A decrease in interest rates payable on mortgages is one of the many favourable returns foreseen by the Board of Directors of the New Building Society (NBS) accruing from its investments in the Berbice River Bridge.“With the way things are going with this Berbice River Bridge investment, we see the possibility of at least another one per cent decrease in the interest rates for mortgages in to the not too distant future,” Chairman,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, Dr. Nanda Kishore Gopaul said to loud applause at the Annual General Members meeting at Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice yesterday.“Generally, the profits we make go back to the members and that is the reason why we could have dropped the interest rates payable on mortgages from 11 per cent which we used to pay for a long time, to 6.95 per cent,Cheap NFL Jerseys, with low income people paying as little as 4.95 per cent,” Dr. Gopaul said yesterday.“The Board of Directors is very happy and excited about the profitability of the Bridge investment,” he added during the meeting, which also saw himself and the Board addressing a number of concerns of the Committee of Concerned Members.The NBS Board invited some of these members to work along with it in resolving some of these issues.The meeting was expected to have been a very heated and tense event because of the agitation by members who were concerned about the bridge investment and other issues.Instead, it turned out to be relatively calm as the Chairman accommodated these dissenting views and then invited some of the dissenters to work along with the Board in resolving them.Among issues on which consensus was arrived was the proposed increase in the lending limit from $10M to $12M and above if necessary,NFL Jerseys Outlet, with the approval of the Minister of Finance.A member’s proposal that the ceiling be increased to $12M and that the clause, which would have allowed the Board to lend above this amount,NBA Jerseys From China, subject to the Minister’s approval,China Jerseys Free Shipping, was defeated.“Twelve million dollars full stop, no other conditionalities for higher than this.”On the question of the NBS still not being licensed under the Financial Institution Act,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, another sore issue among concerned members, Chairman Dr. Gopaul said that the company would soon be correcting this anomaly.“We will join the FIA and will meet all the requirements of the Bank of Guyana,” he assured.At the conclusion of the AGM yesterday, Mr. Christopher Ram said that there were many questions, which remained to be addressed.He added, “A good thing which has definitely come out of the tone of this meeting is that us, concerned members and the Board of Directors, seem to be talking. This is a good sign for the future.”

– open to assisting M&CC where necessaryThe Christmas season has arrived with a seemingly unwanted guest.A shopper making her way out of the Bourda Post Office and Business Complex yesterday morning.Guyanese awoke yesterday morning to discover several of their villages along the coast; and hinterland communities flooded due to increased rainfall which began during the wee hours of yesterday.The nation’s capital, Georgetown,Wholesale Jerseys China, at around noon yesterday was plagued by overtopping drains transforming streets into canals.Meanwhile, scores of persons were seen hop-scotching through streets; huddling up under storefronts occasionally snapping back from their daydreams to dodge the incoming splashes from passing vehicles,nfl jerseys china, while Police Officers clad in their raingear stood at strategic points in the city battling to restore order to the flow of traffic.Many residents took to social media venting their frustration since many of their plans to venture into the city to carry out their Christmas shopping were thwarted.Questions were raised about the authorities’ ability to handle the situation and to bringA flooded entrance into Bourda Market.forms of relief to hard hit areas.The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) said that it is fully prepared to respond to any eventuality which may arise as a result of the rainy season, as pumps and excavators have been deployed countrywide.Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the agency,China Jerseys Cheap, Fredrick Flatts, underscoring the importance of being prepared, pointed out that 93 and 94 percent of pumps and excavators respectively, are operable and have been deployed.“Of the 58 pumps, 54 are working and have been deployed at critical locations to ensure water which has been accumulated recedes off land within 24hrs,” he said.A release from the authority said that it currently has a fleet of 99 excavators which are deployed at critical location to clear drainage and de-silt canals. Of the 88 sluices owned and operated by the NDIA,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, 83 are fully working and contracts have been tendered for bids to have the remaining five operable.“We are in a good place at the moment, but we are taking all the necessary steps to ensure that we have the additional sluice working to further complement our fleet,” the CEO said.Shoppers navigating through the flooded Robb Street yesterday afternoon.At Region Two, there is presently a problem with flooding due to siltation. The Ministry of Agriculture has since deployed two excavators and a pontoon, which commenced de-silting the outfall channels, to bring relief to those affected as a result.With respect to water accumulation in the city, Flatts said that he will be having talks with the City Engineer of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to see where assistance can be given where necessary.Meanwhile the Hydrometeorological Department has since advised that rainfall is expected to continue today, and as much as 45mm is expected – which is above the established drainage capacity within the city.According to Chief Hydromet Officer, Dr. Garvin Cummings,Cheap Soccer Jerseys, accumulation of water can be expected in some areas between tides.“We recorded 73.2 mm of water between eight and 11 this morning alone, so you can see the variations. Although this is expected to decrease in magnitude,Cheap Jerseys Wholesale, rainfall is expected to continue over the next three to five days in Regions Four (Demerara/Mahaica) and Five (Mahaica/Berbice),” Dr. Cummings said.

-power interruptions expected to ease By Gary EleazarElectricity supply, particularly to the West Demerara area,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, will be greatly improved when the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Company completes laying its US$5M submarine along the river bed connecting the two grids.The current cable which links the Garden of Eden power plant to West Demerara has been problematic with constant interruptions to power recorded in recent times.This was underscored by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of that state-owned power company, Bharrat Dindyal, yesterday when he took media operatives on a mini-tour of the eastern landing platform for the cable at the Kingston Power Plant.The laying of the submarine cable is but one component of the US$42M upgrade to the system being undertaken by the Chinese contractor and while Dindyal was not at the moment in a position to specify the figures,China Jerseys, he stressed that there is sufficient liquidated damages penalty in place should the contractor default on the completion timeline.That project is being undertaken by the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) and the deadline is set for September 2013.The conduit which will be spliced onto the US$5M submarine cable being sunkThe Chinese specialists aided with the use of local resources have commenced the laying of the submarine cable from the western end where it will be hoisted to erected poles and connected to a sub-station in the Vreed-en-Hoop area.Dindyal explained that the Chinese contractor had imported into Guyana, a number of technical personnel, “because a cable as large as this needs people with special knowledge,Wholesale MLB Jerseys, but they have engaged the services of local equipment owners to transport the cable and assist with the laying.”The cable is being strung from a barge which is already at the western end of the Demerara area.“As you know this is a very large cable…in fact this cable itself has the capacity to deliver over 150MW to West Demerara,” Dindyal revealed.A number of years ago, during the time of Guyana Electricity Corporation (GEC), there was an 11KV cable which was sunk in the Demerara River and had connected the Kingston Power Station to the West Demerara facility.This cable was damaged by a ship’s anchor and subsequently abandoned.This time around,Soccer Jerseys From China, the CEO emphasised that the cable will be sunk to a depth of some three and a half meters into the river bed while at the ship’s channel, the cable will make its way some seven meters down to avoid the possibility of damage.This is to ensure the avoidance of rogue ships,Cheap Jerseys From China, according to Dindyal, “of course you know there are incidents where ships have dragged their anchors.”Dindyal also used the opportunity to point out to the media that the telephone company, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) will also be using the opportunity to ‘piggy back’ on GPL’s excavation exercise and lay its submarine fiber optic cable.According to Dindyal, GT&T is assisting the cost of the excavation, albeit a “minimal fee….so from a national perspective we are doing more than one thing.”The US$5M also has a fiber optic cable component and Dindyal again defended the use of an independent data conduit.“The fiber optic cable will be used for communication for the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems) operations.”The GPL boss also pointed out that the Kingston substation will be expanded to receive the US$5M cable which will be spliced and attached upon landing at Kingston. It will then be connected to the data management hub at Sophia.“In total we will have 70MVA transformer capacity here…in total GPL has with this new transformer a total of 250MVA sub-station capacity.”He said that with the Chinese upgrades to the system, an additional 117MVA will be added in six new substations.Dindyal expressed optimism that progress will be sustained throughout the year and that by mid-2013 all of the scheduled works will be completed.GPL is expecting the entire excavation process to take about 20 days with weather being one of the most immediate challenges.However,Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, the fact that the Demerara channel is being used constantly remains “the most important challenge in this case is that we are dealing with an active channel.”“…and we need to work around them…so we are working with Maritime Administration. That government agency has already issued an advisory.“Well of course people who are transiting the channel will have to understand that this equipment is operating and they have to be cautious.”The cable currently being sunk i