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On Friday, the Bishop’s High School and St. John’s College were the beneficiaries of this training program which was sponsored through the initiative of Mr. Damian Blackburn and GTT.

The event was conducted by Mr. Manniram Prashad, President of GOGEC, Mr. Joel Bhagwandin, Dr. Carlin Hanoman , Mr. Matthew Scharf from ExxonMobil Guyana, Mr. Wilson Herrera from Guyana Logistics and Support Services (GLASS) and Minister Deodat Indar who gave an extensive overview from the discovery of oil in Guyana to present day.

Police also said a woman, who has not been identified, and the driver of the vehicle, who was previously identified as Tarrique Pollard, are in custody assisting with the investigations.

The robbery occurred at around 03:10 hrs. At the time, four security guards were on duty. Police Headquarters said four unidentifiable men entered the compound from the eastern fence and dealt one of the guards, Suresh Sooknanan, 60, a lash to his forehead.

Sooknanan then made his way to the front of the compound where he informed his colleagues what transpired. Those colleagues untied him and the matter was reported to the Police. Sooknanan was later escorted to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital to seek medical attention.

Upon checking the building, Police said it was discovered that two windows from the department were open. The cash which was stolen was kept in the Accounts Department of the building.

Mr Persaud, upon learning of the situation, ventured to the location with an engineer and made an assessment of the works.

He disclosed that the road is being done through the Ministry of Public Works and that the contractor tasked with completing the project has not gone beyond the time frame stipulated in the contract to complete it.

He stated that the road is scheduled to be completed on November 1, 2023, as per the contractual agreement.

The contractor indicated that the next process would be to apply bitumen to the surface in the coming weeks. However, following a discussion with the REO and the PTA, that process will be sped up and the bitumen is expected to be laid over the weekend.

There were also complaints that work was not completed on the school building itself, but Persaud said he gave a few parents a tour of the building to highlight the upgrades that were done over the holiday period to prepare for the reopening of the school.

Parents have reportedly agreed to send their children to school come Monday morning.

She said the national mental health policy must be focused on preventative and responsive mental health prevention across the country and as such there must be capacity building for key stakeholders in order for this policy to be effective.

She said the teachers at schools will have to be trained to know signs and take necessary actions as required.

“We want to seek to implement a school based programme, a comprehensive school based programme, to address mental health and wellbeing, stigma and discrimination that is attached to mental health, especially with the children and adolescent population,” Glen stated.

She said the ministry recongises the stigma attached to mental illness, hence it will provide psychosocial support to young people.

Like many other countries, Guyana has refocused its healthcare system with massive emphasis placed on mental health.

Hence, the government hopes by targeting the issues, less persons will be institutionalized.

But this requires support from the community level for these persons, the country’s PAHO representative Dr Luis Codina said.

“We will need to work also in the community support that we see in other countries to receive these patients in their homes or institutions,” Dr Codina said.

He also said legislation must be in place to ensure there is legal support available.

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony agreed that mental health care goes beyond the clinic and should be incorporated into the everyday lives of persons.

As such, the Ministry of Education, the Child Protection Agency and other welfare agencies will be part of this reformed system to prevent and offer support for persons.

“Before even the end of June 2023, Jamaica welcomed over two million visitors with record earnings of US $2 billion, 18 per cent above the 2019 earnings for the same time period,” White said.

He added, “What this really means is that our visitors are staying slightly longer in the destination which is good, but they are also spending more.”

The JTB estimates some 3.8 million visitors by the end of this year with gross foreign exchange earnings of US$4.2 billion.

According to White, close to 4.6 million people are estimated to visit by the end of 2024 with US$4.3 billion in earnings projected; in 2025, the country is projected to earn some US$5 billion from some five million visitors.

Given these projections, the Tourism Minister lauded the country’s economic growth, largely due to the tourism sector.

“Jamaica is ahead of arrivals…I challenge anywhere to duplicate the level of increase in revenue that Jamaica is experiencing,” Minister Bartlett told reporters.

And investors remain interested in the country; some 2,000 new rooms will open up in early 2024 and Jamaica is on track to build 20,000 new rooms over the next 10 to 15 years.

The Tourism Minister did not shy away from recognising the employees in the tourism sector as he announced housing and more training for them.

“The recovery that we’ve had is very inclusive and it embraces significantly the people who are involved in tourism, the workers of the tourism industry.

“And Jamaica is proud to say that we are the first and at the moment, the only country in the world to have a comprehensive tourism pension plan for the workers of the industry.”

“Our workers need housing and we are providing in the next three to five years over 4,000 houses for the workers of the tourism industry.

“So, within that context of building the capacity of our workforce to respond to the emotional stimulus component…it’s not about salary, not about increasing their take home pay; it’s about building their psyche and enabling them to feel that they’re part of this process of recovery and they are beneficiaries of the products of tourism,” Bartlett said.

Over 10,000 workers in the sector have been trained since 2020 and provided with certificates of competence on the job.