News & Community Service
2008 . 2007 . 2006

IMPROMPTU SPEECH COMPETITION CONTINUES

The GBTI Regent Street branch sponsored Annual Inter-Secondary School Impromptu Speaking Competition for Fourth Formers continued on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, at the GBTI Recreational Centre.

In the first contest, Richard Ishmael Secondary showed better composure and awareness in winning against St. Stanislaus College, scoring 340 points to St. Stanislaus’ 326 points.

The St Stanislaus team pulled the topics: Seeing is believing!; Should there be more agricultural education in Guyana?; Manners maketh man.

The Richard Ishmael Secondary team pulled the topics: Is there something as a generation gap?; What animal characteristics do you admire; What should be done about the state of West Indies Cricket?

The other match for the day between School of the Nations and North Georgetown Secondary School did not come off because the North Georgetown Secondary School has pulled out of the competition.

The judges for the match contested were Mr. Geoffrey Smith, Ms. Magda Pollard and Ms. Abiola Inniss.

The Competition continues on Tuesday, May 06, 2008 with St. John’s College coming up against Annandale Secondary and Central High School competing against Covent Garden Secondary.

VREED-EN-HOOP BRANCH CONDUCTS CAREER GUIDANCE SESSION AT WEST DEMERARA SECONDARY

Our Vreed-en-Hoop Branch conducted a Career Guidance Session at the West Demerara Secondary School, on April 24th, 2008. The attendees were 5th Form students of the school.

The session covered a range of topics relevant to their entry into the job market, including:

• Careers in Banking
• How to complete a Job Application
• Preparing for the Interview
• Conduct in the Office

The session lasted over two (2) hours and the students were very attentive and interactive. The facilitators of the session were Mrs Rambha Persaud – Chandebal, Manager of the Branch and Mrs Dahana Ramjist, Marketing and Public Relations Officer.

Head of the Business Department, Mr. Harry Narine expressed their thanks to the Bank for conducting the session and noted its relevance to the business curriculum at the school. He also noted that the Branch has over the years presented prizes to the Best Graduating Student and Best Graduating Business Student at the School’s Graduating Ceremony.

Tokens and relevant brochures were distributed by the Branch to all in attendance.

REGENT STREET BRANCH COMMENCES IMPROMPTU SPEECH COMPETITION FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

On Thursday, April 24, 2008 our Regent Street Branch commenced its Signature Activity – 2nd Annual Inter Secondary School Impromptu Speech Competition at the GBTI Recreational Centre, Kaieteur Road, Bel Air. The competition involves Fourth Formers from sixteen secondary schools, and runs for one month.

Mr Mario Farinha, Manager of the Regent Street Branch, in his opening remarks stated that, in hosting this competition the Branch sought to provide the medium that emphasizes the value of this art form, and also assist the Ministry of Education in fulfilling part of its objective as it relates to the English Language curriculum.

Ms, Genevieve Whyte-Nedd, Chief Education Officer, who offered remarks on behalf of her Ministry commended the Branch on its initiative to resurrect this lost art form and anticipated a sucessful competition.

The competition was declared open by Chief Executive Officer of GBTI, Mr Radhakrishna Sharma, who stated that as the largest Guyanese owned banking institution, GBTI sees itself as having an important role in the development and support of activities that seek to build individuals and communities, since this benefits the entire country.

Mr Sharma in his remarks also stated that in many cases the business sector points to a lack of key skills in young job aspirants as being a drawback to employment. Employers are constantly emphasizing that employability skills such as, communication, team work, problem solving, self-management, planning and organizing, technology, learning and initiative and enterprise are required by young people to ensure a successful transition from school to the business word and throughout their working lives.

To assist young people to improve their employability skills and enable them to function appropriately in the job market, it is therefore necessary that the school’s curricula be adjusted to accommodate the industry’s requirements. According to Mr Sharma, all public and private sector organizations and non-governmental agencies must play a committed role.

He further stated that, GBTI has maintained a well-known focus on young people over the years, from our Early Savers Club, which provides an opportunity for young people to save for their future to our Career Guidance Sessions conducted by our branches, that seek to prepare school leavers for the working environment.

First Match - President’s College vs Christ Church Secondary

The first match in the First Round of competition was held after the Opening Ceremony with President’s College competing against Christ Church Secondary. President’s College was adjudged the winner of the competition with a combined total of 571 points while Christ Church Secondary scored 569 points.

The topics selected by the students in this match were:

Unemployment & today’s youths.
You can make a child feel special by…
Violence in schools.
How important is volunteering in society?
Cruelty to animals.
How to deal to with a school bully?

The panel of judges for the match comprised Mrs Bernadette Persaud – Senior Lecturer, University of Guyana, Mrs Joan Kendall – Retired Headmistress, St. Joseph’s High School and Mrs Barbara Sukhai – Management Consultant.

The First Round of Competition continues as follows:

Tuesday, April 29, 2008: St. Stanislaus College vs Richard Ishmael Secondary
School of the Nations vs North Georgetown Secondary

Tuesday May 6th 2008: Annandale Secondary vs St John’s College
Central High vs Covent Garden Secondary

Thursday, May 8, 2008: St Rose’s High vs Mae’s Secondary School
Queen’s College vs. Cummings Lodge Secondary School

LETHEM BRANCH SPONSORS PRIZE AT ANNUAL RUPUNUNI RODEO

The Annual Rupununi Rodeo was held during Easter weekend (March 22nd – 23rd 2008) at the Triple ‘R’ Rodeo Ground just outside of Central Lethem.

Our Lethem Branch sponsored the prize for the Bare Back Bull riding competition which was won by Mr. Paul St.Hill of the Dadanawa Ranch. The bull riding competition is the main event at the Rodeo and attracted the most contestants in all of the events. The prize of $50,000 was presented to Mr. St Hill by Mr. Karl Sookram, Supervisor of the Branch.

Other competitions included the Bare Back horse riding and roping, Barrel races and wild cow milking. The event which is a major attraction during the Easter weekend was attended by approximately 3500 persons.

LETHEM BRANCH CONDUCTS CAREER GUIDANCE SESSION AT ST. IGNATIUS SECONDARY

On March 12th and 14th, 2008 our Lethem Branch, as part of our efforts at developing young people, conducted Career Guidance Sessions for approximately forty (40) Fifth Form students of the St Ignatius Secondary School.

The sessions covered a range of topics relevant to their entry into the job market, including, Careers in Banking, How to Complete a Job Application, Preparing for the Interview and Conduct in the Office. The facilitators at the sessions were Mr Mohan Tularam, Manager of the Branch and Mr Karl Sookram, Supervisor.

The Headmistress and teachers along with the students thanked the Branch for conducting the session and noted its relevance to the business curriculum at the school. They have also invited the Branch to make the presentation an annual feature.

PROVIDENCE BRANCH OBSERVES 1ST ANNIVERSARY

Our Providence Branch celebrated its 1st Anniversary on March 14th, 2008.

The branch was decorated with balloons, fresh flowers and an Anniversary banner. Customers conducting business during the day were treated to cake and tokens at the completion of their transactions.

A cocktail reception was held in the evening for corporate customers. Mr Surendra Samdass, Manager of the Branch, in his remarks to the attendees, thanked them for their support and anticipated their continued business relations.

PARIKA BRANCH HOSTS SCHOOL TOUR

Students and their teacher of the Leguan Secondary School benefited from an educational tour of our Parika Branch on March 10, 2008.

During the tour they were addressed on the History of Banking, the History of GBTI and the services offered by the Bank by Mrs Nandanee Persaud, Manager and Ms Marilyn Li, Senior Supervisor. The students were also given a demonstration on the use of our Money Zone Automated Teller Machine.

At the end of the tour the group was treated to snacks and received tokens.

GBTI LAUNCHES "QUICK CASH" PREPAID CARD

On Thursday, March 6, 2008, the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Ltd introduced its newest card product, the GBTI Quick Cash Card, as part of efforts aimed at providing a superior andenhanced service for the benefit of the Guyanese banking public.

The GBTI Quick Cash Card is a pre-loaded Guyana dollar money card to which customers can load their cash funds. The Card is not linked with a bank account. However, cardholders cash conduct regular banking business using the Card: credit salaries and money transfers, make withdrawals and pay utility bills at ATMs and make purchases using our Point of Sale machines.

With the GBTI Quick Cash Card users can load cash up to G$250,000 and travel around the country and make purchases, pay for services and obtain cash using the Bank’s extensive ATM and Point-of-Sale network.

Chairman of the Bank’s Board of Directors, Mr. Robin Stoby, told a select gathering which included heads or representatives of several private and public sector companies that anyone,regardless of whether they are already the holder of a GBTI card can apply for the Quick Cash prepaid card. For employers, he said, the Card would lend to the saving of time and administrative costs in the payment of salaries.

The Chairman noted that when GBTI embarked on a course over a decade ago to bring to the Guyanese public the kind of banking products and services obtained by others in the developed world, it also made a conscious decision to embrace the technological advancements in the area of banking. He indicated that further that the Bank recently purchased a newcore application banking software out of Canada to allow for improved service delivery, and has began construction of its new Head Office at High and Young Streets, Kingston, which will house the Bank’s Private Banking Department.

Mr. Radhakrishna Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, in his address to the gathering, stated that the Bank’s aim in this card strategy is to reduce the use of cash by customers and allow them to improve their personal security. "The levels of crime directly related to our cash based payment system dictates that we seek a credible and reliable alternative, such as offered in the plasticcard environment." He noted the GBTI Quick Cash Card is an excellent and attractive alternative for cash-based solutions such as payroll payments and international remittances, as instead of paying cash to their clients, organisations and money transfer agencies can pay the funds to the GBTI Quick Cash Card.

The C.E.O. added that at GBTI all Guyanese now have access to the complete range of card based financial products: G$ and US$ Prepaid Cards, G$ and US$ Credit Cards and an array of G$ Debit Cards.

Chairing the afternoon’s ceremony was Mr. Sean Noel, Assistant Manager, Research and Planning, GBTI.

LETHEM BRANCH SUPPORT MASHRAMANI CELEBRATIONS

Our Lethem Branch continued its support of Mashramani celebrations in the region, for the second year, as they presented a trophy for the Best Float on Republic Day, February 23, 2008

The Celebrations commenced with a float parade with entries from the Regional Democratic Council, Wayka's Shop and Tabatinga. The Spectacular parade conculed at the Tabating sports Ground for the prize giving ceremony.

The entry by the Regional Democratic Council was adjudged the Best Float which was withnessed by large number of persons. The trophy was presented to a representative of the RDC's contingent by Mr. Mohan Tularam Manager of our Lethem branch.

ANNA REGINA PRESENTS BOOKS TO LIMA SANDS PRIMARY SCHOOL

Our Anna Regina branch on February 12, 2008 donated a number of books to the Lima Sands Primary School. The school was recently commissioned and the presentation is the first of its kind towards the establishment of a library at the school.

The books were presented by Ms Tagekumarie Dalchand, Supervisor’s Assistant of the Branch to Mrs Gangadai Baldeo, Headmistress of the school. Mrs Baldeo thanked the Branch for the generous donation as it will greatly benefit the children of the school.

PARIKA BRANCH OBSERVES 9TH ANNIVERSARY

On February 8, 2009 our Parika Branch celebrated its 9th Anniversary with activities to thank their customers for their patronage though the years.

The Branch was decorated with balloons and flowers and cake and tokens were given to all customers who conducted business through the day. Also displayed in the Banking Hall was a collage of photographs of Community Service Activities for the previous year.

In the afternoon a cocktail reception was held for corporate customers. Mrs Nandanee Persaud, Manager of the Branch, in her remarks to the attendees, thanked them for their support through the years and look forward to serving them in the coming years.

Through the years the Branch has given back to the community and customers through such activities as school tours for secondary school students, Career Guidance Sessions, sponsorship of prizes at Graduations, repainting of pedestrian crossings, the hosting of an Annual Christmas Luncheon for underprivileged children within the community and donations and other charitable work.

PARIKA BRANCH PRESENTS REFERENCE MATERIALS TO GREENWICH PARK PRIMARY

Our Parika Branch on February 4, 2008 donated a sum of reference materials to the Greenwich Park Primary School’s Library.

The presentation was done by Mrs Nandanee Persaud, Manager of the Branch to Mr Edmund Evelyn, Headmaster of the School. In his remarks he commended the branch for making the presentation, as it will greatly aid the learning and development of the young people.

CORRIVERTON BRANCH CELEBRATES 11TH ANNIVERSARY

Our Corriverton Branch on January 16th, 2008 celebrated its 11th Anniversary with activities to thank customers for their patronage through the years.

The Branch was decorated with balloons and flowers and cake and tokens were given to all customers who conducted business through the day. A collage of photographs of community activities done for the past year was also displayed in the Banking Hall.

A cocktail reception was also held for corporate customers in the afternoon. Ms Roxanne Welcome, Manager of the Branch, in her remarks to the attendees, thanked them for their support through the years and look forward to serving them in the future.

Over the years the Branch has given back to the community and customers thorough such activities as the hosting of a Cycling Event, Career Guidance Sessions at various schools, repainting of pedestrian crossings, Donations and other charitable work.

PARIKA BRANCH DONATES TO NDC

On September 27, 2007 a cheque was presented to the Chairman of the Mora / Parika Neighbourhood Democratic Council, by Mrs Nandanee Persaud, Manager of our Parika Branch, for the acquisition of a garbage receptacle.

The receptacle is now completed and is located in close proximity to the Branch.

 

 

 

2008 . 2007 . 2006