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts your data files and demands payment in return for the key to decrypt your files. A successful ransomware attack will encrypt your data files and make them unavailable to you.“When an individual or member of staff tries to access the data files,Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic, they are pointed to a ransom note with directions on how to make a payment in order to regain access to the data files.”“GNCIRT advises that a payment should never be made as there is no guarantee that the attackers will provide the decryption key. Instead, all precautions should be taken to prevent a successful attack.The release stated that the current trend is for the malware to be propagated via spam email with malicious attachments. The subject of the emails relate to alleged ‘Invoices’, ‘Payments’, ‘Payment Notices’ or ‘Wire Transfers’ and typically have a ‘Reference# or Invoice#’ followed by random numbers to appear legitimate.The emails have an accompanying malicious attachment which is typically a zip file and include the reference number and words such as ‘invoice’ or ‘info’ or ‘note’. The use of these keywords suggests that the attackers are targeting businesses and organizations involved in processing financial transactions.Examples of email headers are:???“GNCIRT advises that all staff accessing emails on their desktops or on their mobile phones be made aware of this threat. They should be alerted not to click on any suspicious emails or download any suspicious attachments. While the immediate threat is against Microsoft Windows desktop users,? mobile phone users are also at risk for ransomware.Persons who are using a personal computer at home are advised to delete any suspicious e-mails and to be on the alert for future threats.Persons using an organization’s e-mail service are advised to immediately report these spam mail to their System and Network Administrator or any such person(s) who may be administering the network and email services.GNCIRT advised that the following preventative measures be taken:Make regular backup of your data files to limit the loss of data.? Daily backups of critical files should be done by the System Administrator.Backups should be securely stored away from the computer systems. Flash drives and back up drives should not be left connected to computer systems.Alert all staff to exercise caution when opening emails. One careless act can expose an entire network to serious loss of data.Pay special attention to emails from unknown email addresses, emails with attachments and emails appearing to suggest payments, receipts and invoices.Observe emails that appear to come from known associates with minor variations to their names and email addresses.Also be aware of attachments with file extensions that do not match the respective document types eg. Executable files (.exe, .js, .bat,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, etc) masquerading as office documents (.docx, .xlsx, .odt, .pptx, etc).Use an antivirus software to scan for malware.? There should be online protection as well as scheduled boot scans. It is important that the antivirus software be kept up-to-date to ensure that new strains of the viruses are detected.Do not use pirated software, as most pirated software contain malware.Plug all vulnerabilities by installing all approved patches (updates) for your operating system and application software.If infected,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, GNCIRT recommends the following steps be taken to mitigate the impacto not pay any ransom demand.Disconnect the impacted system/s from the network immediately and quarantine same in a secured location.Halt usage of impacted system/s to minimize loss of data.Attempt to identify which variant of ransomware you are infected with.Notify the Guyana National Computer Incident Response TeamPlease refer to www.cirt.