Ed Ahmad and Jagdeo

THE Coalition Government is keen on restoring a sense of “national identity” in Guyanese, especially youths. For Minister of Education Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, this must begin with students.
The minister stated that, “Children must grow up with a love for country, and we must take a number of steps to ensure that this element of patriotic education is there in schools. Children must care about Guyana,” he stressed.
Minister Roopnaraine said it is heart-breaking that the nation is prepared to invest as much as it is in educating a child, from nursery all the way up to tertiary level, but as soon as many youths complete their university studies, they seek to leave the country. He described this situation as a “crisis”.
He stated that he would love to turn that trend around and face a “re-migration crisis”. “What am I going to do with all these people who are coming back to Guyana, that’s the challenge I want, to deal with this constant hemorrhaging of our skills,” he asserted.`
Guyana has become known for the migration of a large percentage of its skilled labour force to other countries, for a variety of reasons.
President David Granger has called for a return of a sense of patriotism and renewed national identity as the Coalition Government seeks to develop the nation and its people.
(GINA)

  The General Manager of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited, Michael Gordon, and Editor of the Guyana Chronicle newspaper have been fired with immediate effect.
Following is a statement issued by the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Guyana Chronicle and Sunday Chronicle, at a meeting on Tuesday December 1, 2015 took a unanimous decision to discontinue to services of General Manager Mr. Michael Gordon and Editor Mr. Mark Ramotar.

Both are with immediate effect. The Board of Directors has taken these two decisions with a view to strengthening both the administrative leadership and management and the editorial department as the newspaper seeks to rebrand and reposition itself as a credible national newspaper.

GNNL and the Chronicle newspaper have been suffering from weak management and circulation numbers have been steadily declining. The Board of Directors is of the view that fresh and competent leadership is needed administratively and new editorial direction and support is required.

The Board of Directors thanks Mr. Gordon and Mr. Ramotar for their service to GNNL and wishes them both the best in their future endeavours.

A decision with regard to the position of acting General Manager will be announced later today following discussions. Mr. Godfrey Wray will serve as acting editor in support of Mr. Nigel Williams, Editor-in-Chief and Mr. Neil Marks, Sunday Editor.

SOURCES in government and security have confirmed that a Venezuelan registered helicopter landed on an airstrip at Kaikan, Region 7 with approximately eight heavily armed Venezuelan soldiers about 10:45hrs yesterday morning. The Guyana Chronicle was told that when the helicopter landed there were two Amerindian women close by and as is customary when an aircraft lands at the airstrip, they rushed towards it.
The women who subsequently spoke to the Police stated that as they approached the aircraft, two of the men with their guns in hand disembarked and advanced towards them.
The men enquired from the women if the area they had landed at was Sanguan, a farm in Venezuela.
The women responded in the negative and informed the armed men that they had in fact landed at Kaikan in Guyana. Sanguan in Venezuela also has Amerindian settlers, according to online sources.
After being told they were in the wrong place, the men re-boarded the helicopter and left the area.
One senior security source said that the incident is being looked into and the army and police as well as President David Granger, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and the Ministers of Public Security and Foreign Affairs have been informed of the development.
This publication learnt that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to request an explanation of this latest incident from the Venezuelan authorities, even as local security experts are examining the situation.
One government minister who spoke with this newspaper last evening said that he is aware that the matter was reported to the Police first who informed their superiors who in turn informed Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan and the Chairman of the Joint Services, Guyana Defence Force Chief of Staff, Brigadier Mark Phillips.
By the time GDF ranks arrived in the area the Venezuelan helicopter with the soldiers had already departed.
It is said that Kaikan is approximately 10 miles away from the Venezuelan village of Sanguan.
Contacted yesterday, Brigadier Phillips would only say that they are indeed investigating the report of a Venezuelan helicopter landing on Guyana soil.
He said that based on information so far, it would have to be determined whether the presence of the helicopter was a case of a navigational error or not.