Daily Archive: Friday, August 20, 2010

-gold target slashed by 20% Miners remain apprehensive about the industry’s future in light of proposed new rules while the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) has expressed concern that land once available for mining is not being released as normal.

An Annandale, East Coast Demerara man was yesterday charged with causing the death of eight-year-old Mark Anthony Persaud, who was electrocuted on Sunday while fishing in a canal.

Law enforcement agents will be among those undergoing polygraph tests this year, as the government continues with its “integrity testing” campaign, Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon said yesterday.

Bandits storm Eccles businessArmed bandits stormed the Eccles Industrial Site early yesterday morning and after disarming and tying up security guards, broke into a business and escaped with computer monitors and cell phones.

Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud has mandated the Fisheries Department to formulate a proposal for the reduction of Seabob licences.

Investigations have led to police arresting the husband of a Canje woman days after she was discovered dead in their home with what relatives believe are marks of violence about her body.

Georgetown municipality staff would only be reduced if there is empirical evidence to support a cut, according to Mayor Hamilton Green.

-can now cater for 250 residents The Night Shelter has been expanded to cater for 250 persons; providing them with meals, medical check-ups and 24-hour accommodation.

Preliminary discussions on the application by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) to introduce a $100 charge for persons using its National Directory Assistance (NDA) (092) Service began on Wednesday in the boardroom of the Public Utilities Commission on Church Street.

Frustrated truckers who have been stuck along the Hunt Oil Stretch of the Linden/Lethem trail for some two weeks have threatened to block access to and from Region 9 as repairs to the road continue to be delayed by rains.

-sacked fire attendant denies negligence Skeldon factory workers who took spontaneous industrial action earlier this week agreed to resume working yesterday to clear the way for negotiations between GuySuCo and the unions over several recent dismissals.

A Linden woman is now a patient in critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) after she was hit by a speeding car which then fled the scene of the accident on Wednesday night.

The Police are investigating  a missing person report in which fisherman Chaitnarine Harrinarine, 37, of Devonshire Castle, Essequibo Coast, was reported missing from a fishing boat on which he was working.

A pedal cyclist became the latest road fatality yesterday when he was struck down by a motor lorry on the Anna Regina Public Road.

Courts Guyana Inc has announced that Clyde de Haas has been appointed Country Manager effective September 1.

By Marlon Munroe As the accusations fly back and forth between the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), GCB President Chetram Singh closed the chapter yesterday by stating that it takes two to argue.

The Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) has named a three-man boxing team for the Commonwealth Games scheduled for New Delhi, India from October 3-14.

Guyana’s leading junior long distance lady, Jevina Straker, despite placing twelfth in the 1000m qualifiers on Wednesday night, local time, has now been placed in the “B” finals of the girls 1000m of the World Youth Olympic Games currently on in Singapore.

ZURICH, (Reuters) – Jeremy Wariner produced a world  leading time to win the 400 metres at the Weltklasse Diamond  League meeting yesterday and fellow American David Oliver  maintained his unbeaten record this season in the 110 hurdles.    Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown sneaked the women’s 100,  holding off a late challenge from Carmelita Jeter, while  American Allyson Felix followed her 200/400 double win in London  last weekend with a comfortable win in the 400.  

LONDON, (Reuters) – Graeme Swann kept England in  contention in the third test against Pakistan at the Oval yesterday by capturing his 100th test wicket during a day of  attritional but invariably absorbing cricket. 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – Stafanie Taylor and Kemar Roach are the only two players from West Indies vying for major individual honours in the ICC Awards this year.

By Marlon Munroe Following Guyana’s fifth place finish in the recently-concluded men’s indoor Pan American hockey championships in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, national coach Timothy Mc Intosh has  underscored the need for more international exposure for teams.

Dear Editor, To compliment your excellent editorial of August 16 on the bungled Supenaam Stelling, I would like to add a caveat on the serious errors of judgement which have been made by the Govern-ment of Guyana (GoG) through its Ministries of Works and Housing.

Schools outside of Georgetown offering the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examina-tions (CAPE) have recorded commendable improvements in the overall performance of students this year,  compared with  last year.

Says ‘big stick’ bill should not be used to label people in Sophia The theft of electricity from the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) which is costing the company “untold millions of dollars” has been sustained by a web of corruption within the power company itself which, a GPL source has told Stabroek Business, “sometimes   involves persons operating in influential positions within the company.”

Dear Editor, If you are walking (or running) in a southerly direction on the eastern pavement of the East Bank Highway (just before the entrance of the Princess Hotel, Providence) you will encounter four manholes situated in a row in the middle of the pavement.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Baseball great Roger  Clemens, one of the best pitchers in the sport’s history, was  indicted yesterday for lying to the U.S.

Dear Editor, I refer to your editorial dated August 17 on the subject ‘Supenaam Stelling scandal.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Haiti hip-hop star  Wyclef Jean is not on the list of approved candidates who satisfy legal requirements to run in the country’s Nov.

The two-member coaching team from the United Kingdom (UK)-based Boost Coaching Academy continued their training sessions with local rugby players yesterday at the National Park.

Some urban businessmen pushing for a piece of the pie  – Shields Continually rising gold prices coupled with a highly successful 2009 for the industry appears to have triggered a fresh wave of investment interest in the sector by coastal businessmen who have traditionally paid little if any attention to the gold-mining industry; and according to Executive Secretary of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) Edward Shields Guyana’s latest ‘gold rush’ could add to the already existing challenges facing the industry.

The Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA) has already filled more than half of the 1,800 vacancy notices employers posted this year.

Dear Editor, At approximately 1.20 am on Monday, August 16, just after retiring to bed, I heard intermittent banging at the bottom flat where I live at Lot 14 New Street Cumberland Village, East Canje, Berbice.

By Floyd Christie The Washington DC Jammers began their one-week tour of Guyana on Wednesday and as part of their visit the team along with their staff will be hosting a coaching clinic today from 1 pm at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).

COTONOU, (Reuters) – A group of lawmakers in Benin  wants President Boni Yayi impeached over his suspected  involvement in a Ponzi scheme that has swindled thousands of  people of their savings in the impoverished West African nation.    The scandal threatens to upset one of the region’s most  stable countries, a sliver of land between Nigeria and Togo with  nearly 9 million people.

At a recent media workshop organized by the George-town Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Guyana Press Association (GPA) both the Junior Vice President of the Chamber Terrence Holder and Vice Chairman of the Private Sector Commission Yog Mahadeo commented on what they felt was the dearth of reporting on matters of business and finance in the local media.

Coach of the four-year-old Mercury Athletics Club Christopher Gaskin travelled to Argentina on Wednesday morning to participate in a coaching course on Youth Athletics starting today.

ISLAMABAD,  (Reuters) – Pakistani President Asif Ali  Zardari and a senior U.S.

Dear Editor, It was interesting to read your editorial captioned ‘Uncertainties’ in the August 15 issue of the Sunday Stabroek because it shed some light on the confusing nature of our coalition politics.

Dear Editor, In a few short months, the yuletide season will be upon us, and one of the songs which will most definitely dominate the airwaves, is ‘Jingle Bells.’

BOGOTA, (Reuters) – Colombian President Juan Manuel  Santos said yesterday that a Constitutional Court suspension  of a military pact with the United States would not affect  anti-drug or counterinsurgency assistance in the country.  

-new filter to be installed By Tamica Garnett The Colgrain Swimming Pool will remain closed until around October to facilitate the installation of a new filter system, among other works.

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport is expecting about 1000 youths to participate in this year’s ‘Day of Interaction’ at the Albion Sports Complex, Berbice on September 19.

-renovation, redesign work could cost $30-$50m The Guyana Association of Art and Craft Producers is mulling plans to take the local art and craft industry to the ‘next level’ but members of the Association have told Stabroek Business that they are awaiting the official handing over of the premises promised to them by government before they can proceed with the implementation of their proposals for taking the industry forward.

Dear Editor, I have a grave concern about brilliant children who cannot access the education system until they are four years old because of how their birthday falls.

(Jamaica Gleaner) David Smith, the embattled head of the failed foreign currency trading scheme Olint, has been indicted on 23 charges in the United States.

Despite their early departure from the main draw, in the consolation division of the boys u-14 category, Guyana’s Gavin Lewis and Daniel Lopes rose to the top of the clan to face each other in the finals of the International Tennis Federation Junior tournament currently on in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Dear Editor, I have a grave concern about brilliant children who cannot access the education system until they are four years old because of how their birthday falls.

Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy says surveillance for dengue fever remains high and he insists that the cases being recorded are within the normal levels and “nothing unusual”.

NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters Life!) – She may be known for her  playful giggles and killer looks, but now movie star Cameron  Diaz has become the most dangerous celebrity on the Internet.  

Chic-Paris International is probably an unlikely name for a hotel situated in the small, predominantly working class village of Dartmouth on the Essequibo Coast.

Dear Editor, It’s been like donkey years since the Freedom House heavyweights told us the PPP would announce its presidential candidate for the next general elections.

In week two of August 2010, the Lucas Stock Index showed a marginal increase of more than half of one percent. 

-reiterates that road works to be major focus Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud has encouraged farmers at Black Bush Polder to closely monitor road works; the first project to be undertaken under a $600M rehabilitation programme for the entire area.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Two Indian state-run firms  have withdrawn their sponsorship of the Delhi Commonwealth Games  due to “negative publicity” of the event stemming from  allegations of graft and mismanagement. 

VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass., (Reuters) – World powers will  invite Israelis and Palestinians to begin direct peace talks on  Sept.

(Trinidad Express) National carrier Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) and Air India are working toward a bilateral air service agreement to improve air travel between Trinidad and Tobago and India, Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner has said.

Says piracy has made the sale of original texts ‘risky business’ Austin’s Bookstore, the city’s leading bookseller, has told Stabroek Business that it has had to cut the importation of textbooks by up to 70 per cent as a result of the competition from pirated copies.

The Queenstown-based Dem-erara Cricket Club’s (DCC) inaugural summer camp culminates today with a simple ceremony at the club’s pavilion commencing from 13:00hrs, and certificates of participation will  be presented.

(Jamaica Observer) Professor Trevor Munroe wants the Government to begin examining ways to make it difficult for lawyers representing persons charged with certain criminal offences to receive payments from the funds of their clients’ ill-gotten enterprises.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s state-run oil  company, PDVSA, will soon issue a $2 billion bond, President  Hugo Chavez said yesterday, just days after the OPEC nation  sold $3 billion of sovereign paper on international markets.  

In the publicity for the 1975 cult classic, Rollerball, the catchphrase used to attract audiences was the sonorous and pseudo-prophetic: “In the not too distant future, wars will no longer exist, but there will be Rollerball” – an obvious allusion to the conceit that sport is war by other means or, as George Orwell famously wrote, “war minus the shooting.”

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 369’s trading results showed consideration of $120,000 from 10,000 shares traded in 2 transactions as compared to session 368 which showed consideration of $6,032,873 from 439,863 shares traded in 19 transactions. 

The common-law wife of the “depressed” labourer who reportedly stabbed himself in the chest last Friday has been released from police custody but the circumstances surrounding the incident are still being investigated.

Dear Editor, As a resident of Berbice I am concerned about television in my county.

Boost coaches James Grabowski (left) and Helen Phillips (second left) oversee the under-19 players as they go through an offensive drill during their  practice session at the National Park yesterday (Orlando Charles photo)