Daily Archive: Friday, March 30, 2007

This month of March 2007 is the tenth-year milestone since Cheddi Jagan died in a country he had his initial political grounding in but which he was understandably ambivalent about.

Thanks to those who felt that I did provoke thought with my last Friday’s offering on “European trafficking in Africans”.

Hold the Front page! Bill eats his words. In spades. Guyana pulled it off.

Magistrate Geeta Chandan yesterday remanded to prison a West Coast Berbice man who is accused of indecently assaulting a 17-year-old-girl when he appeared to answer to charges at the Fort Wellington Court.

All modern wars have their iconic images. For many Americans the Vietnam war was an abstract moral problem until they saw a haunting photograph of girl fleeing her village after it had been bombed with napalm.

Since opening for business on December 18 last year the City Mall has become both a popular haunt for urban dwellers as well as a favoured venue for shoppers.

The Bed and Breakfast (B&B) programme launched by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of Cricket World Cup was a response to what was felt to be a likely shortfall in hotel and guest house accommodation given the anticipated number of visitors to Guyana for the games scheduled to be played at the Providence Stadium.

It is my hope that our visitors in Guyana for World-Cup cricket take some time to look at our country from an investment perspective.

All countries have taken note of the potentially significant contribution that ICTs can make in their development process and in the eradication of poverty.

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A total of 2710 women received maternity benefits and grants from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) totaling more than $86m between January and December last year, according to information released by the Scheme recently.

Outgoing President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce (GCC) Captain Gerry Gouveia has told Stabroek Business that the business community cannot hope to proceed with its entrepreneurial pursuits in ‘splendid isolation’ from the currents in the wider society since the social and political developments that occur in Guyana impact directly on the welfare of the business sector.

Eleanor Hamilton-English, Carol-Ann Hamilton and Deslyn Hamilton are among the many enterprising examples of emerging Guyanese who are embracing business challenges in a local private sector that is becoming increasingly dominated by small and medium-sized businesses.

Notes 1 – Interim results 2 – Prospective EPS: earnings per share for 12 months period to the date the latest financials have been prepared.

Ireland’s captain, Trent Johnston admitted yesterday that the Irish team was the underdog team for today’s match against England at the Providence National Stadium, but said that they will focus on doing the basics right with a 120 percent effort.

England’s captain, Michael Vaughan said that the focus of his team ahead of today’s Super Eight contest against minnows, Ireland would be the certainty of the two points they can pick from winning the match.

After bursting upon the international cricket scene by bouncing highly vaunted Pakistan out of the Cricket World Cup the Ireland World Cup cricket team is excited to be in Guyana for three “Super 8” matches the first of which gets underway today against England.

Unless the West Indies team can somehow shake themselves out of the inexplicable lethargy that has typified their cricket over the past three days, the remaining month of the World Cup will be more misery for their host of long-suffering supporters.

Mark Vieira will lead a star-studded team to represent the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) in Jamaica for the first leg of the 2007 Caribbean Championship on April 8.

The Hand-in-Hand Group of Companies Tuesday evening launched Cricket at Bourda a wonderful book written by Ian McDonald and Paul Chan-A-Sue at the Georgetown Cricket Club, Bourda.

Guyana’s top golfers will be on show at the Windies Sports Bar-sponsored Golf Competition tomorrow from 12:30 at the Lusignan Golf Club, East Coast Demerara.

Dear Editor The Sheriff Night Club should be shut down. Imagine that it harboured a gang of men who attacked, beat and sexually assaulted its patrons, including a minor, then casually went back into the bar.

Dear Editor, Recently, there was an appeal sent out by City Hall with the slogan “Respect for the dead” asking relatives to co-operate in painting up the cemetery.

Dear Editor, I am very concerned about the health of the Guyanese public in light of the order by Justice Bovell-Drakes that the suspect soybean meal be offloaded from the vessel (Myra) in which it is currently stored.

Dear Editor, Firstly I want to congratulate the Sri Lankan team for superb entertainment at the Providence Stadium.

Dear Editor, Caricom’s call to ‘never forget’ the Afrikan Holocaust is a high point in the creation of the Caribbean civilization.

Dear Editor, In the Sunday Stabroek, letter writer Aubrey Alexander lamented the state of traffic on Guyana’s road and urged traffic authorities to pursue a zero tolerance policy.

Dear Editor, A fire of unknown origin destroyed our home at 43 Third Street, Turkeyen on Monday, February 26 and consumed all our belongings.

Dear Editor, I, like so many West Indian fans around the world, have been putting the West Indies team under the microscope and am buoyed by the continuous improvement in their all round performance with each succeeding match.

Dear Editor, The recent flurry of letters attacking Bro. Eusi Kwayana are not justified.

Dear Editor, The agricultural sector must be closely linked with and serve as a base for manufacturing activities.

Dear Editor, The picture of the people on the Grassy Mound in the stadium hit home how ugly Guyana has become in terms of economic class divisions.

Dear Editor, It is clear to me, and to many others, that some group is on the prowl, hoping to unsettle the members and adherents of the PNCR-1G into some kind of internal toss-up.

Dear Editor, Permit me to contribute to a response made by Ms Kathleen Whalen to a letter published in your Wednesday edition dated March 28, 2007 titled “An Agricultural Programme is needed for Region Ten”.

Dear Editor, I write as President of The Association of Private Security Organizations on the recent $8m theft/fraud by the employees of Republic Bank (NBIC).

“Excellent” was how ICC CWC Chief Operating Officer, Don Lockerbie described the running of the Guyana National Stadium for Wednesday’s Super Eight match and he also said that concerns raised last week over preparedness for the tournament were budgetary.

All of Bartica was in darkness last night following almost three weeks of load-shedding that saw sections of the area receiving power for a few hours at a time.

Many restaurants in the city experienced major water woes yesterday as GWI struggled to resume full supply amid the world cup matches and increased numbers of visitors.

A stand-off that involved the courts and the government ended yesterday after a shipment of 946.68 metric tonnes of bulk soybean meal left Guyana for France aboard the vessel Myra after local authorities refused to offload the cargo for fear of salmonella contamination.

President Bharrat Jagdeo last night said Guyana was working to improve the quality of local products and to encourage investment and he issued an invitation to visitors to explore the country and draw their own conclusions.

Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon says there are “ongoing cost-sharing issues” between the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) and these matters would have to be resolved.

Caricom Chairman and Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves believes that some of the security mechanisms adopted by Caricom states for Cricket World Cup should be looked at for permanent implementation.

A company which will import Polar beer legally was launched yesterday with plans to establish a US$15 million beer plant at Ruimzeigt, West Coast Demerara (WCD) for both local consumption and for export.

A Guyanese woman is questioning why Barbados immigration authorities had her and three others locked up at the airport for six days before they were deported, although they had their tickets to travel back to Guyana.

A gang of men with “drug dealers’ connections” on Monday afternoon abducted a young man just outside of his Lama Avenue, Bel Air work place and later forced him to call two of his friends who are businessmen, from whom they demanded money.

Sheriff Night Club owner Rajpattie Bacchus is denying reports that a family of four was robbed and assaulted outside the nightspot early Monday morning but the victims are standing by their story.

The bandit who was captured after he and an accomplice robbed an employee of Harris Easy Cash Pawn Shop around 8.20 am on Wednesday is likely to appear at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court today.

The police yesterday said in a release that swift action by officers in the ‘G’ Division on Wednesday last, led to the recovery of a stolen shotgun.

Three masked gunmen last Tuesday evening robbed an Adventure Village, Corentyne, Berbice, family of cash and jewellery after bursting into the family’s kitchen.

A couple was robbed on Tuesday night by three armed men as they enjoyed the cool air on the Plaisance seawall, a police release said yesterday.

The government yesterday issued a warning to the new (drop-line) Cable TV system set up recently in Corriverton to cease operations until it obtains the relevant licence to offer such services.

Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy yesterday appealed for more persons to donate blood so as to maintain an adequate supply at the blood bank, which only has 50% of its target, a release from the Government Infor-mation Agency (GINA) said.

Operations at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri continued to run smoothly on Wednesday though a few passengers complained that they are arriving without their luggage.

One thousand secondary school students will be given the chance of a lifetime since the Ministry of Education and the Cricket World Cup Local Organising Committee have agreed to allow them to attend some matches at the stadium.

The United States (US) Embassy says the navy ship the USS Carney (DDG 64) will be operating in the eastern Caribbean Sea for several weeks and might lend support to anti-narcotics and other missions.