Daily Archive: Saturday, February 6, 2010

Two prisoners died early yesterday morning after a fight broke out in the capital offence dormitory of the Georgetown Prisons, leaving relatives of the men in shock and questioning how prison authorities allowed the situation to turn deadly.

A Brazilian miner was shot and killed during a robbery at his mining camp at Oku Backdam, Cuyuni on Wednesday and the perpetrators are still at large.

-camp boss unwilling As the second anniversary of the Lindo Creek mining camp massacre approaches, police yesterday disclosed that investigators have been trying for five months to get an additional DNA sample from Leonard Arokium with no success.

A sobbing Peter Morgan, accused of running a ring in Guyana that trafficked drugs, was sentenced to ten years in prison yesterday afternoon by Judge Edward Korman in a Brooklyn Federal Court, according to a Capitol News report.

In yesterday’s edition on page 1 in the headline ‘Beulah Williams, Rawle Edinboro sacked from city posts’ Stabroek News mistakenly named Rawle Edinboro as the person sacked and also carried his photograph.

Government, in collaboration with the IDB, has started phase two of the Transport Infrastructure Rehabilitation Programme, which will see the rehabilitation and building of 25 bridges and culverts from Timehri to Rosignol.

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee has expressed concern at a number of issues affecting the proper management of police stations, including the unsatisfactory response to reports of domestic violence and allegations of corruption, at a Conference for Inspectors and Sergeants, held two weeks ago.

The Ministry of Housing says it will be enforcing a strict zero tolerance policy on squatting in Region Three, as it seeks to ensure to regularise those that have already been established.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is re-launching its Community Action Component (CAC) in order to engage youth in community-building projects to deter them from turning to crime.

Police on Thursday recovered a boat and engine with another engine on board, all suspected to have been stolen between Bartica and Parika.

A 14-year-old boy was yesterday granted bail in the sum of $25,000 when he appeared at the Fort Wellington Court before Magistrate Nigel Hawke on a charge of unlawful wounding.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon says that administration is currently constructing a building in the compound of Castellani House that is “intended to house the entity that will be responsible for the intelligence work of the administration of the Guyanese government.”

The Ministry of Housing and Water is moving towards expanding its Geographic Information System (GIS) to integrate data for more effective decision-making in the housing sector.

The Aditya Foundation of Bath Settlement has stepped in to give a 24-year-old resident of Tucber Park, New Amsterdam a chance to live by contributing $200,000 towards an open heart surgery for him.

Relatives of 12-year-old Akeem Henry are desperately looking for him since he disappeared from his Tucville home on Thursday morning.

Elroy Fernandes of Canal No.2, West Bank Demerara was placed on $85,000 bail yesterday when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court after allegedly converting to his own use a quantity of food that he was asked to sell.

-Carrington CARICOM Secretary-General Edwin Carrington has disclosed that the Community will be engaged for the long-term in Haiti’s recovery and reconstruction, a news release from the secretariat said.

A Number 28 Village, West Berbice resident was denied his pre-trial freedom when he appeared at the Fort Wellington Court charged with chopping his sister.

` I am not one for fancy language’ By Marlon Monroe With cricket at all levels in Guyana at an all- time low, newly-elected president of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Roger Harper believes that at the Georgetown level, the physical and mental skills of players have to be honed if there is going to be an elevation of cricketing standards.

Shawn Griffith, 32, of Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, was yesterday remanded to prison when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, for allegedly beating and chopping his girlfriend.

By Marlon Munroe The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has partnered with the Kashif and Shanghai organization to stage a double-header benefit football match on February 21 at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground to assist the people of Haiti after they were hit by a 7.0 earthquake on January 12.

The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) will have to find a way of getting annual contribution statements sent directly to employees, Board Chairman Dr Roger Luncheon said yesterday.

It was quarter-final night on Thursday at the Georgetown Courts when the Guyana Squash Association’s Bounty Farm-sponsored handicap tournament continued and in the match between David Fernandes and Allan Downes no quarter was asked for an none was given.

Eighty-one nations have signed up to the “Copenhagen Accord” for fighting climate change but Guyana is not among them.

Twenty-six U19 rugby players have been called up by the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) to prepare for possible selection on the national team U19 team to contest the NACRA U19 15 a-side tournament in August, a release from the GRFU stated yesterday.

The Government Analyst Food and Drug Department, along with the police and the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the revenue authority, will be strengthening the control mechanisms for importation, sale and use of precursor substances and chemicals.

A three-week teachers’ mini-tennis workshop will commence this afternoon at 4pm at the National Park’s courts.

Based on its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) earnings, Guyana has emerged as the “most generous” contributor to earthquake-relief efforts for Haiti, closely followed by the African nation of Ghana.

– quarterfinal round bowls off tomorrow The quarterfinal round of the Muslim Youth Organ-izaton (MYO) Inter–Jamaat ten-over softball cricket competition which is sponsored by F&H Printing Establishment continues tomorrow at the MYO Ground, Woolford Avenue.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) presented the first recipient of the Chief-of-Staff Award for Academic Excellence to Zonel Hartley.

Following several glowing tributes testifying to her kindness, generosity and wealth of knowledge, Phyllis Carter, the wife of Guyana’s late poet laureate Martin Carter, was yesterday laid to rest.

Winners of the Power Stout  six-over tapeball cricket tournament were presented with their prizes  at simple ceremony at Banks DIH,  Thirst Park recently.

Old age pensioners will receive the 6% increase on the monthly allowance given by government from this month.

-GCB president, secretary set to be in action The president and secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board Chetram Singh and Anand Sanasie will tomorrow don their whites to participate in a feature 30 overs-a-side cricket match between Eccles and Wales Sports Clubs for the Agri Centre trophy.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,  CMC – Barbados chief selector Courtney Browne has hailed the move to appoint Ottis Gibson West Indies coach and says the Caribbean will benefit from his experience and competence.

With efforts being made to allow persons with disabilities to gain more skills, members of the Disabled People’s Net-work (DPN) in Region Six are being given the opportunity to learn to use the computer.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates,  CMC – Umpire Mark Benson, who was forced to quit the second Test between Australia and West Indies in Adelaide last December, has walked away from international cricket.

-as re-planting projects get underway New regulations have been put into effect to prohibit the removal of mangroves, while around $125M is expected to be spent this year on restoration projects across the coastland.

By Oluatoyin Alleyne Pearl Lewis also known as ‘Precious Pearl’ is fighting to win this year’s calypso crown but she is also fighting to boot a contestant out of this year’s Carib Soca Monarch competition on an accusation that the woman has stolen the words of a song she originally wrote.

By Cathy Richards After being launched as a facility designed to meet the comprehensive health care needs of residents of Linden and surrounding areas, the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) remains plagued by a shortage of trained staff and a lack of equipment that see many cases referred to the Georgetown Hospital.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Haiti’s distressed football fraternity received a much needed boost on Thursday with the announcement that football’s world governing body, FIFA, planned to inject another US$3 million into reconstruction efforts.

Culture Box As a little girl, I tramped through endless slushy mud during the rainy seasons on weekday mornings.

Hi Everyone, Ever since Guy Fieri, of Food Network Television visited Pam’s Kitchen in Seattle, Washington, on his Diners, Drive-ins and Dives show, I have been bombarded with questions and recipe requests for Trini Pelau – one of the main dishes featured.

The Guyana National Committee for Haiti Relief said it shipped 11 additional containers with supplies to Haiti, courtesy of John Fernandes Limited.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – The romantics are backing the New  Orleans Saints but experience and quality points to the  Indianapolis Colts as favourites in tomorrow’s Super Bowl.

Mark your calendars. It’s Link Show time again. The annual satirical review opens on February 20 at the National Cultural Centre at 8 pm.

A father of two of Number 3 Village, West Berbice burst into tears in the Blairmont courtroom on Wednesday after Magistrate Nigel Hawke sentenced him to one year in jail for beating his wife.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Out-of-favour batsman Delbert Hicks has been leading a Guyanese domination of the North and South Championship Divisions here in recent weeks.

(BBC) Australia made it nine wins out of nine in all formats of Pakistan’s tour with a two-run victory in a thrilling Twenty20 international in Melbourne yesterday.

-UG begins optometry training A blindness prevention programme was launched on Wednesday, coinciding with the start of an Optometry Training Programme at the University of Guyana (UG) that is expected to augment the objectives of project to develop capacity to eradicate avoidable blindness.

Guyanese-born Canadian poet Janet Naidu will launch her new collection Sacred Silence at the Umana Yama on Monday at 5.30 pm.

Dear Editor, It is not in the modus operandi of the Guyana Elections Commission to respond to every bit of abuse and malignancy directed at the Commission and its Secretariat. 

KARACHI, (Reuters) – A suspected suicide bomber on a  motorcycle killed 12 Shi’ites in Pakistan’s commercial capital  yesterday, followed hours later by a blast at a hospital where  the wounded were being treated which killed 13 people.

NAGPUR, India, (Reuters) – South Africa have targeted India’s middle order as an area to exploit in the first test starting today, according to captain Graeme Smith.

By Rawle Toney Reigning Carib Soca Monarch Shellon ‘Shelly-G’ Garraway is asking where is her competition for this year’s event since she believes that her tune this year “All That” really is all that and will see her holding on to the coveted title.

A young man accused of looting his workplace on two separate occasions was yesterday placed on bail in the sum of $100,000.

A post-mortem examination (PME) conducted Wednesday on the skeletal remains found in the backdam at New Hope, East Bank Demerara on Monday was inconclusive and DNA samples were taken to aid in positive identification.

The Ministry of Education started its school feeding programme on Tuesday, as it continues to take steps it believes will boost school attendance.

Dear  Editor, Please allow us to use your letter pages to report on the amount we have so far raised to support grassroots women in Haiti following the devastating January 12 earthquake and to thank our donors.

BOSTON, (Reuters) – The Boston Celtics overcame the  absence of leading scorer Paul Pierce to pull away from the  Miami Heat in the fourth quarter for a 107-102 victory on  Wednesday.

From February 15 to 20, Norman Vieira will be holding a special exhibition at the National Museum to display his “exotic jewellery” made from animal skins. 

Patrick Coats, a prisoner who tried to smuggle cannabis in his rectum into the Georgetown Prison, told Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton that he got the drugs from a prison officer.

LONDON, (Reuters) – The United States and the  Dominican Republic could help Haiti recover from last month’s earthquake by employing Haitian workers to fill seasonal labour  gaps, a senior U.N.

Dear Editor, While there was much to applaud in the Guyana Chronicle’s Thursday, January 28, 2010 editorial ‘Domestic and other abuses sanctioned by wider society,’ the attacks on “many NGOs” that work against domestic and sexual abuse and on one (unnamed) NGO in particular, cannot go unchallenged.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Barbados selectors have moved quickly to include the young West Indies trio of Jason Holder, Shane Dowrich and Kraigg Brathwaite in a 13-man squad for the next two rounds of the WICB regional first class championship.

KERBALA, Iraq, (Reuters) – Twin car bombs killed at  least 40 people and wounded 145 others yesterday in Iraq’s holy  city of Kerbala as hundreds of thousands of Shi’ite pilgrims  observed a major religious rite, health officials said.

Magistrate Nigel Hawke sentenced a juvenile of Blairmont, West Berbice to three years in the New Opportunity Corps (NOC), after he was found guilty of wandering.

Slingshot is hitting the road this year for the country’s 40th Republic celebrations and is mashing under an environmentally friendly theme.

(Trinidad Express) – Meet Kamla Persad-Bissessar: Siparia MP, Political Leader of the United National Congress (UNC) and, according to informed sources, soon to be conferred with the title of Opposition Leader.

CANBERRA, Australia, CMC – West Indies captain Chris Gayle says his side’s crushing warm-up win on Thursday was an ideal start to their one-day tour and augured well for the upcoming series against Australia.

Dear Editor, It’s too early to make any kind of projections but the approval recently of the controversial Amazon hydroelectric project in Para state by Brazil’s Environment Ministry is bound to have an impact on other potential upcoming hydroelectric projects in the region.

HOUSTON, (Reuters) – A dispute over control of $370  million in assets traced to accused Ponzi schemer Allen  Stanford is holding up disbursement of the funds, but the  liquidators and the receiver in the case are in talks to settle  the matter, liquidators for Stanford’s Antigua bank said yesterday.

Next week’s Classic Tuesday’s presentation at the National Gallery, Castellani House is Merchant-Ivory’s A Room With A View.

(Barbados Nation) – Barbados has turned down a request to accommodate a number of Haitians injured in the January 12 earthquake, including amputees.

NAGOYA/DETROIT, (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp’s  president apologized yesterday for safety problems and said the  automaker would bring in outside experts to review quality  controls, a highly unusual action for a company that has  epitomized world-beating industrial standards.

Dear Editor, Congratulations to the Bartica police and marshals. During the Feb 1 miners’ demonstration in Bartica, everything was very peaceful and orderly.

Next Tuesday, Sidewalk Café screens The Blind Side the Oscar nominated 2009 drama–sports film starring Quinton Aaron and Sandra Bullock.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – All-rounder Nkrumah Bonner could make his first class debut for Jamaica after being one of four players called up for the next round of matches in the WICB regional first class championship.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Arctic ice melting could cost  global agriculture, real estate and insurance anywhere from  $2.4 trillion to $24 trillion by 2050 in damage from rising sea  levels, floods and heat waves, according to a report released  yesterday.

(Jamaica Observer) – There won’t be any announcement about the sale of Air Jamaica until April.

The Indian Cultural Centre Film Club invites interested members of the public to a screening of Black at the Indian Cultural Centre, in New Haven, Bel Air today at 5.30 pm.

Dear Editor, I am a poor debater and have no passion for winning an argument.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidadian all-rounder Imran Khan is hoping his success this season earns him a West Indies call up.

Kidnap accused missionaries for court soon Ten American missionaries who have been charged with kidnapping children in Haiti could be called before the courts this weekend or as early as Monday.

Dear Editor, In 1987 a white Zimbabwean voter, who, when asked by a journalist for whom he had voted in the elections, replied, “I never voted for Ian Smith.

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir  Putin told his ruling party yesterday it must pay more attention  to ordinary voters, just days after one of the biggest  opposition protests in a decade.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Legendary all-rounder Sir Garry Sobers and former West Indies opening batsman Desmond Haynes are expected to headline the Barbados Tourism Authority’s Invitational Golf tournament which tees off here today.

The recent death of JD Salinger, at the age of 91, has brought to a close one of the strangest chapters in modern American letters.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – A thematically ambitious drama about television news and its manipulation by corporate and political interests, and by the ever-more-desperate race for ratings, Rann (Battle) has none of the Bollywood musical trappings that stateside audiences have come to expect as the default.