Tuesday's Cabinet retreat has produced a raft of pledges by the Jagdeo administration including accelerating universal access to secondary education, abolishing government's monopoly of radio, enactment of broadcast legislation and improving the management of schools.

In what read almost like a mini-budget presentation, the tabling of legislation on procurement, the establishment of the Tourism Authority, the setting up of a Small Business Authority and the Policy Paper on land distribution were all listed as part of the government's legislative agenda for this year.

President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday told reporters at a press conference he hosted at the Office of the President that Tuesday's Cabinet Retreat at the Ocean View Convention Centre approved these and a range of other projects for implementation by the various ministries.

The primary aim of the retreat was to see how best the government could utilise existing resources to re-engineer many of the things it did so as to deliver a better quality service to the people, according to the President.

He said that this meant not just building a road for the sake of having a road, but because of the service that road would provide for the people. So, too, he said, would be the aim of institutional strengthening of a ministry - to better provide the services its offers.

He offered that the considerations that went into the programmes discussed at the retreat would inform this year's national budget.

President Jagdeo said that the projects and programmes to be implemented this year fit in with some of the commitments given in the PPP/Civic 2001 election manifesto and the public statements of various government officials.

He explained that the programmes and policies have an organic link with the National Development Strategy, the recommendations of which have influenced them, and are set in a five to ten-year strategic context.

President Jagdeo said too that the Office of the President will monitor the implementation of the programmes and that timeframes will be set in some areas to provide a more informed basis for assessment. "Periodically from the Office of the President we will be assessing how each ministry is moving ahead with its programme for 2002."

Some of the programmes listed for some of the larger ministries are set out below.

The Office of the Prime Minister will:

* Explore ways to further support mining viz gold and diamonds, bauxite, stone and sand quarrying;

* Ensure the Guyana Power and Light complies with its contractual obligations and that efficiency gains are reflected in lower tariffs;

* Accelerate the implementation of the Unserved Areas Electrification Programme for 55,000 consumers, which the government is supporting with a US$25 million subsidy;

* Ensure GPL supports the government's renewable power initiatives by putting in place power purchasing agreements;

* Continue the reform and modernisation of the telecommunications sector and the provision of support to the Information and Communication Technology Unit in the Office of the President;

* Implement reforms in the broadcasting sector;

* Improve the services offered by the Guyana Post Office Corporation.

The Ministry of Finance will:

* Develop support programmes to boost the economy such as petroleum exploration, the Georgetown/Lethem road, a deep-water harbour and sources of cheaper capital to bring down its cost to the private sector;

* Improve expenditure controls and the management of public resources allocated to ministries/sectors including surcharging accounting officers found breaching financial controls and tender board procedures;

* Expand the tax base through the strengthening of the Guyana Revenue Authority;

* Coordinate donor support;

* Review the incentives in the tax regime with a view to promoting investment;

* Implement policies to ensure a stable macro-economic environment.

The Ministry of Education will:

* Undertake programmes for school feeding and provision of school uniforms targeting under-privileged children;

* Expand distance education programmes through the use of information technology;

* Develop a coordinated school maintenance programme;

* Construct and rehabilitate some 40 schools to accelerate the programme of providing access to secondary education for all children leaving primary school;

* Improve the management systems at the level of the schools to enable the heads to better track the completion of the syllabi, preparation of notes of lessons by teachers; and that teachers are present in school during school hours;

* Provide management training for school heads where necessary;

* Strengthen the School Inspectorate;

* Establish education sub-committees in the regions to facilitate better supervision of the regional education officers and to monitor the performance of the schools in the regions;

* Develop a closer working relationship with the Guyana Teachers Union in the training of teachers;

* Expand the teaching of Spanish and Portuguese in schools;

* Expand the use of information and communications technology in the management of the education sector.

The Ministry of Health will:

* Finalise the National Health Plan;

* Place more emphasis on primary health care;

* Support the private sector in developing capacity to provide specialised treatment, with government providing support for those persons in need of the specialized service being provided by the private sector;

* Establish sector-wide standards with which both private and public sector institutions must comply;

* Implement internal standards for public health institutions while sector-wide standards are being drawn up;

* Accelerate the campaign to encourage people to take responsibility for their own health;

* Address the negative attitude of certain health care workers;

* Reduce long-waiting periods for treatment at health centres and hospitals;

* Improve delivery and availability of medical supplies and drugs especially to hinterland and rural areas.

The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security will:

* Work towards the improvement of the industrial relations climate including conclusion of a social contract;

* Establish a labour market information system to facilitate the placement of people;

* Enforce occupational health and safety regulations;

* Enhance transparency in employment practices in the private and public sectors;

* Strengthen the Family Welfare, Probation, Old Age and Public Assistance departments and eradicate fraudulent practices related with the payment of assistance to clients of these departments;

* Expand the Difficult Circumstances Programme;