…Surujbally lauds initiative
The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) has collaborated with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to bring information about the elections process and the body mandated to conduct the polls, which are scheduled to take place later this year. This information is neatly encapsulated in an eight-page section on elections in the alpha-numerical pages of the new 2011 Guyana Telephone Directory, which was presented by GT&T to the GECOM Chairman at his Kingston office yesterday.
GT&T Customer Service Manager Carl De Mattas presented copies of the new directory to GECOM Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally.
Speaking to the media, Lisa Insanally of Guyenterprise said: “It is a pleasure to be here with you as we launch the 2011 Guyana Telephone Directory. As we all know since the first book was produced in 1992, the Guyana Telephone Directory has been an invaluable resource for all Guyanese. We print about 110,000 copies so it is a book that is available to every Guyanese and should be in every Guyanese household and every business.”
Insanally said, “Since 1992 we have spent a lot of time making sure that each publication has important information, not only about how to find specific businesses in Guyana, but also for important facts on Guyana for schoolchildren, for tourists visiting Guyana.”
She said that every year Guyenterprise and GT&T identify important events that are happening in the country and “we make sure that we give a sizeable amount of the space that we have in the directory to educate the Guyanese about what is happening in our country every year, whether it was Cricket World Cup or Carifesta.”
Insanally said, “This year not only marks the 20th anniversary of GT&T, but also it is also an important year for Guyana because it is an election year. So this year GT&T joined forces with GECOM to make sure that we have information in this year’s book about the elections; to make sure that each Guyanese has access to this information and we are very excited to show that we have a nine-page spread in the Alphabet section, page 150 to 158 of the Guyana Telephone Directory.”
She pointed out that this section of the directory has all the useful information about the electoral process and about the do’s and don’ts and about the voting process, “so that everyone could understand the importance of this elections and everyone would have useful information that they need when that time comes.”
“So we are very excited to be able to show this to everyone and we really encourage the public to make use of this book and to make use of the section that is in there about the elections,” she said.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission Dr. Steve Surujbally, said he has recognised the metamorphosis that has taken place with the telephone directory over the years. “Truly there was a time when one could not find one’s name in the directory and it was pretty much a useless document to what it is now. Unfortunately, so many people still tend to call somebody for a number, when in fact the number is in the directory. It would be really very important for persons to first look to the directory to get a number, even an address,” he said.
The GECOM Chairman said it was a pleasure for GECOM to be associated with the production of the new directory. “The nine-page spread that we have, plus our website, plus our open telephone numbers should give the citizenry of this country all the information they need pertaining to the elections. It is quite timely. It is very opportune, and I congratulate the GT&T for producing this directory at this point in time,” said Surujbally.