Daily Archive: Friday, December 5, 2008

-was accused of near fatal wounding A Berbice River man was discovered dead in his home with a single gunshot wound at the back of his right shoulder.

Three men are in police custody over the murder of political activist Fiesal Ferose Ali, relatives said yesterday.

The World Bank and Commonwealth Secretariat have launched the Caribbean contest: Keeping Boys Out of Risk.

In an effort to diversify the hinterland economy particularly in the mining regions the environmental programme GENCAPD II is funding three pilot communities to collaborate with fish harvesting specialists at Rockstone and Annai.

The two men charged with the murder of dental technician, Vishnu Santiee back in 2005 were committed to stand trial in the High Court by Magistrate Fazil Azeez yesterday.

Fire-fighters managed to contain a small blaze of unknown origin in a filing room of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Compliance Department yesterday afternoon.

Prosecution tenders weapon The weapon allegedly used by murder accused Delon Reynolds to kill self-confessed death squad informant George Bacchus was yesterday tendered by the prosecution as exhibit ‘J 1’ as the murder trial continued before Justice Claudette La Bennett and a 12-member jury.

-envoy tells Chamber dinner Canada is pushing for a fresh round of free trade negotiations with Guyana and other countries in the region as it seeks to ink a new agreement in the Caribbean, according to Canadian High Commissioner, Charles Court.

President Bharrat Jagdeo will today launch Guyana’s position on Avoided Deforestation at the Guyana International Conference Centre at Liliendaal.

The PNCR yesterday in reference to allegations of the use of  torture by the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force maintained that neither of them  can conduct credible and acceptable investigations of themselves.

Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy says Cabinet is putting a number of strategies in place that will boost the quality of life of disabled persons in 2009.

“This thing real hard, hard because is Christmas”, beautician Odeth Greaves said yesterday as she stood near a smashed cupboard at the North American Beauty salon on Robb Street, which was hit by bandits for the second time in just over a month.

The Demerara Oxygen Company (Docol) says it has reduced the cost of TexGas, effective yesterday.

Guyana’s policy towards Venezuela is premised on the principle of good neighbourly relations, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett says.

The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) will hold its fourth and final general council for the year tomorrow and will touch on a series of “pressing” issues.

The body of the man who was killed in a suspected hit and run accident on Wednesday at Madewini, has been identified as that of 43-year-old Rupert Jagnarine of De Hoop, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara.

-PM points out Employees of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) are legally permitted to enter private premises for the purposes of official business without receiving permission from the person in charge of the property, Prime Minister Sam Hinds pointed out to the National Assembly on Wednesday.

The Linden Technical Institute (LTI) saw a 25.6% increase in its pass rate this year as 88 students graduated registering a pass rate of 73%.

As far as he is aware no compensation has been paid to the relatives of drowned schoolgirl, Tenesha De Souza, Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh says.

Cabinet is finalising plans for the distribution of the $100 million that has been allocated to single parents in Guyana, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand has said.

Given the socio-economic and political reality in Guyana, Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee says that he is satisfied with the current level of educational performance of police recruits.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) recently presented two cheques to the David Rose Community High School and the Kuru Kururu Community-based Rehabilitation Pro-grammme respectively to enhance their programmes.

Thirty-four persons recently graduated from a skills-training programme hosted by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) at Matthew’s Ridge, Region One.

The third Caricom/Cuba Sum-mit is set for Monday in Santiago de Cuba.

The Mayor and City Council says operations at the Municipal Abattoir will start at 6 am from December 15 to 31 to accommodate the additional workload during the festive season.

$3bn earnings shortfall projected for 2008 A major management shake-up at the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) could be on the cards as government battles to arrest the continual decline in the performance of the sugar industry.

Dear Editor, The Bosai billion dollar investment in Linden is really welcome.

Differences of opinion appear to be surfacing between the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) over the role of mercury in the mining sector as the local secretariat of the international conservation agency seeks to throw its weight behind global initiatives to ban the use of mercury in the mining sector.

Dear Editor, Contrary to the views of Mr Lloyd Conway in his letter to the editor dated December 3, 2008, pertaining to non-communication with residents of the community of McDoom and Agricola on the issue of water supply to residents in those communities (‘No water for a week from GWI and no explanation either’), let me state emphatically that the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) has issued a public notice on the National Communication Network (NCN) which informed residents of the technical difficulties the company is experiencing at the well site and said that everything is being done to restore water to the community.

Telecommunications tango? Last week, the Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority fired a shot across the bows of Internet Cafes providing overseas telephone services by publicly stating that the operators were evading taxes and, by extension, denying the public treasury considerable sums of revenue.

Dear Editor, With only the rainfall from last Monday night and during the next day in Region 2, heavy flooding is already threatening the survival of some 100 acres of one-week old paddy plants in a section of rice land at Huis ’t Dieren backdam.

When referees attached to the Guyana Football Referees Council (GFRC) step onto the field to officiate in matches for this year’s Kashif and Shangai football tournament they will be doing so in new outfits, thanks to Neal and Massy (Guyana) Limited.

Demerara will face Berbice – GCB president “The final of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Pepsi/ Carib Beer sponsored inter-county 20/20 competition will proceed as  scheduled from 19:00hrs tonight between defending champions Demerara and their nemesis Berbice at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence,” says president of the GCB Chetram Singh.

Jackie Hamer is a huge fan of Christmas; and she believes the few things truly symbolize the spirit of the season ;like good, old-fashioned Black Cake.

Dear Editor, I’m quite certain that by now the city of Georgetown is a front runner for the dirtiest city of the world title, and this is no exaggeration.

Some of Guyana’s finest athletes came together last Saturday to play their part in the Beacon Ministries West Demerara Athletics Club (BMWDAC) organized ‘Track on Fire’ athletics at the Uitvlugt Community Centre ground.

– Neal & Massy CEO calls for more spending on apprenticeships, post-secondary education Chief Executive Officer of the Neal and Massy Group of Companies in Guyana Deo Persaud has called for increased spending on apprenticeship and post-secondary education to mitigate the effects of what he says is a serious shortage of skilled labour in Guyana.

Dear Editor, On Sunday, November 30, 2008, Arrowhead Promotions staged Accolade – the music awards of Guyana, at the National Cultural Centre.

‘Not Guilty’, but not innocent Criminal connections? I’ll leave this for a significant while after today’s offering.

The Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) has issued a response to the allegations levied against it by the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA), as regards the Travis Dowlin resigning as captain of the Demerara team and Roderick Lovell being asked to be excused from the selection meeting.

After twenty six years years of service to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Bridget Duncan finally returned to civilian life in November this year.

Dear Editor, In analyzing Ms Dawn Holder’s missive, ‘Guyanese should be proud that they have broken the bondage of far distant powers’ (SN 21.11.08) − meaning attaining republican status and abolishing judicial appeals to the impartial Privy Council – I offered some guided, probing questions to help readers make sense of her position on breaking the bond with England in ‘What were the reasons for breaking with England and the Privy Council?’

The Annual Guyoil sponsored Medal Play golf tournament is set to tee off tomorrow at the Lusignan Golf Course (LGC) from 12 pm.

It is being said that the results of Venezuela’s local elections of November 23 have redrawn the political map of that country.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 280’s trading results showed consideration of $258,500 from 15,500 shares traded in 5 transactions as compared to session 279 which showed consideration of $717,845 from 41,100 shares traded in 15 transactions. 

By Shashi Tharoor – Shashi Tharoor, an acclaimed novelist and commentator, is a former Under-Secretary- General of the United Nations.

Dear Editor, I wish to commend the police for ensuring that there was no noise on the Clive Lloyd Highway for three or four hours on Sunday night, November 30, 2008.