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December 30, 08 - GT&T launches new Fibre Optic Cable
Preparations for landing of Suriname-Guyana
Submarine Cable system in Georgetown, Jan. 2010
2009
Business Review
The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) announced the
launching of a new fibre optic Suriname-Guyana Submarine Cable System
(SG-SCS). GT&T and the Surinamese telecommunications company
TELESUR are together investing US$60m in the manufacturing and
installation of the new Suriname-Guyana Submarine Cable System.
As at January 2010 the shore-end landing of the Suriname-Guyana
Submarine Cable System (SG-SCS) was activated at the Kingston Seawall
in Georgetown. This 1,240 km repeater submarine fibre optic cable system
will connect Guyana and Suriname to Trinidad & Tobago and hence to
the rest of the world. The cable installation and related marine services
will be provided by Global Marine Systems Limited (GMSL), the largest
independent provider of submarine cable installation and maintenance.
The cable design will rely on Huawei Marine Networks’ (HMN) innovative,
optical transmission technology.
The SG-SCS will have the distinction of being the first fibre optic submarine cable that lands directly in Guyana and it
will directly and indirectly provide secure, high-speed, broadband communications capacity to businesses, Government,
and the population as a whole. In fact, the SG-SCS will allow for more than 3,000 times the current bandwidth capacity in
use in Guyana. Guyana’s investment in the design and construction of the cable amounts to some US$30 million. Upon
completion it will enable current services and future, next-generation services at the highest industry standards and at a
competitive cost. It will dramatically improve telecommunications delivery and the delivery of communications services
generally and thereby place the enormous potential of ICT within the grasp of every Guyanese.
GT&T is proud of its involvement in the SG-SCS project and looks to its completion by mid-2010 when the cable will
become operational..
February 09, 2009 - Minister Dr Ashni Singh presents the National Budget.
The size of the 2009 budget as presented to Parliament by Minister of
Finance Dr Ashni Singh came in at G$128.9 billion, representing an 8.1 per
cent increase over the previous year’s. The Minister of Finance described
the budget as the “biggest ever.” The Minister expressed optimism in
the sugar industry with the expected opening of the new state of the art
Skeldon Sugar Factory and the construction of the Enmore Packaging Plant.
Notably also was the allocation of G$1.1 billion to boost the expansion and
development of the country’s non- traditional sectors and a G$500 million
allocation towards the upgrading of the Belvedere Industrial Estate, the
expansion of Eccles Industrial Estate and the development of the Lethem
Minister Dr. Ashni Singh presenting the National Budget. Industrial Estate.
February 25, 2009 - Insurance Giant CLICO under Judicial Management.
Insurance giant CLICO had its operations in Guyana put under judicial management. Guyana’s Commissioner of Insurance
(COI), Maria van Beek, had secured an order from the High Court to place CLICO (Guyana) under judicial management.
This was initiated following a decision of the Bahamas Supreme Court to order the liquidation of CLICO (Bahamas).
CLICO (Bahamas) held 51% of the assets of CLICO (Guyana) as at the end of 2007. The Commissioner of Insurance
was appointed the Judicial Manager to administer and oversee the operations of the company. CLICO Guyana was
subsequently declared insolvent in April 2009 as the Insurance Company had liabilities exceeding its assets by G$1.611B.
April 30 and August 14, 2009 - The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill
passed and assented to respectively. The new Act provides for oversight of the export and insurance industries, real
estate, and alternative remittance systems, and sets forth the penalties for non-compliance including, among others, the
freezing and forfeiture of assets owned or controlled by persons suspected of engaging in money laundering activities.
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