The following is the Christmas message by Mr. Keith Burrowes, Chairman of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL), printers and publishers of the Guyana & Sunday Chronicle newspapers:

We are at the close of another eventful year and it is my pleasure to once again send out Christmas and New Year’s greetings to our readers, advertisers, vendors and other well wishers who are either directly or indirectly associated with or support our Daily and Sunday Chronicle newspapers.

While this is the season of goodwill and cheer, it also affords us the opportunity to pause and reflect on our achievements and challenges during the past year and to plan our strategy for the New Year.

Our Company has enjoyed mixed fortunes during the year. In my 2008 Christmas message, mention was made of our plans to restructure and retool our newspaper operations and simultaneously upgrade our website. These two initiatives were the key to remain viable in an increasingly competitive market.

I am pleased to announce that we have succeeded in both areas. Our website has been completely restructured and redesigned, making it extremely user-friendly; it will be launched shortly.

To date, we have had a 35% (1.6 million) increase in the ‘hits’ received on the site from 2008. Our intention is to revolutionise web advertising in Guyana and in this regard, we will target mainly Guyanese businesses, both locally and in the diaspora, to take advantage of our fabulous offers. It will be inexpensive, affordable and easily accessible.

We have also installed a new printing press and ancillary equipment. Since the installation, the print quality of our newspapers has markedly improved.

It is now comparable to any of the others on the local market, particularly the colour pictures and photographs.

Complementary to this was the improved content of the newspaper during the year and, in this regard, we have received some positive responses from the public. We will endeavour to pursue this path to even greater improvement.

We expect our readers and advertisers will now judge us by the quality of our products (both technically and through content) and not stereotype us as just another state entity. We aim to give quality service and value for money.

We will be aggressively marketing our products in the New Year and we look forward to the continued support of all our advertisers, vendors and customers.

In our plans for the New Year, we hope to establish GNNL as a watch-dog in protecting the interest of the general population.

Thus, much greater emphasis will be placed on education of the public – done via our website and in hard copy – about available services of state and non-state agencies.

It is our hope that this initiative will facilitate an enhanced process of transparency relative to the populace’s engagement with same.

Additionally, we have factored in our advertisers, vendors, readers and others as well as the contributions of our Board of Directors, Management and Staff. I would like to say a special thank you to all these persons for their firm support, hard work and dedication throughout 2009 and look forward to their renewed commitment in 2010. To all of you and your families, a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

And finally, to our major shareholder – the Government of Guyana – without whose support and assistance we would not have progressed, I extend best wishes for the season and a prosperous 2010.