Guyanese make $5M donation to help Türkiye, Syria

Members of the Providence Sunnatul Jamaat in collaboration with the management and staff of Mohamed’s Enterprise have accumulated $5 million in response to the Turkey/ Syria earthquake emergency appeal.

Two nations are reeling from a devastating 7.8 magnitude quake on February 6, 2023, which has resulted in thousands of fatalities, injuries to civilians, and destruction to infrastructure. According to international reports, the death toll in the neighbouring countries has surpassed 46,000 as of Sunday.

In a statement on Sunday, the organisers of this relief initiative expressed their gratitude to all the donors, supporters and well-wishers who have made a contribution to the effort.

“To date we have been able to accumulate the sum of G$5,000,000 (five million Guyana dollars) in response to this appeal. This donation in cash shall be forwarded through Human Concern International; a Canadian based social welfare and relief organisation, which has been in the forefront of alleviating the suffering of the less fortunate around the world for over forty years irrespective of ethnicity or creed,” the organisers said.

They added, “We all join in prayers for God-Almighty to grant patience and relief to the victims of this disaster as we sympathise and grieve for their loss of loved ones. Additionally, we call upon our fellow brothers in faith to mimic our appeal in their respective communities across Guyana.”

This initiative by Guyanese comes on the heels of the Guyana Government last week donating US$100,000 to Türkiye and Syria

Immediately following the massive earthquake and major aftershock, President Dr Irfaan Ali had written the leaders of both countries, conveying solidarity and support on behalf of the Government and people of Guyana.

On Wednesday, the Guyana Government announced that it “…has since taken a decision to contribute the sum of US$50,000 to Türkiye and US$50,000 to Syria to aid the relief efforts underway.”

With Guyana’s economy growing exponentially, GTT’s Mobile Money Guyana (mmg+) is positioned to provide several key financial services to businesses in Guyana, according to Partner Support Representative Rashawna Quintin.

Quintin made the comments during the recently concluded International Energy Conference and Expo, held in Georgetown last week – for which mmg+ was the official payment partner.

She said that businesses can register as merchants to receive one-off payments, as billers to receive recurring payments, as agents to earn more money or as disbursement partners to easily send money with transparency and without a hassle.

She added that many businesses are currently registered to the service because it’s an app that their customers and business colleagues are already familiar with and use frequently.

“We have over 60,000 subscribers and this number is constantly growing. When customers hear those businesses and services they use are on the mmg+ platform, they are excited to know that they can process their payments quickly without having to go to a physical location. What we offer is convenience and transparency for both businesses and customers and businesses have the opportunity to tap into mmg+ and allow their customers that option,” Quintin explained.

The mmg+ representative added that there are no limits to any category of business that can register for an mmg+ account.

“Any business can reg- ister, what they need to do is let us know what type of business they offer and once we are aware, then we will be able to offer some guidance as to which business category they should go into to best cater to their needs,” she noted.

Quintin said too that many businesses currently use the service as disbursement partners, to easily and transparently disburse money for various types of business transactions or to make payouts to staff.

“Let’s say that your employees want a part of their salaries to go directly to their mobile wallet, as a disbursement partner those payments can be processed and your staff can now easily conduct transactions from their cell phones without ever having to visit an ATM, and if they need cash, we have over 800 agents across all ten administrative regions,” the mmg+ representative stated.

According to Quintin, many small businesses have also set up on the mmg+ platform as merchants, to allow their customers to process payments to them with ease, while mmg+ also continues to expand its biller options.

The Mobile Money service also recently onboarded the New Building Society (NBS) to its platform, to allow customers to pay their mortgages via the application.

Businesses interested in registering for the service can visit the mmg+ website for information and guidance.

e-SIMS

Meanwhile, GTT announced on Sunday that it has made e-SIMs available for purchase and installation at all of the com- pany’s retail stores across the country and street sale agents.

The e-SIM is a digital version of a physical SIM card that is pre-installed in a customer’s cell phone. It also allows for ease of tracking if the device is lost and seamless transfer of information when upgraded to another e-SIM compatible device.

Customers can activate a maximum of eight e-SIMs in one device depending on the model of the cell phone. However, it can only be utilised in one device at a time.

GTT’s e-SIM is compatible with US version iPhones and selected iOS devices purchased in Hong Kong and Macao. This includes iPhone 11, XS, XR, 12 and iPhone 13 running iOS version 16.2 or any further updates.

However, the e-SIM it is not available for iPhones or iPads purchased in the Chinese mainland, even if they appear on the list of e-SIM-compatible iPhones and iPads.

Additionally, there has been no official announcement by Samsung or any other android manufacturer that their e-SIM capable handsets will be guaranteed to work in Latin America and or the Caribbean Region.

GTT is advising customers that while some android handsets may be compatible with a GTT e-SIM, the company cannot guarantee it will continue to work should the handset be updated with a new operating software.

For existing GTT prepaid customers upgrading to an e-SIM, the cost is GY$500. While for new customers the cost is GY2000 and the customer will receive GY$1000 in credit.

This donation was in response to a humanitarian call by the United Nations and as such, the contributions will be channelled through the UN. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday issued an appeal for humanitarian funding to bring urgent relief to approximately five million Syrians. The Secretary-General announced that US$397 million is needed to address humanitarian concerns over the next three months, up to May 2023, in priority areas such as shelter, healthcare, food and protection.

The Secretary-General subsequently launched a

US$1 billion humanitarian appeal for the people of Türkiye, which will cover a three-month period and assist some 5.2 million people. The money will be used to rapidly scale up vital support for Government-led relief efforts in a number of areas including food security, protection, education, water and shelter.

Moved by Guyana’s response

Following Guyana’s donation, UN Resident Coordinator in Guyana, Ye?im Oruç last week said she is “professionally and personally moved” by the Government's response to the UN's global humanitarian appeal.

“I have friends and family in that part of the world. Therefore, this is very close to me. But for the people of Guyana, those places are so so far away. There are no pressing political or economic ties. There are also needs in Guyana and closer to home in the Caribbean. But this contribution is significant for precisely those reasons …this contribution is a decisive demonstra- tion of Guyana’s commitment to global solidarity as a principle of international relations and peace and to end human suffering everywhere,” Oruç stated.

According to the Turkish national, when news of the devastating earthquake spread, many of her local friends and colleagues called to check on her loved ones. Then a few days later, she found envelopes of small cash at her home in Georgetown – her Guyanese neighbours had left modest gifts at her door with sympathy notes and prayers – in all faiths. Those were deposited online with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

She added that during her official functions as UN Resident Coordinator, civil society and Government partners, including Ministers, all took moments out to reflect on her country’s loss and drew lessons from the global solidarity for their own renewed commitment to serve, to improve, to lift those who may need assistance here.

“This contribution made by the Head of State on behalf of the people of Guyana gives a tangible shape and volume to the thoughtfulness, kindness and the many acts of solidarity which I had the profound honour to witness in the past days.”

“All those individual thoughts, prayers and contributions are herewith compounded with those of many others from all around the globe, sending a message from a Guyana for humanity through the global family of nation, the United Nations. And for all those reasons, and many more, accept Guyana please my profound gratitude, love and respect,” Oruç posited. (G8)

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