GOOD news came on Friday from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the people of Guyana and those of four other poor nations in the Western Hemisphere -- Bolivia, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua.
It involves an historical debt-write off for these five nations that total approximately USD$4.4 billion. The Board of Governors of the IDB deserves the highest commendation for approving this initiative.
It is a decision consistent with the new approach, as advocated by the wealthy G-8 Group of nations at last year's summit, to help very poor countries whose governments have been struggling to honour payments on inherited huge debts.
In the case of Guyana, whose indebtedness at the time of a change in government in 1992 represented the heavy burden of approximately US$1.8 billion, the benefit to accrue from the announced IDB's write-off involves debt forgiveness amounting to USD$446M.
President Bharrat Jagdeo deserves to share the credits for this significant and very positive development, having been a key player in negotiations with the IDB and lobbying efforts with some donor governments, including those of the G-8 Group, to secure this much needed debt relief.
Anyone familiar with the poverty and onerous debt burden facing fellow CARICOM state Haiti, as well as Nicaragua, Bolivia and Honduras, would naturally welcome the IDB's debt relief.
The hope must be that it would result in positive developments at the national level in the pursuit of social programmes in vital sectors such as health, education and housing and reducing unemployment.
It so happens that Guyana's own commitment to be much more focused on socio-economic projects had influenced the recent Rio Group Summit in Georgetown to reflect this shared concern in the shaping of the summit agenda.
The IDB's debt write-off decision also coincided with another positive development for Guyana on Friday.
It was the ceremonial opening of the new Ogle airport terminal that completes the first phase, at a cost of G$400M, of an overall expansion project to facilitate regional airlines such as those using aircraft operated by LIAT, Star of the Caribbean.
Within the vicinity of the CARICOM Secretariat and the National Convention Centre, completion of the terminal as the first phase of the Ogle airport expansion programme, now offers a convenient alternative choice for travellers to the revamped Cheddi Jagan International Airport, located about 25 miles away from Georgetown.