guyanatimesgy.com
The Upper Corentyne Industrial and Skills Training Centre (UCSTC) last week successfully staged its first Career and Open Day on the lawns of its compound.
The event themed “Acquisition of skills, the gateway to success” saw hundreds of students in attendance from the upper Corentyne area, exploring career options from the 30-plus entities that participated.
Among those were GuySuCo, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Bank of Trade and Industry, the Guyana Power and Light Company and the Guyana Fire Service.
UCSTC Board Chairman Adrian Anamayah said the institution serves to equip the youths with the requisite skills to enter the world of work.
“They enter the workforce as trained and competent persons and in this way they will contribute to nation-building and to the upliftment of themselves and their families.”
Anamayah stressed that masonry and furni-
ture are two pro grammes which have become a dying art. He urged persons to take advantage of these underutilised programmes as they can very lucrative.
“There’s been a challenge to recruit trainees for these programmes… the work by students in the furniture making course is a masterpiece. I want to urge you to look at it when considering a career, it is a very lucrative field for those who want to make a career of it and who want to establish a business.”
He posited that since the establishment of the institution in 2006, over 900 skilled persons from the school have joined the labour force. Claude
Johnson, a representative of the Regional Education Department, said the Education Department recognises skills training as the bedrock for society’s development, hence, the need for regular career opportunities for young and senior persons.
“This exercise is one in the right direction because it aims at guiding our young people towards meaningful career paths.” He added that too often students leave school without a sound mindset on a career.
“We need to guide our young people on informed choices about careers, the earlier the better because too much time is spent fiddling around on career paths.”
Regional Executive Officer Imran Ally lauded the UCSTC for the worthwhile and timely initiative. He said Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) provides students a second opportunity in life and more importantly, a tool for empowerment.
Students, who spoke with this publication, said they are thankful for the opportunity to explore the many career options.
One student from Tagore Memorial expressed an interest in the Guyana Police Force, noting that she finds it interesting to solve crimes.
The recent spate of unscheduled power outages in Berbice has been frustrating residents who are calling on the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) to remedy the situation.
For the past two weeks, almost every day there have been at least two interruptions of power, many times for lengthy periods.
Ms Bhajan, Principal of the Cyril Potter College of Education Rose Hall Centre told Guyana Times that this situation has been consistent for over two weeks.
“This situation is really frustrating, there seems to be absolutely no logical explanation in the daily pattern of the outages and its making life very difficult,” she said.
Several business owners also expressed similar sentiments, saying that the unscheduled outages can cause major damage to their appliances and electronic devices.
“You want reliable service and its GPL’s man -
date to provide it,” one business owner commented. The blackout has also affected students who are writing examinations as they cannot study.
In an invited comment, GPL Berbice Operations Manager Ayube Bacchus, explained that the Canefield Power Plant is experiencing a shortfall in generation.
He said the main rea -
son for this is the fact that one of the large engines had to be taken out for unscheduled maintenance and with that being inoperable, there is a temporary short fall in generation.
“We depend solely on the small Caterpillar units to pick up that slack in generation. Secondly, we have an additional engine which has been taken for
routine plan maintenance and that is what compounded the entire problem, because we already stripped the other engine, a total of 10 megawatts loss,” he revealed.
Rehabilitation commenced
Bacchus gave the assurance that rehabilitation of the engines has commenced, but this would take approximately two months to fix. He reiterated that five Caterpillar engines are assisting to alleviate the situation, with two more expected to complement those this week. Additionally, support generation is being
derived from Onverwagt and Skeldon, which is very beneficial. He assured that this situation will be remedied by this coming week.
“While we’ve made good progress in reducing power outages from last week to present – providing customers with quality and efficiency is our main aim,” Bacchus said, adding that there were some slippages, indeed.
“We addressed by replacing about five megawatts and we are working assiduously to rectify the situation and we have things under control,” he assured.
Bacchus said while the
power company has the responsibility to generate electricity for commercial and residential use, they are not entirely to blame for the current crisis since maintenance has to be executed.
“We are indeed addressing the situation and I want to express our regret to our consumers as we ask them to bear with us… we will have our normal generation supply as soon as possible,” he assured. Bacchus took the opportunity to encourage consumers to conserve electricity, especially during the peak hours (18:00h to 21:00h).
Acovert Police operation targeting the local “bottom house” drug houses netted several kilogrammes of ganja and other substances and several persons were arrested as B Division (Berbice) Crime Investigation Unit detectives continue their offensive against the scourge.
While many individuals were charged with possession or trafficking offences, a number were warned and referred to drug rehabilitation programmes after processing, Police say.
The crackdown was conducted in areas such as Angoy’s Avenue, where Police have been working to rid the community of this illicit practice and thus engage youth in more meaningful activities.
Several residents who were searched during the raids have complained about excesses and victimisation. Enid Phillu, 47, of Sheet Anchor Village, who is employed at the New Amsterdam Hospital as a maid, told Berbice Times that she has been the victim of raids for four consecutive times over a period of time and it is taking a toll on her. “The Police come to my home to search for drugs… they raise up the mattress, look in the fridge and peep in the microwave, that is all and when them done they want money…we have to bribe them,” she alleged. The woman is alleging that a particular detective is “victimising people and soliciting money from them
for his personal gains.”
Her two sons and another male family member were arrested and placed in the Reliance lock up for three days, she said. Leroy La Rose, 19, son of Phillu who is currently unemployed, recalled what transpired on the day in question. He said he was sitting at home having his lunch and watching a movie when the detective, accompanied by several ranks in a Police vehicle, called him out of the house and informed him that they have to visit the Police station.
“ I didn’t know anything what going on. He just tell me go to the station and them lock me up for three days you hear…and I keep asking why is it I get lock up and nobody ain’t answering,” he said.
He further stated the he was contracted with the Guyana Power and Light
Company but his contract was up, however, he has been seeking other jobs but to no avail. He bemoaned the lack of job opportunities in Berbice, citing that as one of the reasons youth are involved in illicit activities.
“People calling the Police to come and victimise we, they working on phone calls you understand…these Police working on phone calls to lock up people for no reason and this ain’t right; it can never be right it gotta stop,” he angrily stated.
Neighbours
Another Angoy’s Avenue woman is also alleging corruption, that the ranks conducting the raids are corrupt. She cited that because of an ongoing conflict between her and a neighbour, the detective would victimise her and solicit cash from her. Meanwhile, it was disclosed by the Police that every avenue, tipoffs and sources of information pertaining to the drug house and sales will be acted upon, since their motive is to stamp out this scourge that is creating a negative and terrible impact on the lives of youths.
In an invited comment, a senior officer in B Division said he is encouraging anyone who has experienced Police corruption to come forward and report it. He also pledges his assurance to investigate the allegations thoroughly and any rank found culpable will be disciplined.
Vernon Harding, who was “accidentally” shot while on training at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Tacama base last month, was promoted to Private even as he undergoes recovery at the Army base at Camp Ayanganna.
Harding’s promotion was announced when 276 recruits completed the GDF’s Basic Recruit Course last Friday. In a statement following the shooting, the GDF had said that approximately 16:30h on May 18; two ranks stationed at the Colonel John Clarke Military School at Tacama were injured when two rounds were accidentally discharged from a firearm.
The injured men were listed as Lieutenant Othneil Hope and RCT Vernon Harding. Both ranks were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital for treat-
ment.
In a release, GDF said that the 276 new soldiers graduated from 10 weeks of training on its first Basic Recruits Course for the year. The passing out parade for this latest batch of entrants was held on the Drill Square at the Colonel John Clarke Military School at Tacama, Upper Berbice.
In his feature address to the new soldiers, Chiefof-Staff, Brigadier Mark Phillips congratulated the soldiers for their endurance, leading to their successful completion of the course.
He expressed the hope that the process of training has instilled in the new soldiers, the qualities of serving correctly and being effective Ambassadors of the GDF, and by extension, the country.
In this regard, he sin-
gled out the core value, ‘discipline’, and stressed that to be good soldiers, they must also understand their rights and obligations under military law, and, at all times, practise and uphold the values and standards of the GDF.
Continuing education
Importantly too, Brigadier Phillips reminded them that it was incumbent that they keep continuing education in focus, as they perform their duties as soldiers.
“During your career, work hard, be disciplined and make use of all the opportunities available to you for your professional and educational development,” he urged.
Three hundred and five recruits started training at the end of May. A total of 30 withdrew for various
reasons. Two-thirds of the new soldiers were trained at the Colonel John Clarke Military School (CJCMS) at Tacama, while the remainder were trained at GDF Base Camp Seweyo on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway. Those trained at Seweyo, have been posted to the technical and speciality units of the Force.
Delroy Blacket, a resident of Paradise Village on the East Coast of Demerara and Mabaruma, North West District resident Brendon Holder, graduated as Best Students of the Seweyo and Tacama stints, respectively.
The Basic Recruit Course provides induction training for entrants at the Ordinary Rank level. It is intended to produce fit, obedient, loyal and disciplined soldiers who possess high standards of skills and marksmanship abilities.
The Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI)
Port Mourant branch last week handed over prizes to three lucky customers who won in the bank’s New Account Promotion.
The promotion commenced in March and concluded in May. Branch Manager Ghoeblall Mahadeo stated that persons who have opened new accounts with the bank were eligible for the promotion.
He related that the Port Mourant branch saw it as an opportunity to give back to the community and customers.
Mahadeo said since the opening in December, the response has been overwhelming. The first prize of a refrigerator was won by Bibi Zulika Persaud, while the second prize of a flat screen television was won by Chandrawattie Totaram and the third prize of a microwave was won by Mahandra Sahadeo and Kalowtie Hetnarine.
The winners were over-
joyed to be new owners of the appliances and extended gratitude to GBTI
for the opportunity. They lauded the bank for its great customers’
service and pledged to continue doing business with them.
Depending on the environment in which we grew up, we are sure to deal with loss differently among each other. A few things we all need to accept is that it is okay to cry in front of anyone regardless if they are family, friends or even strangers. In times of distress, we need to release our emotions and tears are a physical way to do it well.
Narine Dat Sookram
However, talking to a professional bereavement counsellor and discussing the emotions we are feeling is a good first step. Some of us may not have access to professional help; but in cases as such, it is important to talk with other people who have been through a similar experience as yours, because it can be of great help.
Not everyone has access to the Internet, but it can be a good way to access information and support, particularly if we are not comfortable seeing people faceto-face or in some cases, travelling may be an issue for a variety of reasons. The key here though is to use well established websites to get the help we are looking for.
Usually, when someone commits suicide, people tend to feel guilty thinking it is their fault entirely. That is why it’s not uncommon for us to hear some people say: “If only I’d done more to help, maybe they would still be alive.”
For various reasons, people often feel guilty even though they are not responsible for what happened. The reality is many factors contribute to someone taking their own life, so talk to someone about how we feel can surely help lessen the feeling of guilt, which will however take time.
Speaking from experience, in losing a brother who took his own life, it can be much harder to understand and you may feel as if others do not understand. In a case like this, I would suggest talking to someone or asking for some extra support, because this will be helpful in the long run. The bottom line is, it helps to talk about how we feel and how it is affecting our life. This can help us understand some of the feelings we have as a result of the suicide.
Many people do not feel comfortable talking to a close friend or relative, because they feel as if they don’t seem to understand what they are going through. Some people find it difficult to understand mental illness and even much harder to understand suicide.
However, talking to friends whom we trust and are willing to listen can ease feelings of loneliness. Therefore, we should not hesitate to seek out someone who will support us, because many people will be pleased to help along the way.
Grief does affect everyone, but not necessarily in the same way, but with support, it can help us to cope with loss. Therefore talking to someone or a counsellor or even the decision in joining a support group can be beneficial to look at ways to deal with our grief.
Some people will say that we need to stop grieving and move on. However there is not always a clear beginning or end to grief. Everyone has the right to take the time to grieve in their own way and time as well.
If this does not happen, the feelings we do not express may return and be even more challenging to deal with later on. So take the time we need to grieve before we move on with our everyday life.
Please don’t’ forget to send your comments, questions and feedback to mcnarine@rogers.com.
