Daily Archive: Wednesday, December 15, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – It would be a mistake to  suspend earthquake reconstruction aid to Haiti, despite  concerns about recent election irregularities, former U.S. 

The police say they are investigating an armed robbery that occurred at about 11.05 pm yesterday during which businessman Alexander Ramdhanny and his brother Errol Ramdhanny of Sisters Village, WBD, were attacked and robbed by three men, armed with a handgun, a cutlass and a knife.

Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry today remanded a man for the murder of Damien La Rose.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Minister of National Security, Senator Dwight Nelson, has come out in sharp defence of Jamaica’s reputation after a leaked United States Embassy cable painted the Government as enablers of drug traffickers.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Tuesday approved a master financing facility of up to US$42 million in long-term IDB loans to finance up to eight Marriott-hotels to be developed by Caribe Hospitality S.A.

(Barbados Nation) The troubled insurer CLICO International Life is coming under judicial management in a move Government expects will stop pensioners and other investors from being badly hurt.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Cricket’s position as India’s   most popular sport is beyond doubt, but an Indian TV channel   is broadcasting live NBA matches in the cricket-mad country,   convinced basketball can take the number two spot.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Australia’s struggles in the   ongoing Ashes series show the team have yet to emerge from a   transition phase, and India will face similar problems when   several leading players retire, former Australia captain Bobby   Simpson said.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Lie detector tests and   the non-selection of “tainted” players could be brought   in by cricket as it seeks to rid the game of corruption, the   Marylebone Cricket Club said today.

THE HAGUE, (Reuters) – The International Criminal  Court prosecutor named several Kenyan government ministers and a  former police chief today as suspects behind the east  African country’s post-election violence in 2008.

Former PNCR parliamentarian Abdul Kadir, who was found guilty of plotting to blow up fuel tanks at the John F Kennedy Airport, was today sentenced to life imprisonment in a New York Court by Judge Dora Irizarry, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

GT&T’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Yog Mahadeo is predicting a challenging new year for the company with the looming introduction of new telecommunications legislation but says it is still planning to plug some US$18M into the sector.

The GEB Security Service has launched an internal probe into an attempted robbery outside the company’s Providence, East Bank Demerara headquarters on Monday even as three employees are being interrogated by police.

Re-migrant farmer Compton Paul, 69, was yesterday remanded to prison on the accusation that he imported a shotgun without being the holder of a requisite licence.

A man accused of wounding the mother of his children after she asked him for child support was yesterday granted bail in the sum of $30,000.

Businessman Clayton Hutson was yesterday admitted to bail in the sum of $50,000, after denying a charge that he stole a pair of motor clamps belonging to the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

The Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricultural Develop-ment Authority (MMA/ADA) yesterday refuted charges that it was neglectful in the handling of the Brahn sea dam breach, saying that it had kept residents and farmers informed of the situation.

The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) yesterday signed a $139.6 M contract with Courtney Benn Contracting Services for the construction of a sluice at Profit, Abary, West Coast Berbice—the latest in a series of projects being done to boost drainage in Region 5 (Mahaica/Mahaicony).

A Triumph, East Coast Demerara grocer is in a critical condition in hospital after being shot twice on Monday night during an attempted robbery at his shop.

Sydney Smith, the 81-year-old who was taken from his dilapidated North-East La Penitence home last month, has been removed from the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) and is now a resident of Uncle Eddie’s home.

Residents of the remote community of Masakenari in  Region Nine will get a new well which is to come on stream by the end of January, Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali said on Monday.

The government’s procurement website is back in operation though not fully functional, after being inaccessible for almost two weeks.

Chairman of the New York #1 PNCR Group Carlyle Harry is disassociating himself and the membership from a complaint about the party’s nomination process, which was made public last week by Group Secretary Eustace Hall.

Saying that it remains committed to the just demands of sugar workers, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) yesterday called on the sugar corporation to review its position on increased wages and the Annual Production Incentive (API).

For almost four hours, three “young robbers” terrorized a couple in their Grove home and business place on November 23.

Youth left arm pacer Andre Stoll is the lone newcomer in the senior national team that will defend its title in the Caribbean T20 tournament next month in Antigua/ Barbuda and Barbados.

The Lucky Dollar store yesterday presented the first batch of winners in its Santa Sleigh Promotion with their prizes.

Forty-four trainee welfare and guidance and counselling officers on Thursday were engaged in a truancy campaign in Charlestown, Georgetown, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

Run production and low economy rates may not be the determining factors for players looking to make national cricket teams next year since the Guyana Cricket Board is expected to roll out its National Fitness Standards (NFS) next June.

The Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) is considering the prospect of hosting a ‘Guyana Open’ regional swim meet next year, when  the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) $455 million Olympic-size swimming pool is completed.

CARICOM Secretary-General Sir Edwin Carrington last  Wednesday urged the Budget Committee of the Community to discharge its duty in a way that would allow the CARICOM Secretariat to assist member states to meet the challenge of “catapulting the integration process”. 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – West Indies discard Wavell Hinds will lead Jamaica in the upcoming Caribbean Twenty20 Championship after selectors shockingly axed Tamar Lambert just months after he skippered the side in the inaugural tournament.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Embattled Soca Warriors head coach Russell Latapy will now know his fate after the top brass of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation meet just before Christmas Day.

The driver of a motor lorry which almost collided with a vehicle in which Commander of ‘B’ Division, Stephen Merai was travelling pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving and was fined $15,000.

The T&T domino team of Georgetown were crowned champions of the Ivanoff Vodka National Domino Tournament which came to an end at theDemerara Cricket Club  Queenstown.

The Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) has approached the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), seeking redress in a long running loan dispute case.

ABU DHABI, (Reuters) – TP Mazembe became the first  African team to reach the Club World Cup final with a shock 2-0  win over Internacional of Brazil yesterday.

The first knockout round of the 21st Kashif and Shanghai football tournament commences tonight with what is expected to be a thrilling double header at the Georgetown Football Club Ground from 6pm.

As a North Sophia man attempted to cross the East Coast Demerara (ECD) Public Road yesterday morning he was fatally struck by a car.

An elderly man was on Monday night found hanging from a tree in the Unity, Mahaica Backdam and the police have launched an investigation

President of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), Kit Nascimento last evening said that the GRFU will today issue a statement, giving full details of the three suspended rugby players’ actions of misconduct and indiscipline at this year’s Commonwealth Games.

The Fruta Conquerors organizers have rescheduled the finals of the NAMILCO Football Festival to next year.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – A disappointed West Indies made a quiet return to the Caribbean on Monday evening, following an anti-climatic end to the rain-ravaged tour of Sri Lanka.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – The red-hot Miami Heat used an  18-2 second-half run to blow past the New Orleans Hornets  96-84 on Monday for their ninth successive victory.

Dear Editor, There has recently been a lot of interest in the diagnostic services of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) by Mr Eusi Kwayana and others affected re prostate specific antigen tests, biopsies, etc, without any response by the powers-that-be.

Dear Editor, This coming Monday, December 20,  the United Nations General Assembly will vote on whether to include protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in a crucial resolution on extra-judicial executions and other unlawful killings.

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony is not about to rush to get the new $455m swimming pool in operation.

Dear Editor,The constraints expressed by the national football coach, Wayne Dover, at the conclusion of the recent Digicel Caribbean Competition with regard to the team’s failure to qualify for the semi-finals, thereby equalling the Gordon Braithwaite’s coached 1986 squad, are not new.

CENTURION, South Africa, (Reuters) – South Africa  fast bowler Morne Morkel said yesterday the contest between the home side’s fast bowlers and India opener Virender Sehwag would be the key contest in the forthcoming three-test series.

Dear Editor, The PPP faces more than a dilemma in next year’s elections (see title of Annan Boodram’s missive ‘The PPP seems to be facing a dilemma over the presidential candidate’ (SN, Dec 14)). 

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC – Sri Lanka Cricket’s chairman of selectors Aravinda de Silva says the postponed One-Day International series against West Indies was a big blow to the selection process ahead of next year’s World Cup in Asia.

PERTH, (Reuters) – Recalled opener Phil Hughes has  promised Australia the kind of brisk starts which Virender Sehwag so frequently provides for India.

Dear Editor,I have a few things bothering me. You see I am a Haji and the imam of Dundee Mosque.

Minister Irfaan Ali and team pose with the villagers of Masakenari, Region 9 (GINA photo)

Dear Editor, The constant criticisms of, and reprimands for sloppy, tardy and inefficient service from the NIS, instead of being a whip to buck them up in delivering better service have only served, it seems, to toughen their hide, making them more immune to the regular bashing.

BELGRADE/PRISTINA,  (Reuters) – Kosovo’s Prime  Minister Hashim Thaci headed a mafia-style crime ring in the  late 1990s that engaged in assassinations, beatings, organ  trafficking and other crimes, a draft report said yesterday.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan President moved yesterday to bypass parliament and rule by decree  for a year in South America’s biggest oil producer, prompting  opposition accusations of behaving like a dictator.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Rain has forced the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board to delay naming their squad for next month’s Caribbean Twenty20 Championship.

ROME, (Reuters) – Protesters set fire to cars, threw  paint and smoke bombs at the Italian parliament and clashed with  riot police yesterday in Rome’s worst violence for years after  Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi survived a confidence vote.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Mitchell Johnson is hoping his  perspiration in the nets will provide inspiration to  Australia’s selectors and earn him a recall for the third Ashes test against England in Perth this week.

BUENOS AIRES,  (Reuters) – Argentine President  Cristina Fernandez accused political rivals yesterday of  encouraging land grabs and fomenting squatter violence in which  at least three people were killed last week.

Dear Editor,Evidently, the positive impact that the annual Kashif and Shanghai football tournament has had in Guyana is quite resounding.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – A West Indies Cricket Board director says he has no qualms with the decision by Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard to opt out of the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship in favour of Australia’s lucrative Big Bash.

Politikles

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury yesterday  said it tightened sanctions on the financial network of two top  Colombian drug traffickers, blacklisting 20 individuals and 25  business enterprises.

Introduction Several Guyanese leaders have exalted the fact that Guyana emerged largely unscathed from the global financial crisis which broke in the summer of 2007.

LONDON, (Reuters) – More than 140 courts are set to  close in England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday, in the latest move to cut government spending.

Dear Editor, I would like to congratulate the winner of the inaugural Banks DIH Groovy Soca Monarch competition, renowned Guyanese and Caribbean recording artiste and entertainer extraordinaire, Mr Jomo Primo.

The Cariforum’s signing of an Economic Partnership with the European Union, hesitant as some Caricom member states might have been, marked a recognition on our part that much of our relations with the United Kingdom would henceforth proceed in terms of an engagement with that integration movement.