Daily Archive: Thursday, February 11, 2010

-softening seen on mining notice President Bharrat Jagdeo and miners are set for a key meeting today on tough new forest protection regulations and the committee which was set up to address the matter has softened it stance on the controversial notice requirement particularly for pork-knockers but key grouses remain.

The Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Khurshid Sattaur has said that effective from Monday, February 8, all commercial goods imported into the country are being examined while the GRA’s cameras are recording.

(Trinidad Guardian) – Police have arrested seven foreign nationals and seized items believed to be stolen from the home of batting legend Brian Charles Lara, at a house in El Socorro, San Juan, on Tuesday.

Over the past three years, the average annual expenditure for the entire government on travel has been $200M, according to Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh who lambasted a claim by the Alliance For Change (AFC) that President Bharrat Jagdeo alone incurred expenses of $1b over two years.

The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) says it is concerned  about  the government’s decision  to establish a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and it also warns against any attempt to force the Guyana Defence Force in a new direction in violation of the constitution.

Media personality Mondale Smith who was charged with unlawfully assaulting a man on January 3 had the charge dismissed after the Virtual Complainant was absent from court yesterday.

By Marlon Munroe Barbados’ team coach Emmerson Trotman and manager Jeff Broomes yesterday promised that Guyana can expect a hard-fought encounter in their four-day West Indies Cricket Board match this week-end.

A 39-year-old carpenter-mason was yesterday remanded after he pleaded not guilty to stealing items worth a total of $270,000 when he broke and entered the house of Vijay Jagnandan.

Our Opinion The announcement by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuco) to ban shows on the first class cricket venue Albion Sports Complex made front page headline in this newspaper on Tuesday.

A 35-year-old man who appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson was yesterday placed on $75,000 bail for allegedly stealing a $98,000 Blackberry cell phone.

A plantain chip vendor yesterday pleaded not guilty to converting one silver band valued $18,000 to his own use after it was placed in his care for safe keeping.

A brilliant all round performance by the talented Rajendra Latcha steered Kennard’s Memorial Cricket Club to top honours in the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Demerara Bank 40-Over Second Division Tournament.

Last year, visitor arrivals to Guyana increased by nine per cent totalling 141,281 persons — the highest in the country’s history, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said.

The annual general meeting of the Flying Stars Cycle Club will take place on Saturday at the Thomas Lands Young men’s Christian Association (YMCA) building from 4:30pm.

RALEIGH, North Carolina, (Reuters) – NBA All-Stars  Kobe Bryant and LeBron James were among nine members of the  gold-medal winning 2008 U.S.

– but industrial action of that magnitude unlikely again Ten years after Guyana suffered its worst public service strike in more than 40 years, many of the issues fought for remain unresolved, but the high level of disenchantment with the 57-day industrial action has made the likelihood of a recurrence slim.

SYDNEY, Australia,  CMC – West Indies coach David Williams has backed his side to fight back from their deficit position in the five-match One Day International (ODI) series against Australia.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates,  CMC – Ireland, coached by ex-West Indies batsman Phil Simmons, rebounded for a handsome 78-run victory over the USA in their ICC World Twenty20 Group A qualifier yesterday.

Striking part-time Government Technical Institute (GTI) lecturers and technicians last evening agreed to return to work next Monday after another meeting with chairman of the institute’s board, Norman McLean who assured them that they would hear from Minister of Education Shaik Baksh by month-end.

DENVER, (Reuters) – All-Stars Carmelo Anthony and  Chauncey Billups returned to the Denver Nuggets’ lineup to  inspire a 127-91 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

CLICO (Guyana) will plead its case before High Court judge Justice Diana Insanally later this month when the constitutional writ it filed blocking a final ruling on the wind-up of the company is set for a hearing.

PARIS, (Reuters) – Russian Elena Dementieva lamented  the absence of world number one Serena Williams after moving  smoothly into the quarter-finals of the Paris Indoor Open yesterday.

The Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union (GB&GWU) has reiterated that it expects the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) to hold a public enquiry following its January 4 complaint about “discrimination meted out to Bauxite Company Guyana Inc.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Four weeks after an  earthquake shattered its capital, Haiti remains in a precarious  situation with no clear idea of how to house 1 million people  living in the streets, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said  yesterday.

-says cops had nine months to grill him on Waddell, Allison The lawyer representing, ex policeman Lloyd Roberts says that the police’s decision to arrest his client minutes after two murder matters were discharged against him is unfair and is a “bad habit” that has been developed.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Chelsea’s lead at the top of the  Premier League was cut to one point yesterday when they lost  2-1 at Everton with Louis Saha continuing his scoring jinx over  them.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela yesterday awarded  the largest oil investment of President Hugo Chavez’s 11-year  rule, drawing tens of billions of dollars of  much-needed foreign finance to the Orinoco Belt just three  years after the leftist leader nationalized operations there.

Dear Editor, I was glad to learn from Dr Bulkan’s letter (‘Sunday editorial…’ SN, February 9) of the existence of the Natural Resources and Environmental Advisory Committee (NREAC).

NAGPUR, India, (Reuters) – India need to carefully  groom replacements for their batting “fab four” after suffering  a crushing innings defeat by South Africa on Tuesday, former  captain and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said.

The teenage boy who took a gun to school remained in police custody last evening as investigators await word from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on the way forward.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON,  (Reu-ters) – A second blizzard  in a week buried the U.S.

Dear Editor, As a Guyanese resident in Miami in need of passport renewal forms I was forced to pay a visit to our consulate in this area.

Dear Editor, I refer to an article in the Guyana Chronicle dated February 7, 07 where the Minister of Agriculture stated that the restoration of the hardy mangrove is of paramount importance to the government in order to mitigate the ravages of sea level rise and climate change.

ROTTERDAM, (Reuters) – Russian second seed Nikolay  Davydenko easily overcame a potentially tough challenger in  Spaniard Feliciano Lopez to reach the second round of the World  Indoor Tournament with a 6-4 6-2 win yesterday.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – A Haitian judge has  decided to release 10 U.S.

The deepening of the regional integration movement, health issues and Haiti’s post-earthquake recovery were high on the agenda of the Caribbean Community Council of Ministers which opened here yesterday.

Dear Editor,  Growing up in the midst of the big four cinemas (Metropole, Astor, Globe and Strand) in Georgetown, watching movies was for me as much a cultural imperative as Googling and Facebook are today.

LONDON, (Reuters) – A British woman was found guilty  of killing her lover by poisoning his curry because she could  not bear the thought of him marrying a younger rival.

The fifteenth COHSOD meeting agreed to a timetable for the transition and implementation of the five Regional Health Institutions into one authority between 2010 and 2014 at its two-day meeting in Trinidad and Tobago last week.

NAGPUR, India, (Reuters) – South Africa captain Graeme  Smith hailed the maturity shown by his team in adverse  circumstances after they won the opening test against top-ranked  India on Tuesday.

Dear Editor, Guyana has become a shockingly unequal society: the top 5 per cent enjoy an income equal to the whole of the bottom 60 per cent.

Mings Products and Services Limited in association with Yamaha Motor Company Japan yesterday held a one day riders’ training programme for motorcyclists at the National Park.

LONDON, (Reuters Life!) – A devout Hindu declared  himself “overjoyed” yesterday after winning a court fight to  be allowed to be cremated in Britain on an open-air funeral  pyre.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Power-rationing has failed. The rains have still not come.

KOLKATA, India, (Reuters) – The Indian cricket  board’s appeal against the one-year ban on New Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium has been dismissed, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday.

Issues unresolved Caricom is examining ways of giving common law spouses the right to move and work freely if their partners take up jobs within the single trading market.

ISLAMABAD, (Reuters) – Pakistan said yesterday it  had information suggesting Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah  Mehsud had died of wounds inflicted in a U.S.

Vendors operating at the new Water Street Mall will now have an opportunity to further market the facility following elections held yesterday to form an association.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago’s Sports Minister Gary Hunt announced Tuesday that the controversial Brian Lara Stadium at Tarouba will soon be opened.

Dear Editor, For the past eighteen years I have lived in Friendship, EBD, in peace and quiet.

TOKYO/DETROIT, (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co said it  would recall another 440,000 cars around the world for faulty  airbags as rival Toyota Motor Corp faced further probes over  its largest-ever safety crisis.

It was Charran ‘Sanjay’ Sahadeo’s battered face with eyes swollen shut that first gripped the attention when it appeared on the front page of this newspaper on February 1 this year, followed by the news that this horror had been perpetrated on the three-year-old boy allegedly by his stepfather, supposedly in the presence of his mother and that he had subsequently been evicted from his home.

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC – The top brass of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC), including president Usie Richards, will continue for another four-year term in charge of the sport in the region.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A week before Valentine’s Day, a consignment of cocaine was found hidden among 20,000 roses from Latin America at Amsterdam airport, Dutch authorities said yesterday.

History This Week – No. 6/2010 By Cecilia McAlmont Introduction Frustrated by the biased representation or no representation of blacks in American history books, the Harvard Scholar, Dr.

The Cellink KidStage says 11 children are set to enter the preliminary round of its Saturday morning workshops at the Theatre Guild.

Dear Editor, Stabroek News (SN) in the article, ‘Hinds defends proposed mining reforms’ of February 2, and the editorial, ‘Mines protest’ of  February 8, make certain accusations against the government and Omai Gold Mines Limited (OGML) which are inaccurate.

About this Publication This 2010 Focus on Guyana’s National Budget marks twenty years since Ram & McRae began this annual publication which highlights, reviews and comments on the major issues surrounding and raised in the National Budget.

The Minister estimated global decline of 0.8% in 2009 compared to 3% growth in 2008, attributed to weak demand in the world’s larger markets, and decline in trade volumes affecting developed and developing economies alike.

During 2009, thirty-five out of forty-nine Bills tabled in the National Assembly were passed, while three additional Bills from 2008 and one from 2007 also found their place onin the statute books.

Every year, Focus tracks the implementation of the key issues and policies identified in previous Budget Speeches.

In his introduction of the 2010 budget, the Minister attributed the achievements of 2009 to a careful and deliberate policy stance, aimed at maintaining macroeconomic stability, strengthening the underlying capacity of the economy and improving the circumstances of the people of Guyana.

The table on page 24 presents a summary of the Government’s projected Financial Plan for 2010.

Current Non-Interest Expenditure In this section we consider how the budgeted expenditure is allocated among the principal Ministries, Departments, Programmes and Projects.

The LCDS has earned a separate section in the 2010 budget speech.

The President’s failure to assent to several Bills passed by the National Assembly in 2006, which lapsed when the Assembly was prorogued, has been debated on numerous occasions in the press.