In anticipation of its introduction this September, the Bachelors of Science Degree in Optometry was officially launched by Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Lawrence Carrington.The launching occurred on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Council for the Blind workshop at the Princess International Hotel Tuesday evening. The workshop was intended to facilitate the start of a five-year eye health project which is being dubbed ‘Delivering Vision 2020.’Accordingly, the workshop was seen as a most fitting forum to introduce the new degree programme which is in fact the first of its kind to be offered at the local university or even the Caribbean for that matter.In launching the programme Professor Carrington related that the number of offerings in the study of Medical Arts and Sciences in Guyana have shown a steady expansion through the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. He said that with the addition of Optometry to the scope of the curriculum is a worthwhile complement to the current offerings.“It enhances the range of human health concerns for which the education system can take responsibility and heighten the level of self-reliance of Guyana.”According to Professor Carrington the September and January version of the programme both kept him up a night each in order to thoroughly peruse their outline. He said that the Academic Board received the programme enthusiastically and “we are pleased to be able to endorse it in its entirety.”Our satisfaction with the programme in Optometry is not derived exclusively from the fact that human sight is a primary attribute of human reality but because we are convinced that collaboration is an ethic that our university must seek to cultivate, exemplify and to propagate as part of its fulfilment of its mission.”It was for similar reasons, he disclosed, that only a few days ago the university inked an agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture and McGill University for the offer of a post graduate course in Water Resource Management.Before long, Professor Carrington anticipates that the university will be able to work out with the GPHC several ways of harmonising the processes of programme delivery.This,Wholesale Jerseys China, he said, is necessary in order to ensure that the quality of all programmes that are engaged jointly fulfil the requirements for accreditation by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education, Medicine and other Health Professionals.“We will also wish that their quality will take us on a pathway to recognised excellence that can attract stronger faculty and more internationally exposed consultants and researchers,Wholesale NFL Jerseys,” Professor Carrington articulated.Support for the programme will be forthcoming from agencies the likes of Guyana Eye Care and the Caribbean Society for the Blind. According to Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr Cummings,Cheap Jerseys, “lots of funding will be coming from these organisations to help with infrastructure in terms of new classroom spaces, a laboratory for optometry and even new offices.”With the advent of the National Ophthalmology Centre at Port Mourant,Wholesale Jerseys USA, Dr Cummings said that “we decided to train persons in optometry.” These optometrists, once graduated will be able to serve in the field of optometry in the length and breadth of Guyana.They will be able to address quite a lot of cases, primarily those that would have been previously detected by ophthalmology,Jerseys Cheap NFL,” the Dean disclosed.

The Chinese contractor of the US$150M Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion says that while it is banned from participating in roads and bridge projects by the World Bank, there is nothing stopping it from being part of that (airport) works.According to China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC),Cheap Nike Air Max 97 Shoes, Guyana has nothing to fear from the World Bank banning its parent company, China Communication Constructions Company Limited (CCCC) from certain projects, and that it is unaware of any issues it (CHEC) has that would cause Guyana to lose investments.The Chinese contractor of the US$150M CJIA expansion says that it is unaware of any issues it has that would cause Guyana to lose investments.“CHEC is also making clear that it knows of no issue arising from the matter between CCCC (China Communication Constructions Company Limited) and the World Bank that could result in Guyana losing investments if CHEC is allowed to construct the expansion of the airport in accordance with the existing agreement.”CHEC insisted that it has already made it clear that the company has never been involved in any activity which has attracted sanctions by the World Bank or any other international agency.CHEC made no mention of the fact that last year, Arafat ‘Koko’ Rahman, a son of the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, was jailed in absentia for six years for laundering millions of dollars in bribes taken from CHEC.The statement also did not mention the fact that in November 2011, former Chairman of the China’s Hebei Port Group, Huang Jianhua, was sentenced to death for taking bribes from the CHEC and its parent company, CCCC.In recent days, former President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that he was not against a review of that contract which was signed secretly in Jamaica last November, weeks before his two terms ended and before Guyana went to the polls to elect a new government.NOT AGAINSTThere are reports now that China’s Ambassador to Guyana, Yu Wenzhe, is not against a review of the contract by the Guyana government.According to CHEC, yesterday, the sanction against CCCC and its affiliates arose out of a matter dating back to 2002 with China Road and Bridge Corporation,Wholesale Jerseys China, which was taken over in 2005 by CCCC.“China Harbour practices stringent anti-corruption measures and rules which are a feature of employee and service provider contracts and which are in keeping with the stern and rigorous anti-corruption standards instituted by the Government of the People’s Republic of China for all businesses organized under Chinese law,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, including CHEC and CCCC.”CHEC also said that it has advanced technology, knowledge and capacity which enabled it to have successfully bid for and constructed the new international airport in Sudan at a value of US$100M; the US$100M airport project in Myanmar in the Middle East; the Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong, China; projects valued at US$879 million to carry out work on a new port of Qatar; and major Chinese port works including the Yangtze River Estuary Deepwater Channel Regulation Project,China Jerseys, the Yantian Port close to Hong Kong, and the Waigaoqiao New Port.“These are just a few of the more than 600 complex engineering and construction projects successfully undertaken CHEC throughout the world bringing value to satisfied client institutions, governments and people,” CHEC said.The Chinese company also said that it is building a US$520M Cabello Port New Container Wharf Project and is in discussions for the US$460M Maritime Terminal of the Moron Petrochemical Complex.UNWELCOMED SPOTLIGHTFollowing the secret signing of the multi-million-dollar contract to expand CJIA in November, CHEC was thrown into the spotlight recently when Jamaica’s regulator of government contracts, Office of the Contractor General, made bombshell revelations that the World Bank has banned CHEC and its parent company, CCCC,Nike Air Max Shoes For Women, from taking part in any of its roads and bridge contracts until 2017.Guyana only learnt of the signing of the CJIA contract in Jamaica, through media reports carried in that country’s newspapers.The Contractor General, Greg Christie, has been locked in a battle with the Jamaican government over a roads and highway contract that he insists was awarded in questionable circumstances. There are also similar problems in the Cayman Islands.Despite all the revelations and countrywide concerns, the Guyana government has remained silent and is still committed to rebuilding the CJIA.At least 1,000 persons will have to be relocated along with several farms and businesses.In defending the CJIA contract to CHEC days after it was

By Javone Vickerie As the different units of the joint services displayed promptness and safety during a simulated plane crash at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport yesterday,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, Minister of Public Works Robeson said that he was impressed with the response but that there is more work required.The Minister explained that the simulation exercise is a part of a certification for international airports.He added that this exercise takes place every two years.Fire fighters working to battle the blaze and assisting the injured during the simulation exercise.“Every six months there is a table top exercise, every year there is a partial exercise and every two years there is a mass causality exercise simulation which this exercise is about,” Benn said.He said that yesterday’s exercise is to ensure that the operatives at the airport and all the resources that are needed to be called upon during future worst case scenarios are able to respond rapidly enough with the proper knowledge and expertise.Benn also noted that suitable care to the injured and traumatized during an emergency landing must be one of key roles of all the emergency responders so as to reduce negative impacts.“There are incidents like the one at the LAX airport in Los Angeles. That is why we have these exercises because we have to meet certain international standards with respect to these issues,” the Minister said.He added that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 14 is the annex that relates to the said issue. Benn added that evaluators who were present during yesterday’s exercise were taking notes and shooting videos in order to assess the entirety of yesterday’s activity.This is still yet to be determined.Benn said that he was impressed by all the responders but pointed out that there are a few minor areas that need more work.Meanwhile,Authentic Jerseys From China, Chief Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health,Wholesale China Jerseys, Shamdeo Persaud, said that in his opinion, the responders on the ground did “answer the call” and executed the task given excellently.He said that on hand were medical personnel from the Diamond Diagnostic Centre and the Georgetown Public Hospital along with a small team from the Timehri health centre.Persaud added that both representatives from Diamond and Georgetown Public Hospital established a care centre on the ground to look after the injured persons during the simulation exercise.He explained that Guyana Defence Force was on hand and established a triage centre – this is where injured persons are looked after before being handed over to the care centre.“I think it worked well with everybody being clear about their responsibilities and how they can contribute to such a crisis as this. Most times for health it’s the way how it is organized and the way how people are transported,jerseys cheap nfl,” Persaud said.The exercise which lasted over an hour saw responders from the Guyana Fire Service, the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Police Force,wholesale nfl jerseys china, Airport Security and the Guyana Red Cross among other entities.More than 100 employees from CJIA along with the responders staged the reenactment of an actual plane crash. Observers and members of the media were given a firsthand looked at what can be done during an emergency landing.

The President of Guyana,Cheap Air Max 90, Bharrat Jagdeo,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale, currently on an official visit to Greece,Nike Huarache Shoes For Sale, met with President Karolos Papoulias for talks on bilateral relations and international issues yesterday.Papoulias hosted a dinner in honour of the Guyana president and expressed certainty in his address that the visit will contribute to the further strengthening of friendly relations between the two countries.Jagdeo said on his part that “in the ranks of the European Union,Cheap NFL Jerseys, the small countries are those that can understand the challenges being faced by the small and developing ones around the world.”

President Bharrat Jagdeo is off to Rome, today, for the World Food Summit where he says he will push for agricultural development in the Caribbean which spend ….importing food annually.Jagdeo is the CARICOM Head of Government with responsibility for agriculture.While he would be pushing for more focus on the Caribbean in Rome, Jagdeo said that the region itself needs to take action.He criticised regional governments for acting slothfully in pursuing agriculture development, saying while they “spout” talk about agricultural development,Wholesale Jerseys, they at the same time fail to invest in drainage and irrigation and agriculture research and development.However,China Jerseys NFL Wholesale, at home, he said the government was seeing success with its programme, and while the region is importing food, Guyana is a net exporter of food. He attributed this to a number of initiatives.Currently, Guyana is looking for investors in the Rupununi region, the Head of State said. He added that this development will take place on agricultural lands double the size the Barbados. Jagdeo pointed out that his government is currently looking at three large scale projects.Meanwhile, to boost food production in Amerindian communities, the President said his government is spending $75 million in 15 Amerindian communities in Region One on projects including honey-bee harvesting, passion fruit, and pineapple cultivations.In addition, the government is benefiting from the services of an Indian agricultural expert in efforts to push the cultivation of nutmeg, tumeric and black pepper.Further,Wholesale Stitched Jerseys, Jagdeo said that rice lands showing low production will be converted into aquaculture farms, and that the government will be supplying the fingerlings to the farmers.The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) is actively engaged in providing farmers with new breeding stocks of swine, cattle, sheep and goats.Jagdeo said he would like to see NARI breed one million ducklings annually to distribute to poultry farmers.The President explained that the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had previously asked for the world summit on food and further that the CARICOM countries be “strongly represented there.”“We recognised that in 2007 hunger in the world increased by 75 million people…and in 2008 another 40 million joined those that were already hungry,” said President Jagdeo.He added that an estimated 100 million people will be added to that category this year. This, he said, added up to over 200 million people being affected by famine across the world in the last three-year period.According to the president, the aid from the international organisation Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) has declined from $7.6 billion in 1980 to $3.9 billion in 2006.Therefore “we have growing hunger and on the other hand we have a decline in help from the developed world to address this,Wholesale Jerseys USA,” said President Jagdeo.Jagdeo explained that the meeting in Rome should focus on the renewal of the focus on agriculture and rural poverty, and the whole question of food insecurity should be addressed.He said that “climate change will further complicate this,” and mentioned climate change would also be a topic of discussion,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, along with the challenges of adaptation and mitigation for agriculture.The President said that there should also be a focus aimed at providing a network of support for small farmers around the world, which would allow them to prosper. “Because it is not just about growing food……if straight policies are not of an appropriate type, they will not succeed.”