Acting Chancellor tops list of national awardees

Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who is to be conferred with Order of Roraima,  leads this year’s list of national awardees.

Justice Cummings-Edwards, who is the second woman to be appointed to the position of acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, has been a part of the legal fraternity since 1988. She has served as a Judge on the Court of Appeal of Guyana for several years and was sworn in to her current post on March 28, 2017.

Yonette Cummings-Edwards

Justice Cummings-Edwards, who will be the lone recipient of the Order of Roraima this year, is one of 31 women who, according to the Ministry of Presidency, have been honoured for their outstanding service and sterling contributions toward national development.

Irwin La Rocque

In total, 69 awardees have been named, including five persons who will receive the Cacique’s Crown of Honour, 44 who will receive the Golden Arrow of Achievement, 14 who will receive the Medal of Service, two who will receive the Military Service Medal and three who will be receive the Disciplined Services Medal.

Enrico Woolford

Among those to receive the Cacique’s Crown of Honour are acting Chief Justice, Roxane George, who was admitted to the Bar in October 1990. She has been awarded for her service as a Senior State Counsel, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and Director of Public Prosecutions.

Winslow Craig

Secretary General of the Caribbean Community Ambassador Irwin LaRocque and Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana

Annette Arjoon-Martins

Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith are also to receive the award. While the list does not include individual citations for these awardees, the Cacique’s Crown of Honour may be awarded to those who have rendered service of an exceptionally high quality beyond the normal call of duty in the public service, social and voluntary services, industry or trade unions, or in any other area of public service, or achieved excellence of national or international standing and recognition in the arts, professions, sciences or sport or in any other area of activity.

Alison Roxane George

The intended recipients of the Golden Arrow of Achievement, which is the fourth highest award in the Order of Service of Guyana, include veteran Journalists Julia Johnson, Enrico Woolford and Adam Harris.

Coretta McDonald

Environmental activist and pilot Annette Arjoon-Martins has been recognised for being a driving force in the marine conservation and mangrove replanting projects. Also acknowledged were the Secretary General of the Guyana Red Cross Society Dorothy Fraser; Chief Librarian of the University of Guyana Gwyneth George; General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) Coretta McDonald; Veterinarian Dr. Karen Pilgrim; veteran educator Gem Rohlehr; artist Winslow Craig; and Human Resources Management and Organisational Development Specialist Sandra Jones, among others.

Julia Johnson

In a statement accompanying the names of the awardees, the Ministry of the Presidency noted that President David Granger has said that the conferring of national awards is recognized as a mechanism, provided under the Constitution of Guyana, to give due national recognition to outstanding citizens.

Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith

Explaining that the regular conferral of national awards is a commitment made by the president, the statement added that under the current administration, 51 Guyanese women have already been conferred with national awards.

“In 2015, 19 women from a total of 53 received national awards. The Order of Roraima was received by one person; three received the Cacique’s Crown of Honour (CCH); seven received the Golden Arrow of Achievement (AA); five received the Medal of Service (MS) and three received the Disciplined Service Medal (DSM) while in October 2016, a total of 32 women received awards; four received the CCH, 14 the AA, 12 the MS and two received the DSM. A total of 86 individuals were conferred with awards. Additionally, 12 groups were conferred with the MS insignia on the occasion of Guyana’s 46th Republic Anniversary in February, earlier in 2016,” the statement added.

 

The 2017 list of National Awardees

 

Order of Roraima   

Yonette Decina Cummings-Edwards

 

Cacique’s Crown of Honour 

  1. Alison Roxane McLean George

2    Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith

3    Moeen ul Hack

4    Irwin La Rocque

5    Murtland Raphael Massiah

 

Golden Arrow of Achievement 

1    Ramsay Ali

2    Annette Arjoon-Martins

3    Lloyd Fitzgerald Austin

4    Everette Lancelot Carberry

5    Rhoda Amelia Stephne Clarke

6    Winslow Marcellous Craig

7    Jose Louis Da Silva

8    Jennifer Dewar

9    Dorothy Fraser

10  Gloria Regina Fraser

11  Ameena Gafoor

12   Samuel Jaidatt Goolsarran

13   Gwyneth George

14   Adam Elias Harris

15   Hilton Gregory Hemerding

16   Sandra Hooper

17   Julia Ann Johnson

18   Sandra Valerie Jones

19   Raymond Mark Kirton

20   Hemraj Kissoon

21   Doris Ann Lewis

22   Tota Charran Mangar

23   Hyacinth Gloria Massay-Thomas

24   Julie Andrea Matthews

25   Coretta McDonald

26   George Gladstone McDonald

27   Ann Elizabeth McLennan

28   Marie June Mendes

29   Abena Nkenge Moore30   Cecil Norman Murray31   Vibert Virnen Parvatan32   Jawahar Persaud33   Karen Pilgrim34   Andrew Godfrey Proctor35    Khakan Ally Ramjohn36   Gem Ann Rohlehr37   Sonya Indira Roopnauth38   Pradeep Parmanand Samtani39   Godfrey Steve Statia40   Barbara Patricia Thomas-Holder41   Desmond Trotman42   Patrick Everton Williams43   Enrico Mortimer Woolford44   John Carlson Yates

Medal of Service              1    Sandra Michelle Adams2    John Andries3    George Rupert Barclay4    Erma Hyacinth Bovell5    Camille Patricia Carrington6    Patrick Nigel de Groot7    Denise Dias8    Merlene Ellis9    Joan Anges Fredericks10   Heeralall Makhanlall11   Jenevieve Murray12   Julio Perreira13   Ryan Perreira14   Emelda Sandy

Military Service Medal   1    Lt Col Lawrence Anthony Fraser2    Lt Col Ramkarran Doodnauth

Disciplined Services Medal           1   Assistant Commissioner of Police Nigel Anthony Hoppie2   Acting Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels3   Deputy Chief Fire Officer Winston Michael McGregor