Daily Archive: Friday, April 16, 2010

– Brassington The government yesterday defended the award of the US$15 million contract for the first phase of the Amaila Falls Project to Synergy Holdings Inc, saying that the firm submitted the most viable and lowest-priced proposal among bidders.

– residents slam lack of preparation for rainfall Flooded out city residents yesterday condemned the authorities for failing to heed several calls made over the past seven months for drainage works to be carried out.

– on learning that study is for a certificate, not a degreeMost of the students who were recently granted scholarships to study in Mexico yesterday refused to take up the offer after they learnt that at the end of the three-year programme they would receive certificates and not degrees as was advertised in the local newspapers.

A son of the late minister within the Ministry of Education Desrey Fox was yesterday charged with causing her death last December by dangerous driving.

– lead cops to accomplice The two men who were held minutes after an armed robbery was committed at a Vreed-en-Hoop Digicel Outlet on Wednesday, confessed to the incident and later led police to a third man.

A Berbice man who was found with marijuana at a Fort Wellington road block was on Wednesday sentenced to three years imprisonment after he admitted to trafficking in 100 grammes of the narcotic.

Forty-two-year-old Trevor Smithet of North Cummingsburg yesterday admitted at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court that he had used abusive language towards a police corporal at the Central Immigration and Passport Office.

The National Archives of the Netherlands yesterday presented the Walter Rodney National Archives of Guyana with digital copies of Dutch colonial maps of Guyana at the National Archives building on Homestretch Avenue.

Relatives of 22-year-old Vincent Roberts are frantically searching for the man who has been missing since Wednesday afternoon.

PNCR parliamentarian Winston Murray is of the view that the authorities should look at reorganizing the roles of relevant agencies in their approach to combating climate change as the government cites adaptation as its biggest challenge in addressing the issue.

Israel Brummell, 20, of 282 Redwood Crescent, Mackenzie was remanded on Tuesday for allegedly trafficking in narcotics.

Shaw Mohammed was remanded to prison on Tuesday when he appeared before Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Christianburg Magistrates’ Court to answer the charge of malicious damage to property.

The parents of a four-year-old girl were left mourning yesterday after the child drowned at an East Bank Demerara location.

Fresh from a sobering enquiry into the operations of City Hall, the Georgetown municipality has used its 2010 budget to signal an intended shift in its management style that promises to include a re-evaluation of its ‘business dealings’ with private contractors recruited to support the delivery of some of its core services to the capital and its environs.

Local shippers also report reduced container arrivals Reduced spending power among Latin American and Caribbean nationals residing in the  diaspora resulted in a 6.8 per cent drop in the shipping of containerized goods into the region in 2009 compared with the previous year, according to a ranking scale released recently by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Ramnaresh Sarwan eliminated lingering concerns about his match and physical fitness with his fourth One-day International hundred against Ireland in the Jamaica Cricket Festival yesterday.

Guyana’s Second Annual Wedding Expo opens this evening at the Roraima Duke Lodge in Kingston with the organizers of the event confidently predicting that visitors to the three-day event will exceed the 5,000 patrons who attended last year’s inaugural showcase of wedding apparel, accessories and services.

Two-time world champion and Guyana’s first female world boxing champion Gwendolyn ‘Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil is set to fight Crystal Davis on May 7 for the vacant Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) heavyweight title at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut, United States.

Come April 23 a Guyanese businesswoman with a passion for hard work and a seeming limitless determination to succeed will leave Guyana for Switzerland hopeful of receiving an accolade that will lend local and international recognition to her own business enterprise while serving as a source of inspiration for the many Guyanese women who continue to strive to emulate her entrepreneurial success.

The Guyana Canoe Federation has been working eagerly to see the growth of kayaking here by conducting a number of coaching clinics in various communities throughout the country; the most recent was held at the Coverden Marina last Friday.

We in Guyana ought not to be comforted by the fact that fraud and corruption in public institutions is by no means unique to us.

– no word from authorities Captain of the DeVeldt Berbice River community Laxley Lindie yesterday said that he has repeatedly informed Region Ten Education Officer Claude Johnson about the area’s primary school head teacher’s absence.

Balance in Performance In a year when the economy reportedly grew by 2.6 percent, many private businesses seemed to have lost value. 

Water sports are set to make a splash in Region Four next month with the hosting of a major regatta at Splashmin’s Resort and Fun Park on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway on May 1 and 2.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – South Africa’s public hospitals are completely unprepared for a disaster like a crowd stampede at the World Cup, a FIFA adviser said.

The Georgetown hospital treated and discharged a man and a girl who had allegedly been assaulted and a 34-year-old woman who had been struck down by a bus.

Jacquelyn Hamer is a retired Guyanese diplomat and a Director of the skills training organization Visions of Excellence.

Dear Editor, In a letter which appeared in SN of April 13 captioned ‘Still more questions than answers,’ writer Mr Maxwell has raised many troubling questions regarding funding for and construction of the hydropower project (AHP) at Amaila Falls on the Kuribrong River.

Dear Editor, Every day we are more grieved by the way the tragedy of 14-year-old Sangeeta Persaud’s death is being treated.

Pupils of the St Andrews Primary School on High and Croal streets wading through knee-high water which accumulated in and around the school compound yesterday.

A 45-year-old man is nursing injuries in the High Dependency Unit of the Georgetown hospital after he was hit by a van on Tuesday.

Marketing Director of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T), Wyston Robertson, said yesterday that the company is pleased to partner with the Hugh Ross Classic (HRC) for the second time.

This electric wire on Mandela Avenue ignited in flames during light showers around 1 pm yesterday.

By Floyd Christie President of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) Trevor Rose hopes that the current Super Ward basketball championships will transform into a semi-professional league.

Dear Editor, On March 31, 2010 Guyana Times published a letter under the title, ‘Manbodh is more than public image,’ in which the writer declared that: (1)  “…many of us wonder at Manbodh’s sanity and mental equilibrium when we see her at all hours of the night and early morning, racing after every and any dog with large syringes in hand”; and (2) “Manbodh employs two street persons to go in her pickup at night, syringe in hand, to reduce the population of stray dogs.”

– $37million allocated for more repairs The main theatre at the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) in Region Three has been rehabilitated and became fully operational more than a month ago and government has allocated about $37 million for additional renovations.

Says 95 per cent of all detected frauds in Guyana go unpunished The creation of an environment that encourages the free functioning of an unhindered, un-intimidated, freely functioning audit department that is accepted by both board and management is critical to the creation of an environment which is conducive to the prevention and detection of fraud, President of the Guyana Manu-facturers & Services Association (GMSA) Ramesh Dookhoo told accounting and auditing professionals attending a Thurs-day, April 8, one-day seminar on Fraud Prevention, Detection and Investigation organized by the Institute of Internal Auditors.

This tractor driven pump was pumping water out of a drain along the Rupert Craig Highway over the seawall as yesterday’s rainfall subsided.

A man is assisting the police with their investigation into Tuesday’s Princes Street shooting incident but he is not in police custody and is not a suspect.

Dear Editor, I refer to the Stabroek News’ editorial of April 15 captioned, ‘Defining child abuse’ and their deliberate attempt to misconstrue the President’s words when he was quoted as saying, “Let us be careful, let us fight abuse in the extreme form, but do not… [succumb] to western or other people’s definition…” Now, any right minded person would not first assume that the President’s reference was of physical abuse only, as that editorial sought to make it appear. 

LONDON (Reuters) – A huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano turned northern Europe into a no-fly zone yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded.

SHANGHAI, China, CMC – Usain Bolt continued to map-out his schedule for the coming international season this week.

A yard at the corner of D’Urban and High streets in the city inundated  following yesterday’s downpour.

BRASILIA (Reuters) – China and Brazil bolstered their growing ties with trade and investment agreements yestersday before a summit of the world’s top four emerging markets that was cut back after China’s leader decided to return home to deal with a major earthquake.

President Bharrat Jagdeo said a management committee will be set up in order to manage development at Lethem even as he acknowledged the transformation the community has undergone, in his address to businessmen over the Easter weekend.

SHANGHAI, China, CMC – Ryan Brathwaite and Dayron Robles can prepare for the IAAF Diamond League a little easier, following the disclosure that Liu Xiang’s coach feels he is still to reach his peak fitness.

YUSHU, China (Reuters) – China’s premier flew to the Tibetan plateau yesterday to oversee feverish rescue efforts after a strong earthquake, but crews held out little hope for residents trapped in freezing weather under the rubble of homes, schools and monasteries.

– the birth of executive banditry Just another short ‘lecture’ from the University of the Streets today.

Dear Editor, My attention was drawn to a letter appearing in your edition of April 1 captioned, ‘Local stone producers always seem to be out of stock.’

(Cricinfo) Australian fast bowler Brett Lee’s participation in the upcoming World Twenty20 tournament is now in doubt after he injured his right thumb during a recent Indian Premier League (IPL) match.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa will increasingly use desalinated seawater to meet growing demand for drinking water in coastal towns facing the worst drought in 150 years, the country’s water minister said yesterday.

Dear Editor, In response to Dr Joey Jagan’s long, emotive, and sometimes confusing letter published in SN of April 14 (‘Trotman dodged the issues’), I wish him to know that I will not respond in like manner, but instead implore him to take the lead by using his political capital and acumen, and name, to forge all of us wanting a better Guyana into a cohesive force before the end of 2010.

Thirty-four-year-old Mark Duncan of La Grange, West Bank Demerara, was sentenced to three years imprisonment for using money that he had earned from selling a quantity of bottled water for a man to pay off a gambling debt.

Two enterprising Guyanese twenty-one year-old “disciples of information technology” have created a local website which, apart from marking their entry into the world of business seeks to create social links between and among patrons and to serve as a medium for the local, regional and international promotion of Guyanese goods and services.

This driver was desperately trying to fix his car which developed a mechanical problem as he attempted to navigate a flooded section of Quamina Street yesterday afternoon.

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia on Wednesday warned its citizens of the dangers of visiting Venezuela after eight Colombians were detained in the neighbouring country on espionage accusations.

By Bernd Debusmann WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In June 1980, when an American president, Jimmy Carter, objected to Jewish settlements in Israeli-occupied territories, the Israeli government responded by announcing plans for new settlements.

Information Bill proposed The government of the Bahamas says it plans to propose a bill that would improve public access to government records.

Joseph S Nye Jr is Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and author, most recently, of The Powers to Lead.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 351’s trading results showed consideration of $5,680,098 from 274,577 shares traded in 9 transactions as compared to session 350 which showed consideration of $1,292,433 from 119,400 shares traded in 12 transactions. 

(Cricinfo) Delhi Daredevils 113 for 4 (Gambhir 57*, Bollinger 2-24) beat Chennai Super Kings 112 for 9 (Badrinath 30*, Nehra 3-26, Sehwag 2-18) by six wickets Chennai Super Kings were restricted to their lowest total of the season at the MA Chidambaran stadium, and yet they threatened to defend it against the Delhi Daredevils on a pitch that offered bounce and sharp turn.

The National Trust, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and Guysuco are hosting an exhibition and book launch today to mark International Day for Monuments and Sites 2010.

This driver was desperately trying to fix his car which developed a mechanical problem as he attempted to navigate a flooded section of Quamina Street yesterday afternoon.

To the surprise of many, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning has called a snap election.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has halted adoptions to US families after an American woman sent her adopted son back to Moscow on a plane with a note disowning him, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

Dear Editor, There is a grave problem not only in Region 2 but in other regions also, but the same approach must be taken to minimize same.