Daily Archive: Friday, August 5, 2011

The word on the street is that APNU throw out de Brigadier idea ‘bout a female running mate.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – The United States lost its  top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor’s yesterday  in an unprecedented reversal of fortune for the world’s  largest economy.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Hampshire batsman Michael Carberry  might have caught the attention of England selectors after  amassing 300 runs today during a stand of 523 — a record  third wicket first-class partnership in England.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Grenada’s 18-year-old multi-junior  champion Kirani James scorched a season-leading 44.61 seconds in  winning the 400 metres at today’s Diamond League meeting in  London in his first senior race as a professional athlete.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed out their  worst week in more than two years today in a volatile  session that saw the major indexes whip back and forth before  the S&P 500 ended down less than a point.

New Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Irwin LaRocque will assume duties on August 15, 2011, Dr.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – Two people were killed in flooding  triggered by former Tropical Storm Emily, authorities said today, as its remnants moved northwest over the Caribbean with  a 60 percent chance of regenerating into a tropical cyclone in  the next 48 hours.

(Jamaica Observer) Private sugar manufacturers have negotiated to supply 80,000 tonnes of sugar to a United Kingdom-based entity in the 2011-2012 crop year for more than twice the price of the current deal, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Robert Montague announced yesterday.

Forty-six-year-old Caribbean Airlines crash-landing victim Noel Elliot was yesterday discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) and has since flown back to the United States for treatment to his injured right leg.

(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is not currently under probe by the Integrity Commission for any matter.

TRIPOLI, (Reuters) – A Libyan government spokesman today denied reports that Muammar Gaddafi’s youngest son,  brigade commander Khamis Gaddafi, had been killed in a NATO air  strike.

Preliminary investigations point to pilot error as the main contributing factor to Caribbean Airlines Flight 523 overshooting the runway at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) with information from the flight recorders as well as marks on the runway confirming that the jet touched down close to halfway along the length of the runway, a source close to the probe has revealed.

Five years after he killed his wife, fisherman, Budram Persaud was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the High Court yesterday.

When residents of North Timehri heard the sound of a plane landing at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) early Saturday morning, many thought it was just a routine touchdown. 

The government yesterday used its majority in the National Assembly to pass a motion to permit Parliament to meet during the upcoming recess, in order to complete its legislative agenda.

Magistrate Hazel Octave-Hamilton granted a police officer $75,000 bail when he appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court charged with stealing US$10,000 from a man while at the Passport Office.

The government yesterday tabled the Telecommunications Bill 2011 and the Public Utilities Commission (Amendment) Bill, two pieces of legislation that if passed and enacted would provide for an open, liberalized and competitive telecommunications sector.

Magistrate Ann McLennan granted a 55-year-old man who allegedly threatened to kill his wife if she refused to drink rat poison $15,000 bail and his wife $5,000 bail on an assault charge, when they appeared in court on Tuesday.

The PPP’s insistence that mortgage fraud-accused businessman Ed Ahmad has not contributed to the PPP’s 2011 elections campaign “has to be taken with more than a pinch of salt,” the Alliance For Change said on Wednesday.

Magistrate Hazel Octave-Hamilton ordered a man to serve six months in jail and pay a fine after he pleaded guilty to assaulting his co-worker and threatening to kill her, when the matter was heard in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Flights between Guyana and Trinidad on new low cost carrier REDjet will be available soon, says Chief Executive Officer Ian Burns.

Lakeram Prashad, the driver who allegedly caused the death of call centre worker Rozena Razack, was released on $780,000 bail after he was charged yesterday.

Local football club, Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United salvaged some pride but bowed out of the CONCACAF Champions League last night after holding Costa Rica’s Herediano to a 2-2 draw at the Guyana National Stadium.

Flights to the Port Kaituma airstrip are due to restart today, after a private airline operator repaired the perimeter fence yesterday.

The government says there has been progress in combating drug trafficking despite many challenges, but there is yet to be an arrest of a major drug trafficker or the seizure of properties here.

The last set of Round of 16 Fastball matches concluded at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground on Wednesday night with Bakewell Topp XX, Amelia’s Ward, Pioneers and Adams Rockers advancing to the quarterfinal stage.

The Canadian-based company, Sandspring Resources Ltd last month announced “further encouraging gold and copper assay results” from a recently completed drilling programme at its Toraparu gold/copper deposit in Guyana.

Solid batting by Trinidad and Tobago has placed it in a good position against the Leeward Islands in the fifth round of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) three-day under-19 Tournament yesterday at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground, Bourda.

Akbar Ali and Steven Parsram, who were charged with the slaughter of a Beterverwagting (B/V) domestic dog, were yesterday granted bail of $80,000 bail each when they appeared in court.

Dear Editor, It is so sad to know that tragedy struck Guyanese and foreigners visiting Bartica on Monday, August 1.

Dear Editor, I write this letter to deal with the nonsense being peddled by the PPP regime and its propagandist Vishnu Bisram as regards the crash landing of the Caribbean Airlines (CAL) plane at Timehri.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Chris Gayle’s exile from West Indies is likely to continue for the two Twenty20 Internationals against England next month in London.

If Global Hardware gets its way the Polypropylene Random Copolymer (PPR) pipe which it currently manufactures and markets in Guyana and elsewhere in the Caribbean will seize a considerable share of the domestic plumbing market currently controlled by the familiar PVC pipe.

Dear Editor, On August 1, 1834 the British law putting an end to chattel slavery came into force.

Guyanese-born Quality Auditor Owen Ramsay has stated in a paper prepared for Stabroek Business that despite the support of various international agencies most companies in Guyana that participate in ISO 9001 standards enhancement programmes “are not operating close to or at world class levels.”

A team of national and regional officials have engaged community groups in Linden to de-silt clogged drains and canals at Wismar with the hope of arresting flooding and erosion in several areas.

If the idiom “one way traffic” ever needed explaining to a group of students in an English class, the day’s play at Everest yesterday in the U-19 tournament would have been the perfect visual representation.

Jamaica’s opening batsman John Campbell rubbed more salt into the wounds of the Windward Islands by carving out an impressive century after being dropped on 14 by Terron Smith at the Demerara Cricket Club yesterday.

Dear Editor, I never cease to be amazed at the depths to which this government will sink to ensure that only their side of the story is told.

The Ministry of Education says students must not be debarred for non-payment of registration fees, in response to reports that some schools are charging exorbitant fees for registration.

Businessman and aircraft pilot Gerry Goveia has told Stabroek Business that the worst possible response that can come from the Caribbean in the wake of last Saturday’s Caribbean Airlines crash upon landing at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri is to seek to definitively attribute blame ahead of “an official technical report” on the incident.

Several small businesses and individuals around Linden have pooled resources to present over $100,000 to Lennox Wilson and his family who lost their business in a recent early morning fire.

Alika Morgan and Chavez Sital won the women’s and men’s division of the John Venture Memorial Road Race last Sunday in Essequibo.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Investors around the world  dumped stocks and commodities yesterday and rushed to the  security of cash and government bonds, hammering equity indexes  to their lowest levels of the year on fears of a spreading debt  crisis and slowing growth.

Dear Editor, The political line-up for the upcoming elections is now clear to the voters out there, and the first casualty in these elections will be the AFC and its presidential candidate who will be left with nothing much to shout about. 

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Former India players are united in  their belief that Virender Sehwag’s return from injury will  stabilise the team’s fragile batting order and lift morale in  the remaining two tests against a dominant England.

Dear Editor, I refer to a letter written by Mr Christopher Ram and published in Stabroek News on August 3, under the caption ‘Has Mr Nandlall offered cautionary advice to his client?’

Redjet

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Norman Whittaker says government remains committed to hosting the long overdue local government elections at the earliest opportunity, in his first address after being sworn in as minister.

SOCHI, Russia, (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry  Medvedev made a new appeal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad  yesterday to carry out reforms and reconcile with his  opponents, saying he risked a “sad fate” if he failed to do so.

The Lions Club of Demerara Lioness marked the start of its new fiscal year by presenting a wheel chair to a woman afflicted with diabetes.

Dear Editor, I only just read Dr Cox’s response to your request for a comment on my letter in your July 31 edition (‘Matter is subjudice’) . 

The latest fortnightly Tropical Timber Market report produced by the International Tropical Timber Market Organization (ITTO) has alluded to work being done by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) to upgrade the capacity of the country’s wood-processing industry.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha  is keen to capitalise on a second bite of the cherry after  landing a surprise call-up to an India squad he was originally  omitted from for the ongoing tour of England.

(Trinidad Express) Contrary to her statements last week, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has not been cleared by the Integrity Commission of all wrongdoing in the award of a $40 million contract by State-owned National Petroleum (NP) to a company owned by her friends, Ralph and Maureen Gopaul, at whose Tunapuna home the Prime Minister stayed for three months.

Alissa Trotz is Editor of the In the Diaspora Column In a letter written in the August 3rd edition of the Stabroek News, ‘One must prize freedom and use it to make proper choices,’ Pastor Darion Comacho offers a number of interesting reflections on the theme of freedom, some of which we will return to in future diaspora columns.

BENGHAZI, Libya, (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s son has  made a bid to divide the fractious Libyan rebellion, telling a  newspaper he was forging an alliance with Islamist rebels  against their liberal allies.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Australia’s journey back up the  test world rankings is not going to happen overnight but the  upcoming series in Sri Lanka will be an indication of their  current status, captain Michael Clarke said yesterday.

Dear Editor, I wish to extend heartiest congratulations to Ronsford Beaton on his appointment as the captain of the Guyana Under 19 Cricket Team presently contesting the West Indies Under 19 3-day competition.

SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – Brazil’s President Dilma  Rousseff has decided to replace her veteran defense minister  after he made disparaging comments about fellow officials, a  source said yesterday, adding to a sense that her  seven-month-old government is in disarray.

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, CMC – Gregory Richardson followed up a double strike from David Foley with a stoppage time item to propel the Puerto Rico Islanders to a 3-1 victory over Isidro Metapan last Wednesday in the CONCACAF Champions League.

SANTIAGO, (Reuters) – Protesters clashed violently  with police in Chile’s capital yesterday to decry President  Sebastian Pinera’s policies, as a poll showed him the least  popular leader in two decades since the Augusto Pinochet  dictatorship.

A vendor was placed on $50,000 bail on a charge that he unlawfully and maliciously wounded another man.

The advent and steady growth of the Diamond New Housing Scheme on the East Bank Demerara has spawned a handful of thriving small businesses that cater mostly to the needs of commuters wending their way home.

If you’re objective, open–minded or, especially, a–political, you’ll be hard put to find fault with the general objectives of many of the government’s programmes, policies and promotional events.

Security detail

If the current continually escalating demand for recycled metal signals a steady increase in industrial production following the global economic crisis, the search by the world’s more aggressive economies for recycled metal has become a mixed blessing for the international community.

Writers in Concert is launching a five-day creative writing workshop on Monday, August 8 in the Conference Room of the National Library.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Emily  broke apart over the mountains of Haiti and Dominican Republic  yesterday but its remnants still packed rains threatening  flash floods and mudslides in the neighboring Caribbean  countries.

Elections are coming and politicians from all parties are beginning to warm up.

NYON, Switzerland,  (Reuters) – Women’s football is  refreshingly free of the histrionics which blight the men’s game  and must not allow itself to be contaminated by success, UEFA’s  first female executive committee member told Reuters in an  interview.

The police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Brazilian national Jose Virginia Souza, 58 years, which occurred at about 1300hrs on Wednesday at Rockstone, Essequibo River.

AKRON, Ohio, (Reuters) – Australian Adam Scott  birdied four of his last six holes to grab a one-shot lead in  the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational first round yesterday as  Tiger Woods made an encouraging return to competition.

These are challenging times for the aviation sector in the Caribbean.

Dear Editor, Your editorial (SN, August 2) on the vulnerability of the NIS, from a number of perspectives, is most timely and invites serious attention towards stimulating the sustainability of this institution’s vital contribution to the social well-being of so many beneficiaries, including in particular pensioners; and to a significant extent also, working female single parents.