The production inquiry into the East Demerara sugar estates yesterday began with Chairman of the committee, Vic Oditt, expressing optimism that the investigation will determine the cause of the sudden decrease in output.The GuySuCo production inquiry team yesterday.Speaking to the media just before the first meeting of the investigating team, Oditt said that the inquiry will seek to determine the real reason for the poor results in field operation at the estates.Commenting on the Enmore estate,Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys, the former chairman of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Board of Directors said that it is well known that the estate is capable of producing ‘much better results’ than it has in recent years.“As recently as five years ago,Cheap MLB Jerseys China, Enmore especially was one of our star performers and it is necessary to find out what has happened in the last four years at the East Demerara estate to reach the stage it is at right now,” Oditt said.According to Oditt, the team is conducting the inquiry without any ‘preconceived’ notions. He said that the team is not there to cast blame on anyone or group.“It is going to be a very interesting exercise because we have both management and union representatives on the committee…and it would be interesting to see how they interact with each other and how we put our heads together to identify the issues surrounding the cause of this inquiry,” Oditt said.Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Dindyal Permaul,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, told the media that the main objective of the inquiry is to review all aspects of field operations in GuySuCo’s East Demerara estates.Whatever findings are made, Dr. Premaul said, will be presented to the government, who will be the best judge of how the company proceed.“We are interested in reviving production on the estates and this scenario is one where we are not doing as well as we should have been doing.”When challenged about the findings being presented to Government for a way forward instead of to the company’s board of directors, Dr. Premaul said that Government appoints the board of directors and is the largest stakeholder in the industry.He nonetheless noted that he is sure that the findings will also be presented to the board of directors, justifying that there is no disconnect between the board and Government.Last Friday,Nike NFL Jerseys China, during a tour of some of the East Demerara estates, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, announced that a production inquiry will be conducted into the estates.According to Persaud, it is time for ‘urgent action’ since it is very devastating if Guyana is going to constantly fail to meet targets in the industry.He said that while he is being told that work is being conducted and corrective measures are being put in place at the East Demerara estates, the production is still lacking.As such, a five member team chaired by Vic Oditt was set up to deal with the investigation.Other members of the team are Aslim Singh, Abraham Nagamoottoo, Nandalall Harriprashad and Rollingston.The inquiry committee has five weeks to conduct their investigations.The review that will be conduced will examine land preparation, sugar cane agronomy, use of field machines and equipment, cane transport,NFL Jerseys China, use of fertilizers and maintenance of field infrastructure.At the same time, Cabinet has intervened to ascertain the lagging production within the Guyana Sugar Corporation and has ordered a financial and production review of the company. This review is independent of the production inquiry.Over the years, GuySuCo has consistently reviewed its production targets, including this year’s, and among the many excuses proffered are far reaching strikes,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, weather, loss of opportunity as well as the consistent delay of the start and sustained operations of the Skeldon Factory.

– 34 child employers and parents to be taken before the courtThe Schools’ Welfare Department has reported that some 288 truants were apprehended in a countrywide campaign conducted last Tuesday.According to National Truancy Campaign Co-ordinator,Cheap Jerseys, Yvonne Arthur, the exercises which were carried out in Regions One, Two,China NFL Jerseys, Three,China Jerseys, Four, Five, Six, and Seven, sought to ensure that every school-aged child is in school during the instructional hours.Arthur said that 17 cases of child employment and an equal number of parental neglect to educate the child were unearthed at the end of the one-day campaign.She noted that the negligent parents as well as the child employers will be taken to court in a bid to send a clear message of the Ministry of Education’s position on these matters.Notable, the former Chief Schools’ Welfare Officer disclosed that 21 of the 34 persons who will be taken to court are from Region Four.The department, only last week,Jerseys Wholesale, nabbed 38 truants in a campaign conducted in Mosquito Hall, Riverview, Unity and Lancaster in Mahaica,Cheap Jerseys From China, Region Four. It announced that 14 parents will soon be taken?to court for abandoning their responsibility to educate their children.Last month, 17 parents in the Upper Corentyne area, Region Six, appeared in court for the same offence. These parents were ordered by the Magistrate to ensure that their children attend school within a two mile radius of the community they reside.The National Truancy Campaign Co-ordinator said that the parents of the children who never attended school were counselled on the importance of educating their children.They were also issued warning letters and letters to visit the Placement Unit in their respective regions to obtain a school for their child. The parents of children who did not attend school for a considerable period of time also received similar attention.Arthur underlined that her officers will be following-up these matters and will closely monitor these students’ attendance as well as their performance in the classroom.Some of the truants were referred to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s Probation, Child Care and Social Security Departments for assistance.Arthur also called on head teachers to make available to the School’s Welfare Department, the names of students who regularly absent themselves from school.She stressed that a child can still be enrolled at a school even though the latter does not have a birth certificate.The former Chief Schools’ Welfare Officer explained that while the child is in school, the parent can be advised by a Schools’ Welfare Officer on the way forward to acquire the legal document.The Truancy Campaign Co-ordinator was able to locate most of the truants from a list supplied by her officers and she managed to apprehend a few others through the assistance of members in the communities in which the campaign was held.Education Minister Shaik Baksh earlier this week announced that his Ministry will take a tougher stance against truancy and negligent parents will be placed before the court.He explained that his Ministry is moving in this direction because efforts to talk to parents of truants about the importance of educating their children were ineffective.Truancy,Wholesale Jerseys, he said, is a problem in Region Six and other parts of the country and stern action has to be taken to ensure these children not only attend school, but receive a proper education and become productive citizens in society.The Minister said, too, the government is providing free uniform, text books and other forms of support to students and all parents and teachers must honour their responsibility to support and educate these children.