-Lands in Region Six earmarked for projectBy Kiana WilburgA Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) Shadow Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, believes that all plans to move ahead with the recently signed Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago should be halted because it is shrouded in too much secrecy.APNU’s Shadow Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Dr. Rupert RoopnarineThe MOU, which is a Jagdeo based initiative is geared towards making some of Guyana’s lands available to the Twin Island to invest in Agriculture.The Ministry of Agriculture recently informed that the exact amount of land which will be granted to the Caricom member state has not been agreed upon though it has been reported that some 10,China NFL Jerseys,000 acres of land was already earmarked for the project.At a press briefing on Thursday last, Minister of Agriculture,Cheap Jerseys, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy as well as the Food Production Minister of the neighbouring island, Devant Maharaj, said that based on the findings of the technical team, they will be moving forward with the project.However, the detailed findings of the technical team were not disclosed by either Minister.Meanwhile, lands in Region Six, in particular,China Jerseys, the Canjie Basin and the intermediate savannahs, were earmarked for the possible Trinidadian investors to use for agricultural purposes.However, Dr. Ramsammy revealed to this publication that while these potential areas have been identified, the amount of land that will be used is still undetermined until specific investment proposals are made.Be that as it may, Dr. Roopnarine has asserted that while he is not informed about the details of the MOU, he insists that all plans to move forward with this aspect of the project should be brought to a standstill immediately.Although reports have been made that Guyana stands to gain substantial benefits from this project, the APNU politician stressed that the “details” of these so-called benefits have not been made public.“How does this project benefit the people of Guyana? Why the findings of the technical team weren’t made public information and how does this fit into our plan for the Agricultural development of Guyana? We need to know these details for such a project,Jerseys NFL Cheap, and until then I believe that it should be shelved and the MOU be made a subject of wider consultations.”The Member of Parliament also said that the details of the MOU should also be made public as well.He said, “Land is a very sensitive issue and when it comes to issuing lands to non Guyanese for the best of reasons, all details must be revealed.”(From left) Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy and Food Production Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Devant MaharajAt the press briefing,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, Dr. Ramsammy had also indicated that they are still in the initial stages of this collaboration, but have made some amount of headway as they have already identified crops such as corn and soya to be propagated.Discussions with regard to the land deal are still ongoing.Maharaj has also stressed that the project is being done with the intention of creating sustainable employment and to diversify the T&T economy from being heavily dependent on energy and moving towards developing a second frontier.He also expressed that the project comes at a critical time since they are currently turning away investors due to the unavailability of land needed for such a venture to successfully materialize.When Maharaj was asked about the reports of Trinidadians who expressed concerns over the project, referring to it as irrelevant, since they claimed that their island already has fertile land,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, the Food Production Minister said, “We may have the acreage but it is broken up and spread across the entire island.”He said that to date he has received no objection towards the signed MOU since it was announced earlier this year.Maharaj is of the belief that these “alleged complaints” are spread by political agents who are simply seeking political mileage.”He said, “The Housing Ministry is mandated to provide subsidized housing for persons in TT. To date, we have close to 200,000 applications for housing and they only produced about 9000 houses in the last three years. Before that, they produced about 2000 houses so this gives an idea about the intense competition we have for land between housing and agriculture.”“There are lands in TT but persons are either uneducated or uninformed when they make statements about TT having land for this project. They think lands are ju

A consumer body battling US-owned Guyana Telephone and Telephone Company (GTT) over an application to raise rates,Wholesale NFL Jerseys Online, is refuting claims by the latter that citizens are no longer interested in owning a landline.According to the Guyana Consumers Association (GCA), GTT’s claim is “preposterous from our experience as consumer advocates”.The arguments are part of the consumer’s body submissions to the regulator – the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).GTT has applied to hike rates for its landlines and for international calls.However GCA is objecting, accusing the telephone company hiding its true profits and employing creative accounting practices to hide its assets and true profits.In addition to calling for the administration to launch a forensic audit, GCA also accused the company of easing its landline expansions in favour of the more lucrative mobile services.Several new housing schemes have been complaining of waiting years for services…in vain.“GTT does not repair consumers’ telephones in good time, sometimes for months. People are therefore forced to buy cell phones. More importantly, thousands of people have applied for landline phones,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, but GTT does not ever supply them. Sometimes applications are in the system for several years,” GCA said in its objections.“Many parents have come to us complaining that they have applied for landline phones so as to allow their children to use the internet to help them in their studies but GTT never supplies the landlines. It is our understanding that GTT deliberately does not supply the landline phones and this forces people to buy cellular phones.”The consumer body is challenging GTT to test the “truth” of the landline market by prominently advertising in the press,NFL Jerseys China, and on TV, that the company would be able to supply all applicants for landlines within two weeks or a month,China NFL Jerseys, and that it would repair customers’ phones with immediacy.“If GTT does this, this would be the first time in 10 years they would be marketing the landlines. We are asking the PUC to request GTT to test the truth of the landline market by reasonably quickly supplying the landlines and effectuating the repairs and doing the suggested marketing.”GCA said that the telephone company, in its application, has expressed a presumption that if the PUC increased the landline rates, consumers will use it more.“We are anxious to see the survey, market analysis or study that they would have undertaken to come to this conclusion. We would ask the PUC to also request a copy of this study. If the mobile rates were to be decreased to a more reasonable rate, would its usage increase or decrease?”The advocacy body also noted that GTT has claimed it had proposed a 50% decrease for most international calls.“They have done nothing of the kind, and we are looking forward for the lowering of international rates. International rates are falling everywhere and in Guyana, GTT is the only supplier with high rates. And even if they reduced by 50%, their rates will still be higher than all other local suppliers.”GCA in its submissions said it is also formally asking GTT to supply a comparison of termination costs that the company pays to other operators to terminate calls.“This data should be presented on a year by year basis,Authentic Adidas Hockey Jerseys China, so that we can see how termination costs have moved over the years.”GCA also denied the company’s claim that its service quality for landline has improved.“This boast is empty except GTT could provide empirical evidence. To the Consumers Association and the Guyanese public, there has been no improvement in quality of service. Indeed we think quality of service has further deteriorated since the company illegally moved its billing, call centre and internet trafficking businesses to offshore companies.”Also being disputed by the GCA are claims that the company is under-earning.“Does the term “under-earning” refer to the 15% minimum of assets plus the “Advisory Fees” or does it refer to the increase in rates which is the subject of this filing. We are interpreting the term to refer to landline rates, since that is the subject of the filing. We reject the allegation that the landline services are under-earning.”As a matter of fact, GCA said, the landline is owed US$90M interest for financing the cellular phone services.“GTT started out as a landline operator and its cellular business was grafted on to what was then its core landline operations. In this process, GTT used about US$60 million of funds generated by the landline to invest in the cellular business. No bank loans were taken; landline money was used. At 15%