LEAP holds workshop for redundant Linmine workers
Stabroek News
January 16, 2003
The Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) held an awareness workshop this week for recently redundant employees of the Linden Mining Enterprise (LINMINE).
The programme, a release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) says, is aimed at providing them with access to facilities in the areas of agriculture, processing and production opportunities.
Further information on opportunities in that community as well as how to go about developing proposals for accessing finance to start these projects, is also expected to be imparted.
LEAP is presently collaborating with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Guyana Office for investment (Go-Invest) and the Institute for Private Enterprise Development (IPED) in this area.
Its own financing arm, the Linden Economic Advancement Fund (LEAF), is expected to become a reality later in the year.
In June last year, a survey was done on the state of agriculture in Linden and it was found that 90% of the vegetables consumed in the community came from outside of Linden along with a large amount of poultry and fish.
The GINA release noted that the Commissioner of Lands and Surveys has released over ninety leases for Kwakwani and nine in West Watooka.
Local Manager of the project, Donald Nurse, according to the release, said that the resignation, in December of LEAP's International Project Manager (IPM), John Toner, has not interrupted the programme.
Toner who was appointed head of the $2.2B programme earlier in the year following the resignation of then IPM, Eddo Berentsen, himself resigned citing a number of differences with the contracting firm Tran State based in Brussels. According to the release a further workshop for farmers in the areas of poultry and crop-production is planned for February 1 and 8 respectively.
At the sessions farmers are expected to be exposed to practices at the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), DIDCO and Bounty Farms.
