NEWS
9
monday, september 2, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com
Giftland donates school supplies to Tiger Bay children
Six in custody after drug busts in Berbice
S
Parents about to collect school supplies for their children
G
iftland OfficeMax on Sunday donated a range of school supplies to children of Tiger Bay, Georgetown. Among the supplies donated were modeling dough, crayons, paint sets and exercise books for nursery pupils; studmark pencils, pencil sharpeners, exercise books and backpacks for primary school students; and five-star trapper keepers, exercise books, Studmark ball point pens, Studmark HB pencils and Studmark erasers for secondary school
students. The initiative was part of the store’s charitable drive. Giftland's Public Relations Manager Compton Babb told the media that more than 150 backpacks containing school supplies were handed out to school children. “It was decided that all the funds from Giftland’s third Annual Talent Show will be donated to charity to better meet the needs of the community in which Giftland is located (Tiger Bay),” Babb said.
Giftland’s Human Resources Director Jade Beepat said the show aims to create a harmonious relationship among co-workers, and she came up with the idea of a talent night to be a fund raising activity and charity event. Performances were done by Kross Kolors’ – Ossie O; the “Nothing to laugh about” crew – Radica, Maria Benschop and Lyndon Jumbie Jones; the Crystallite and Classique dance groups; Michelle “Big Red” King; Randolph
Critchlow; Gialiani; Leon Cummings; and Giftland’s staff. There were also special performances from children within Tiger Bay. The talent night was held on April 13 at the Theater Guild. Present during the donation was local recording artiste Michelle King, alongside two of Giftland’s ambassadors Devon Davis (Mr Giftland Man of Steel) and Alisha Fortune (track and field champion/bodybuilding champion).
Managing resources a careful balancing act – IMF
N
atural resources are a mainstay of many economies, and the revenue derived from their export can help countries improve the lives of their citizens. But it is usually more complicated than that, said the IMF’s Finance and Development (F&D) magazine. Sometimes revenue riches are squandered, or the wrong groups benefit, harming the economy as a whole. The September 2013 issue of F&D explores the challenges of natural resource management and proposes new ideas for sustaining resource revenues over the long haul to support steady economic growth and reduce poverty.
Challenges
In “Too Much of a Good Thing?”, IMF economists examine the challenges facing resource-rich countries. A new discovery of a precious natural resource –oil, coal, or a rare mineral, for example – always generates high hopes. Some resource-rich countries do fare well, but many others struggle to convert their resource wealth into growth engines that will benefit future generations. An abundance of precious natural resources is no guarantee of sustained growth over the long
haul, caution the authors. Economists have explored many explanations for this. Some blame corruption, exposure to volatile commodity prices, or “Dutch disease”, whereby a booming resource sector chokes off growth in other parts of the economy. Yet another reason is the exhaustible nature of certain resources – an oil well runs dry, a coal mine stops producing.
Development needs
Developing countries face particular problems managing their resource revenues. Their development needs call for more spending up front on immediate needs such as school supplies, malaria nets, and vaccination campaigns. But they also have huge unmet investments. The authors say balanced management is the answer: use revenues to boost domestic savings and investment and smooth spending. They advocate the use of a sustainable investing tool developed by the IMF to help policymakers decide how best to allocate resource revenue between saving and investment. In another article, “Extracting Resource Revenue”, Philip Daniel, Sanjeev Gupta, Todd Mattina, and Alex Segura-
Ubiergo of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department tackle the challenges of formulating tax and spending policies in revenue-rich countries. Among other things, they recommend that countries set up a resource fund – also known as a sovereign wealth fund – to save excess revenues.
Oil and water
In “A Drop in the Bucket”, Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute looks at the economics of the one natural resource we cannot live without: water. He said water policy must balance development needs and economic considerations. Only if water is managed in an integrated fashion – taking into account access to safe water and sanitation, agricultural needs, political constraints, and climate-related risks – can the global community meet the complex demands on this essential resource. F&D’s oil expert Thomas Helbling, division chief in the IMF’s Research Department, offers a peek into the future of oil markets. He said the “high prices we’ve seen in the past decade would normally signal an end to a boom”, as happened in the early 1980s. But today, many factors militate against a cut in oil
consumption and demand is holding firm. And even longterm responses to technological improvements promise to be more gradual than in the past. Barring a dramatic change in the global economy, Helbling writes, “We should not expect a significant change in either the supply or the price of oil”.
Resource booms
Other articles in the magazine’s cover package by IMF economists address the elusiveness of economic recovery in response to natural resource booms, the promise of resource wealth to boost the frontier economies of central Asia, and capital flight associated with the natural resource sector. Also in the September 2013 issue of F&D, Prakash Loungani profiles Stanley Fischer, whose achievements in the public, private, and academic spheres place him at the forefront of modern economics. Other articles examine whether Latin American growth can be sustained, why regional ties are trumping global factors in business cycles, how remittances affect economies more broadly, the special vulnerabilities of small states, and how strong balance sheets help banks sustain credit during crises.
ix persons are expected to be charged for trafficking in narcotics following two separate raids in Berbice over the weekend which led to the discovery of a quantity of marijuana and cocaine. In the first incident, police acting upon information went to the home of Kembleton Dorway, 36, of Lot 185 Victoria Street, Cumberland, East Canje with the intention of conducting a search for arms, ammo, narcotic drugs and stolen articles. The search was conducted about 11:30h on Saturday. According to information received, on arrival, the police ranks entered the yard and while at the front door, Dorway reportedly jumped through a window with a black bulky plastic bag in his hands while four other men jumped through another window and ran into a clump of bushes. Upon seeing this, and being alert, police ranks apprehended Dorway and upon opening the bag in his presence, a quantity of leaves, seeds and stem suspected to be cannabis was discovered. During interrogation, the suspect admitted to the police that the cannabis was his and that he would normally smoke it with his friends. He also told ranks that they were taking a “draw” when the police pounced on them. The other four per-
sons were also apprehended. Their names were given as Steve Jason, 27; Joshua Tanner, 20, of Lot 2 Alness Village, Corentyne, Berbice; Christopher Gafoor, 23, of Sheet Anchor; and Bryon Lewis, 17, of Fort Ordinance. The suspected cannabis was weighed in their presence and amounted to 152 grams. The suspects remain in custody and are expected to be charged today. Meanwhile, also on Saturday about 17:30h, police ranks were on mobile patrol duties in Rose Hall Town, and while in the vicinity of Ganpat Street, a man was seen riding and acting in a suspicious manner. The police mobile unit intercepted the suspect and with his permission, a search was carried out on his person and a brown grease proof paper was found in his right hand. Further checks were conducted on the paper and upon opening it, pieces of rock-like whitish substance suspected to be cocaine were found. The suspect whose name was given as Mahesh Paris, 32, a fisherman of Port Mourant compound was told of the offence, cautioned and arrested. He was taken to the Rose Hall Police Station where the illegal substance was weighed in his presence and amounted to 2.25 grams of cocaine. He will make his first court appearance today at the Whim Magistrate’s Court.