Daily Archive: Friday, December 11, 2009

Minister in the Ministry of Education, Dr Desrey Fox passed away at the Georgetown Public Hospital just after 3 this morning.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) will not be supporting a ‘keep the peace’ campaign which was intended for the National Park today with Jamaican dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel prior to a performance here this weekend.

– Jagdeo Political agreement at ongoing negotiations to forge a new climate pact at Copenhagen, Denmark will not be enough and a binding agreement that will be codified within an international treaty within six months is needed, President Bharrat Jagdeo says.

-Red Thread, Help and Shelter The state continues to fail to ensure that justice is served to women who have been violated, two rights advocacy groups have said.

Seeking to answer criticisms about defective photographs on new National Identifica-tion (ID) cards, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) yesterday said “an appropriate quality control procedure” was installed to ensure results of the highest quality.

Talk about female football in Guyana and the conversation invariably drifts to the game in the Lethem, Rupununi area  but conditions  are not so bright and beautiful for the hinterland ladies as it relates to them playing the game which they call ‘their everything’.

-vow to continue struggle Rejecting the 3% pay hike which they were recently awarded, sugar workers yesterday picketed the Ministry of Finance calling it an injustice and vowing to press on “with the struggle” for better wages into the new year.

-three games called off in GCA under-19 tourney After early morning showers washed out play in  three of the four scheduled matches of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) 50-over tournament that began yesterday, Everest Cricket Club made easy work of Georgetown Cricket Club at the Everest ground in the Yhann’s Engineering sponsored competition.

… shipping charges account for 12.4% of cost of exports Freight costs as a percentage of the total cost of goods shipped from Guyana to the United States are among the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a recent study conducted by the Inter American Development Bank.

-calls for ‘real development bank’ in Guyana Guyana’s open border policies that facilitate the uncontrolled importation of manufactured goods may have contributed to “a consistent decline” in the country’s Guyana’s manufacturing sector according to President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), Ramesh Dookhoo.

Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) Chief Executive Officer John Tracey’s presentation at last Monday’s Agricultural Risk and Insurance Symposium organized by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the World Bank and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) could, in time, come to be seen as a landmark declaration on a long-sought closer relationship between commercial banks and the local agricultural sector.

-Benn grilled The National Assembly last evening approved the spending of $4.6 billion in supplementary provisions even as PNCR-1G shadow Finance Minister Winston Murray contended that the government was continuing “to raid” the country’s Consolidated Fund.

Customer Service (7) By Jacquelyn Hamer Queues are a necessary evil of service provision in both the state and the private sectors.

GT&T attracted over 30,000 new subscribers this year, the company’s Director of Marketing Wystan Robertson said yesterday.

Neutral Language The Bank of Guyana reported in its half-year report for 2009 that the performance of the manufacturing sector was stable during the first half of the year.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, CMC – Bahamian Pauline Davis-Thompson and other Caribbean sprinters are the beneficiaries after the International Olympic Com-mittee (IOC) formally re-allocated Sydney 2000 medals from drug disgraced Marion Jones on Wednesday.

-says scrapping of distribution system underlines scheme’s chronic problems Pensioners will likely have to pay 20% of the bill for drugs under a new system the NIS is introducing from January 1, 2010.

Thieves for the eighth time in recent months on Wednesday broke into Channel Nine on Mandela Avenue, carting off vital pieces of equipment which caused a nine-hour delay in transmission.

Two men who were each charged with threatening behaviour yesterday were placed on a bond by Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson to keep the peace for one year, and they then shook hands.

Whistleblowers, persons prepared to provide verifiable information on corrupt practices involving funds allocated to countries for development projects by the Inter American Development Bank are to enjoy greater protection from the Bank under a recent major overhaul of its anti-corruption framework designed to protect funds allocated to receiving countries.

Magistrate Nigel Hawke remanded a 60-year-old man to prison when he appeared before him at the Weldaad Court yesterday charged with carnal knowledge.

When Linden Online internet café and call centre was established, the goal was to enhance the technological capability of Region Ten residents through a unique customer service experience, equipment and the infrastructure and ambience that supports it.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Brazil forward Ronaldinho was  named as World Player of the Decade by prestigious British  magazine World Soccer yesterday, while Argentine forward  Lionel Messi was named their World Player of the Year.

Dear Editor, It has been one week since the BBC aired its ‘Hardtalk’ programme on Thursday, December 3, when President Bharrat Jagdeo was interviewed by Ms Zeinab Badawi in his capacity as Chairman of Caricom.

In yesterday’s edition under the headline ‘Boutique roof ripped off in property row’ it was stated that the property in question is owned by National Hardware.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – Three-times African  Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto’o was among five players named  on a shortlist for the 2009 award yesterday.

–  too little support for crisis-ridden UG Guyana is lagging behind the rest of the region in terms of the relationship between the university and the business community and newly installed Chancellor of the University of Guyana Professor Compton Bourne has criticized what he describes as the “free-rider situation” that informs the relationship between the local private sector and the country’s sole institution of higher learning.

Dear Editor, From a distance I have followed the struggle for decent wages and improved working conditions of bauxite workers.

SYDNEY,  (Reuters) – Britain’s Ricky Hatton is close  to making a final decision on whether he will make a comeback  to professional boxing.

– high commissioner says his country also concerned with labour, environment policies The creation of strong rules that would encourage foreign investment by creating a more secure, transparent and predictable environment for Guyana and other regional investors in Canada and also for Canadian investors in Guyana and the wider region is among the important prospective benefits to be derived from a actualization of a Canada/Caricom free trade agreement, according to newly accredited Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana Francois Montour.

The soldier who confessed to being an accomplice of gunmen who launched an early morning attack on a GT&T cell site on the Linden/ Soesdyke Highway on Sunday, before engaging in a shootout with police is to make a court appearance today.

Dear Editor, Please permit me to respond to the letter authored by Mr Ronald Harsawack which was published under the title in SN ‘GECOM should have had quality control protocols in place in relation to the photographs on ID cards’ (December 10, 2009).

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 333’s trading results showed consideration of $423,563 from 35,075 shares traded in 8 transactions as compared to session 332 which showed consideration of $1,975,377 from 217,428 shares traded in 7 transactions. 

Dear Editor, The unfortunate fate which met Minister within the Ministry of Education, Ms Desrey Fox and her family a few days ago is very sad.

Two drivers have had their licences suspended after being charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

OSLO, (Reuters) – President Barack Obama defended the  right of the United States to wage “just wars” as he accepted  the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, acknowledging that as a  wartime president he was a controversial choice.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) The Los Angeles Lakers routed  the Utah Jazz in the fourth quarter to seal a 101-77 win on  Wednesday, their 10th successive victory.

Local manufacturers are to attend a major Industrial and Trade Fair in Canada next year ahead of negotiations for the implementation of the keenly anticipated Canada-CARICOM Trade Agreement.

The driver of a taxi and three women were arrested during a roadblock at Weldaad, West Coast Berbice after police received a report that they shoplifted items from a store at Cotton Tree around 12:30 pm yesterday.

Frankly Speaking The PPP and the Army Compliments of my daughters, I’ve just completed another vacation in the USA.

GAWU members picketing the Ministry of Finance yesterday. At left is President of the union, Komal Chand.

It is a little ironic that just one week after the Commonwealth Business Forum in Trinidad, at which Caribbean prime ministers, government ministers, the Caricom Secretary General and various captains of industry were attempting to sell the region as a place to do business, the President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Professor Compton Bourne, was painting a less than rosy picture to the annual dinner of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), on December 2.

PERTH, Australia, CMC – Pitch curator Cameron Sutherland says the WACA strip should provide pace and bounce for the third Test starting next week, welcome news for West Indies who believe speedster Kemar Roach holds the key to a victory over Australia.

COPENHAGEN/OSLO – U.S. President Barack Obama urged world  leaders yesterday to break the deadlock at climate change  talks in Copenhagen, even though many nations accused the United  States of lacking ambition.

Dear Editor, On December 13 we will commemorate another death anniversary of our national poet, Martin Carter.