Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a miner, whose body was found floating in the Mazaruni River close to Kamarang, Region Seven on Saturday, reportedly with a suspicious wound to the chest.

Dead is Wendell Kendall, 37, of Palmyra, East Berbice.

His Canada-based wife Desley told Stabroek News yesterday that she did not have any information on how he died and was awaiting a post-mortem examination, scheduled for tomorrow. She said she did not view the body but another relative did and said that there was a suspicious wound to the man’s chest.

The woman said she would usually communicate with her husband via satellite phone and spoke with him last Tuesday. He was based at Chi Chi in Region Seven. She said that after she failed to hear from him subsequently, she called and his partner (the pilot of a plane) answered. He informed her that her husband was missing. Desley, who returned to Guyana on receiving news of her husband’s disappearance, told this newspaper that she has not had a chance to speak with the pilot as he is still in the interior.

Stabroek News was informed that following the disappearance, the pilot and a few persons from the Chi Chi area launched a search. Kendall’s body was found on Saturday floating in the Mazaruni River.

Meanwhile, Divisional Commander (ag) Deryck Younge had told this newspaper earlier yesterday that a man had been found floating in the river at Chi Chi close to Kamarang. He did not have a name for the dead man but said that the police are looking into the matter.

Younge said that according to the information received, the dead man was on a plane that was delivering goods when the pilot told him that he would have to be left behind as his weight made the aircraft too heavy.

When the pilot returned, reports said, the man was missing and his clothing was found.

This newspaper was subsequently informed by Kendall’s relatives that his clothing was found on the bank of the Mazaruni River.

The body was flown out of the area on Sunday and is at the Lyken’s Funeral Home.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)     Achieving Human and Social Development through Policy Coherence is the theme of the feature address that will be delivered by Mr. Robert Kyloh, Senior Economist, International Labour Organisation (ILO) Headquarters, Geneva, when CARICOM Labour Ministers meet on Wednesday in Georgetown, Guyana for the 19^th Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD).

In addition to the feature address at the opening Ceremony, remarks will be given by CARICOM Secretary-General, Edwin Carrington; Chair of COHSOD, Grenada’s Minister of Labour the Hon. Anthony Hood; Guyana’s Minister of Labour, the Hon. Manzoor Nadir and the Regional Director for the ILO Regional Office for Latin American and the Caribbean, Mr. Jean Maninat.

With its primary focus on labour in relation to the integration movement, the three-day COHSOD meeting which opens on Wednesday April 14 is convened in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Seventh Meeting of Caribbean Labour Ministers under the theme: Coherence for Human and Social Development in the Caribbean Community: The Contribution of Labour Ministries and the Decent Work Agenda.

One issue that will be up for deliberations at the COHSOD meeting is that of free movement of labour and intra-regional migration.  The COHSOD will need to consider those wage earners who do not fall within the ten eligible categories for movement under the CSME and still need work permits to work in other participating Member States. In this regard, the COHSOD will also discuss the role of ministries of Labour in the migration process as well as how best to manage labour migration within the context of regional integration.

The importance of developing human capital to strengthen the regional integration movement within a rapidly changing global world cannot be over-emphasised, consequently the COHSOD will examine thoroughly, the need to prepare young people for the world of work and the integral role of  Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Entrepreneurial Education in that preparation.

Contingent on this discussion is a detailed report on the outcomes of the first CARICOM Summit on Youth Development at which the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development( CCYD)  presented its ‘watershed Report’ on the situation of youth in the Caribbean. This CCYD Report, among other things, presents a dilemma of youth under-employment within the Caribbean region and brings into sharp focus the relevance and appropriateness of the Caribbean education system in preparing young people for the job market. Therefore its implication for youth labour within the CSME assumes high significance for the COHSOD.

The COHSOD meeting will treat with other very important agenda items, which include an update on the post-Haiti crisis; a  presentation from ILO on the contribution of ministries of labour in advancing human and social development through the Decent Work Agenda; issues relating to the harmonising of labour laws within the Caribbean to facilitate the regional integration movement; new challenges for social security systems in the Caribbean and the role and function of labour market information systems in the regional integration process.

The three-day COHSOD meeting will close with a general information sharing session on major related events and issues, followed by a press briefing in which the outcomes of the meeting will be shared with media representatives.

be injecting $258M more for a range of current interventions as well as the post crisis period.This announcement was made by President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday when he metwith farmers in Region Two A farmer shares his concerns at the meeting with the President.
(Pomeroon/Supenaam), to discuss the current situation and to listen to their concerns and suggestions. Speaking at his first meeting at the 8th May Community School in Dartmouth Village on the Essequibo Coast, he acknowledged that farmers are experiencing severe difficulties at this time.
“I just want to assure you that the Government remains cognizant of the difficulties that you are facing, and that the entire apparatus of the Government is focused on bringing as much relief as is humanely possible to our people right across Guyana”, he said. He observed that the impact of the unique weather condition is severe, and it has taken a toll, not just on crops, but on livestock and even people’s way of life, with some communities having difficulties with drinking water, particularly, in the Amerindian communities in some of the regions.
He assured that ‘there is a full scale effort’ by the Government to bring relief to people, and funds have been dedicated to the efforts which are very costly, such as pumping water or transporting water for long distances. To this end, he disclosed, “The Minister of Agriculture just brought an additional document to the Cabinet to seek support for intervention in several areas for cash crop farmers and for farmers generally.
He explained that he was informed by Minister of Housing and Water that it could cost as much as $90,000 to transport one load of water into some of these communities. President Jagdeo noted this is a huge challenge, and pointed out that the intervention also deals with livestock.
“So we have just decided to give him $258M so he can continue in this period, and in the near term to continue to bring relief to people, and this is in addition to money that we are spending on an ongoing basis,” he reminded. He noted that some will also benefit the Essequibians, noting, “Many of those things were not anticipated when we did the budget so this will be money that we will have to find in addition to the budgetary expenditure to address the crisis.”
He warned, “We will continue to experience variability in weather” and it is important that “we use periods like these to emerge stronger with better management of resources and enhanced capability for dealing with problems and difficulties.”
He said the country has over different periods faced different types of challenges and at the national level, in the initial period, there was the challenge of “restoring our country from a state of bankruptcy to a functioning State”, which took a long time.
“But collectively – the people and the Government – we dealt with that, and because we have dealt with that, our ability to spend has increased significantly,” he remarked, alluding to notable investments in the health sector and the education sector.
President Jagdeo also underscored that Region Two itself had many challenges at the beginning, in the area of electricity and roads.
He stressed, “We face now a new set of challenges that our country needs to rise to if we are not going to allow these challenges to affect our lives in the next five, ten, fifteen years and the lives of our children.”
At this point, he noted that this challenge has to do with the impact of weather and climate on our way of life with rising sea levels and variable unpredictable weather.
“So how do we emerge from this period, thinking about how we would resolve these issues in the future? We started looking at the whole issue of water and irrigation,” he stated, referring to the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary (MMA) area situation with many people suffering from floods for many years. To this the Government embarked on an over $3B project to bring relief to them, and now “trying to deal with managing too little water”. “But clearly this Government is very concerned about this, and is prepared to make the investments…so that we can better control water,” he maintained. He said, “We have to constantly keep this as one of our major development priorities”, for the country is growing and expanding, one of the few countries in the entire region that recorded positive growth rate last year.
“I think, the momentum that we have started because of some policies is hard to reverse now; but there are some challenges that will confront us. We have to ensure that the entire apparatus of the Government is geared towards resolving these challenges so as to minimise the impact on people,” he explained.
To this end, he noted that farmers, too, would have to be very much aware of these challenges, and he urged them to stay focused on these things. He went on, “Because if you are more knowledgeable about these challenges, and how they affect you, not just at the global or national level, but in your particular communities, then I think you would be able to make better decisions too.”
He said a whole series of interventions have to be looked at, ranging from drought resistant crops to saline water crops, and dealing with better management of the coast with the spending of some $1B on a mangrove project.
He also urged residents to be familiar with what is being done in their region, such as the budgetary allocations, which have been growing significantly over the years.
“If you know the budget then you can hold the regional administration to greater accountability,” President Jagdeo maintained.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, in brief remarks, said there are teams across the country going out to rice and other crops farmers.
He reminded that sometime in August and September last year, his ministry issued an alert that “we were heading into an El Nino condition.”
He said during the last quarter of 2009, the ministry had commenced a number of plans, both at the regional and central levels, with stakeholders to come up with arrangements that could be put in place to better manage the situation, including water management techniques, and resources to be mobilized.
He said nationally, there have been number of technical teams working and supporting the different regions, including Region Two.
He noted that farmers had expressed concerns about the level of water management by the region and its authorities, and the ministry committed to boost the capacity of the region working closely with the farmers.
“Because we recognise that farmers themselves can play a critical role in ensuring that the interventions we make are effective, but moreso in terms of monitoring”.
He told the gathering of instances of farmers complaining that due to the actions of others, they are disadvantaged.
He said the approach taken is one which involves the rice farmers in terms of the monitoring and even implementing the interventions.
He reminded that over a year ago Government invested close to $400M and put in place the new Dawa pumps which were malfunctioning for decades; and if there was no forward planning by the administration – there could have been a crisis.
“Those persons who are in charge of the operation of our pumps and our systems have to carry out their functions in accordance to the guidelines that are issued, ” he urged.
He said a number of new waterways were opened and they are also looking at additional water sources for those areas that require water for cultivation, adding that harvesting has commenced.
However, he noted that although the rice industry is the most vulnerable, given the way in which rice is planted and cultivated, these interventions are looking at supporting other crop farmers as well. The issues expressed by farmers related to water management, farmers assistance, issues relating to the Water Users Association, among other community-related concerns. The President and the team, which also included Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manniram Prashad, and Regional Chairman Mr. Ali Baksh, also held an interactive meeting with farmers who voiced their concerns at the Anna Regina Multilateral School.

The Ultimate Caribbean News Resource and leading online information hub, has announced the launch of their new website http://www.CaribbeanPrime.com  on November 4th, 2009. The new site will be offering caricom journalist an outlet to post news articles and stories that will be featured on the international press.  This website will offer expanded and unique views on topics affecting the Caribbean.