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IV HIGHLIGHTS AND COMMENTS The workshop on the Management and U t i l i z a t i o n of Aquatic Plants, a t o p i c of immense concern to Guyana and i t s leaders, was the f i r s t major a c t i v i t y to be hosted by the head of the newly created National Science Research Council Prime M i n i s t e r Burnham's keynote speech a t the workshop stressed the importance of t h i s subject and the need f o r research to be geared to development problems I n a d d i t i o n to the Prime M i n i s t e r and h i s w i f e , about f i f t y i n v i t e d d i g n i t a r i e s attended the opening ceremony, i n c l u d i n g Deputy Prime M i n i s t e r and M i n i s t e r of A g r i c u l t u r e , Dr Ptolemy Reid, ambassadors to Guyana from the United States, United Kindgom, and B r a z i l , the USAID Mission D i r e c t o r , and other Guyanese o f f i c i a l s D a i l y newspapers (see attached c l i p p i n g s ) and the l o c a l r a dio s t a t i o n provided wide coverage of the workshop Dr and Mrs Dennis I r v i n e , Vice Chancellor of the U n i v e r s i t y of Guyana, who are c u r r e n t l y the s e c r e t a r i a t f o r the National Science Research Council, were responsible f o r the a d m i n i s t r a t i v e arrangements of the work- shop The meetings were held at the U n i v e r s i t y of Guyana Dr and Mrs I r v i n e hosted a r e c e p t i o n a t t h e i r home f o r U S and Guyanese p a n e l i s t s and arranged h o t e l r e s e r v a t i o n s and d a i l y t r a n s p o r t a t i o n to and from the u n i v e r s i t y f o r the U S p a n e l i s t s Without s e c r e t a r i a l assistance, they handled the d e t a i l e d arrangements on the Guyanese s i d e â a n important con- t r i b u t i o n to the success of the meeting The USAID Mission provided a l l necessary a d m i n i s t r a t i v e support, arranged to have a l l NAS p a n e l i s t s and s t a f f met a t the a i r p o r t , provided - 12 -
equipment and t r a n s p o r t a t i o n needs Both the Mission D i r e c t o r , Robert Hamer, and the A g r i c u l t u r a l O f f i c e r , E l b e r t Bowen displayed considerable i n t e r e s t i n the a c t i v i t y , y et kept AID's presence a t an appropriate d i s - creet l e v e l The USAID Mission purchased several Items used at the demonstrations f o l l o w i n g the workshop the Bagnall Press f o r aquatic weed dewatering, the f l o a t i n g rope to harvest f l o a t i n g aquatic weeds, and a p a i r of polyurethane boots USAID also arranged f o r Vernon Myers, a t e c h n i c a l adviser on aquatic weed c o n t r o l i n F l o r i d a , to be a v a i l a b l e to ensure t h a t the demonstrations were performed p r o p e r l y - 13 -
