THE Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T), yesterday presented $5M to the National Aids Programme Secretariat (NAPS) to enhance the lives of children. The funds were made possible through a percentage of total sales of GT&T cell phone pre-paid cards for the month of December 2007.

During the Christmas season in the spirit of goodwill and compassion the company embarked on the “You top up and we give” promotion for orphans, vulnerable children and children living with HIV/AIDS or affected by the disease.

At the presentation the Director of (NAPS), Dr. Shanti Singh, welcomed the initiative by GT&T and noted that the initiative has shown leadership by the company. She also assured the gathering that the money donated towards the programme will be well expended.

GT&T Director of Marketing and Sales, Mr. Wystan Robertson, said that the company wanted to give back to the community and the most important was donating to the vulnerable children.

“We donated 1% of the top up during the period of December and leave the door open for other persons who wanted to make contributions outside of the promotion. It was very well received. We had an overwhelming response from the promotion. GT&T have always been interested in ensuring that our contribution to the society is more than just technology, that we assist is the overall development of the country and that we make input in relevant sectors, health being one of those. It has been a lot of pride and gratitude that we were able to get this off and make the contribution,” Mr. Robertson declared.

Present at the ceremony was Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who expressed his gratitude to GT&T for the major contribution. He said it is another concrete example of the very productive relationship between the Ministry of Health and GT&T.

“Anytime you place money in children’s welfare, it is money that is well spent and I am very happy that GT&T has chosen this. I can’t underline more boldly the fact that our children are our future and therefore we must do whatever it takes so that they can grow up to be productive adults and be children that are happy,” said the minister.

Dr. Ramsammy pointed out that this is not the first collaboration between the two entities in promoting better health and in uplifting social development of Guyanese. He noted the long history of collaboration between the entities, which include two very important flagship programmes of the Ministry, one on children living with HIV/AIDS and affected by the disease and the other being on an adequate of safe blood supply to the public.

“We will not turn our back on our children; our private sector partnership is growing in terms of ensuring that we take care of our children. Approximately 137 children are living with HIV and are being treated. For a small country like Guyana it is important to realise that all of our HIV/AIDS infected children receive anti-retroviral treatment free of cost. As minister of health I will ensure that no child regardless of circumstances is left without treatment,” Dr. Ramsammy noted.

The minister also highlighted the collaboration between the Ministries of Health and Human Services and Social Security, to ensure the establishment of acceptable standards for the operation of orphanages. The Ministries will be moving towards a stage to introduce licence and accreditation for orphanages. This is to have orphanages operate at a qualitative level.

One of the programmes that will benefit from the donation is the programme that is currently being operated by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. Currently, there are 38 children who were all street children, hosed in a home provided by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security.

Dr. Ramsammy said that the government’s intension is not to keep building orphanages and homes. He added that government believes that orphanages and homes must be transition sites and every child should have a family. Therefore the government’s vision to take care of children is to have a foundation programme of a foster care system.

The minister announced that the foster care programme will be further pursued during this year and legislation will have to be enacted support this