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With less than a year remaining in the government’s current term, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, on Friday announced that the government will surpass the promised 50,000 house lots to citizens by the end of 2025.

“We will be surpassing 50,000 in the year 2025,” Croal confidently said at a yearend press conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

He revealed that the government would allocate far more than the annual target of 10,000 house lots.

The ministry in 2024 surpassed that target with 10, 791 lots allocated in 19 new housing schemes across the country. These areas include Wales in Region Three, Good Hope, La Bonne Intention and Yarrowkabra in Region Four, Palmyra in Region Six and Amelia’s Ward in Region Ten.

“In terms of our allocation therefore, this has been our most successful year,” Minister Croal said as he also called the achievements “robust” and the “busiest” year for his ministry.

With the 2024 milestone, the total allocations over a four-year period is now at 40, 290. Minister Croal explained that this does not include commercial lots allocated which would bring the 10, 791 to 11,000 for last year.

The two largest populated regions are Three and Four and as of 2024, 61 per cent of house lots were allocated in Region Four since 2020 and 22 per cent in Region Three.

Majority of the those who received lots are women with 26 per cent joint applications (male and female) and 28 per cent were allocated to men.

“Very often we speak about women empowerment and gender equality. Our analysis of the allocations will show that 46 per cent of those allocations were done to females,” Minister Croal said.

In terms of the age bracket, 53 per cent of the allocations are below 35 years and 32 per cent between ages 36 to 50.

Croal revealed that the ministry prioritised applications from 2019 but in some areas like Region Three applications were prioritised from 2021.

Categories of allocations saw majority in the middle income section with 72 per cent allocated since 2020; low income is at 43 per cent; middle income 19 per cent and high income at 9 per cent.

“The reality is that everyone is dealt with equality, there is a system we are working with,” Minister Croal said.

In 2024, the ministry acquired 4,900 acres of land for housing developments. Croal said the focus on developing virgin or unused lands is pivotal to meeting rising demands.

The post Record-breaking 10, 791 house lots distributed in 2024 appeared first on News Room Guyana.

Guyanese Sherfane Rutherford hit a boundary off the last ball as Sydney Thunder edged Perth Scorchers in a thrilling BBL match overshadowed by a horrible on-field collision involving Cameron Bancroft and Daniel Sams.

Needing 15 runs off the last over to chase down 178, Rutherford blasted veteran seamer Andrew Tye for three boundaries including a thick inside edge that raced past short fine-leg for the winning runs.

He finished 39 not out from 19 balls and had help from debutant Hugh Weibgen, who came on as a concussion substitute.

After being sent in on a batting-friendly Optus Stadium, Scorchers were ignited by a second consecutive half-century from opener Finn Allen.

But their innings in the 16th over was halted by 20 minutes after Bancroft and Sams collided in the outfield trying to get to a catch. Both players were concussed and sent to hospital, but conscious and talking.

The crowd of 46,471 is Scorchers’ highest ever home attendance during the regular season.

Warner stars at the start, Rutherford at the close

With Bancroft sidelined, Thunder’s hopes largely rested on skipper David Warner, who was fresh off his 86 not out against Melbourne Renegades.

He mixed inventiveness and power to help Thunder keep pace. Just before the drinks break, Warner sensed his move against legspinner Matthew Spoors, who was playing in his second BBL game.

After reverse-sweeping him for a boundary, Warner was pinned on the pad by a quick delivery from Spoors, who mimics his bowling action on Rashid Khan.

The lbw appeal was turned down, but Scorchers reviewed and Warner started to walk off the ground.

But ball tracking had the ball clipping the top of the leg stump and the decision stood, and Warner had to scurry back. He seemed intent to cash in before holing out, but Thunder received a lift in the back-end from Rutherford.

Weibgen had a tough initiation in his BBL debut but smashed a huge six off quick Jason Behrendorff in the penultimate over to leave Thunder needing 15 runs off the last over.

Rutherford stepped up and his winning blow triggered scenes of celebration from Thunder on the sidelines with Warner jumping for joy.

The horrific Bancroft-Sams collision

Play was halted during Scorchers’ innings after Bancroft and Sams clashed heads when they both tried to take an outfield catch to dismiss Cooper Connolly.

Sams appeared to be knocked out cold and had to be stretchered off in a mini-ambulance, while Bancroft walked off with his nose bloodied.

It was a collision that evoked images of Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie in Sri Lanka from 1999.

Bancroft, who plays for Western Australia in domestic cricket, and Sams received a strong ovation from the fans as they left the field. (ESPNcricinfo)

 

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Two years after the groundbreaking Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Bill was passed, efforts are still underway to implement it effectively so that deceased donor (cadaveric) transplants can be performed. The law was enacted to govern and regulate advancements in regenerative medicine.

“We have been working to bring that legislation to life,” Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony said at a yearend press conference on December 31, 2024.

Following the passage of the legislation in 2022, the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Agency (HOTTA) was established.

HOTTA collaborates with local and international partners, including the Donation and Transplantation Institute (DTI) in Barcelona and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), to ensure the programme adheres to global standards.

“We had experts come from Barcelona to work with the team here to build out a lot of the regulations, so those regulations are now available,” Dr Anthony said.

Dr Anthony further stated that HOTTA is also working with local private hospitals to certify them for performing transplants by the end of 2025. Currently, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is the only certified facility approved to conduct transplants.

“There are others in the private that have indicated they would like to be certified and they have been told the requirement and they are going through that process to be certified,” the health minister said.

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony

Meanwhile, the Director of Medical Services at GPHC, Dr. Navindranauth Rambarran revealed while live donor transplants are being successfully conducted, and efforts are underway to enable cadaveric transplants.

Dr. Rambarran was speaking at GPHC’s yearend press conference and explained that extensive work was required to prepare for cadaveric transplants, including infrastructure development, training, protocol formulation, and community sensitisation.

“We are on the cusp of being able to effectively conduct cadaveric transplants, possibly within a few months,” Dr. Rambarran stated.

However, he noted a key challenge is being able to perform the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) tissue testing locally. Currently, samples must be sent overseas.

Director of Medical Services at GPHC, Dr. Navindranauth Rambarran (Photo: News Room/September 2024)

“You can imagine if we needed to send those samples abroad while we kept someone on a ventilator to get those results in a week is just not feasible so until we are able to get that testing we hope to have soon then we wouldn’t be able to progress.

“We’ve been assured by the agency, the health ministry, and our partners that it [testing] should be up and running in the coming months,” Dr. Rambarran added.

Additionally, a national registry for organ donors and recipients is under development, spearheaded by nephrologists at GPHC in collaboration with HOTTA.

This registry will include an official list of transplant recipients and a catalog of registered donors, ensuring a structured and transparent system for organ and tissue transplantation.

 

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