Daily Archive: Friday, November 25, 2011

LONDON, (Reuters) – Britain’s government could  change trade union laws to curb workers’ ability to strike, a  minister was quoted in the Daily Telegraph newspaper as saying  today, days before the biggest walk-out in decades is due  to take place.

Fresh from concluding a final deal with the Guyana Government, Guyana Goldfields Inc says it has signed confidentiality agreements with six parties interested in buying the company and its Cuyuni/Mazaruni Aurora gold project, Chief Operating Officer Claude Lemasson told the Bloomberg news service.

The police say that four men were today charged and placed before the court following investigations into an incident that occurred on November 23, 2011, at Non Pariel, ECD, during which three youths were assaulted by residents.

GECOM’s Registration Offices across Guyana will remain open until 22:00 hours (10:00 pm) tonight to deliver National Identification Cards to persons who have not as yet uplifted theirs, a statement from GECOM said today.

LONDON, (Reuters) – British singer George  Michael has been forced to postpone the rest of his European  tour due to ongoing treatment for “severe” pneumonia, his  spokeswoman said today.

PORT OF SPAIN,  (Reuters) – Trinidad and Tobago’s  prime minister came under public pressure today to reveal  more details of an alleged death plot against her that she  blamed on criminals fighting back against a government  crackdown.

SAN SALVADOR, (Reuters) – More than 700 slight to  moderate earthquakes hit an area in eastern El Salvador in a  24-hour period, damaging dozens of homes but hurting no one.

The Private Sector Commission today called on all minibus operators to ensure that they are available on Monday November 28, 2011 to transport electors to and from polling stations.

The police say they are investigating a fatal accident that occurred at about 2315h last night at Orangestein, EBE, and which resulted in the death of motor-cycle pillion rider Bishram Singh, 30 years of Greenwich Park, EBE.

(Trinidad Guardian) “Big fish” involved in the transnational drug trade may be behind the plot to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and three of her cabinet ministers. This

(Jamaica Observer) Government yesterday launched a US$20 million infrastructure loan facility to support growth in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

What’s this we’re hearing about the Private Sector Commission setting up an Operations Centre to help maintain peace and order during the elections period.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Sugar cane farmers are to benefit from a 40 per cent increase in the price paid for sugar cane supplied to factories during this year’s crop.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Ministry of National Security says more personnel are being trained to increase staff at the country’s Forensic Laboratory in Kingston.

(Barbados Nation) The wife of a prominent doctor appears to have taken her own life, reportedly after an incident in which her grandchild was bitten by a dog.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Sachin Tendulkar stood  on the brink of batting immortality only to retreat, plunging a  milestone-obsessed country into depression and triggering a  debate on his vulnerability against the pressure of expectation.

First Bauxite Corporation says it is moving towards acquiring the necessary funds to commence construction of a bauxite mine at Bonasika, in the Essequibo River, early next year.

The National Veterans Rest Home was yesterday officially declared open and outgoing President Bharrat Jagdeo, whose government provided some $45M to assist with its construction, committed further funding to ensure the facility’s upkeep.

(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday said the plot to assassinate her and Government members was an “act of treason” which will not deter her from dealing with the criminal elements and returning this country to a peaceful state.

By Alissa Trotz and Arif Bulkan Editor’s note: The In The Diaspora column scheduled for Monday, November 28th is being carried in today’s edition.

By Johann Earle The major groups contesting Monday’s elections have been engaging the visiting teams of observers to ensure their concerns are heard and that the missions have an understanding of the political landscape and many other dimensions related to the polls.

Cabinet has declared Monday, November 28, the day designated for National and Regional Elections as a public holiday.

Tolls for the Berbice Bridge could be reduced by more than 50%, according to chartered accountant Christopher Ram, who says government could vest the bridge at a nominal cost thereby ensuring a negligible depreciation charge.

Guyanese should ensure that the PPP/C is returned to office with at least 60 percent of the votes, as a fitting send off to the country’s “living legend” Bharrat Jagdeo, PPP/C member Collin Croal urged last evening.

The incumbent PPP/C could struggle to gain 50 percent of the votes at the upcoming elections because of internal changes within the party in addition to its failure since 2006 to address some critical issues of concern to Guyanese, former PPP/C minister Dr Henry Jeffrey says.

Dear Editor, All voters need to know that their votes will not count if their ballot papers are not properly stamped by the presiding officer.

Dear Editor, I have been a regular blood donor from the age of 18.

A 60–year-old woman was remanded to prison after she appeared before Magistrate Sueanna Lovell at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer several counts of forgery.

Dear Editor, The passing of a dedicated public figure in the prime of life is not only a great loss to the immediate family but the society at large.

The imminent commencement of exploitation activities in Guyana’s commercially viable petroleum basins places the country on the verge of realizing significant economic opportunities, Canadian High Com-missioner David Devine said.

CABOFE cruiserweight champion, Barbadian Shawn ‘The Sniper’ Cox and Guyana’s current cruiserweight and heavyweight champion Kurt Bess will match gloves in the headliner of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control’s (GBBC) 19th edition of Guyana Fight Night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on December 17.

Presidential candidate for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), David Granger urged his supporters to continue the battle to put an end to the PPP [People’s Progressive Party] regime and called on them to spread the word about the coalition.

Local business entities in the information technology, food and beverage and engineering sectors will this evening be recognized for their respective contributions to innovation and enterprise in the creation and delivery of goods and services when the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) hosts its sixteenth Dinner and Awards Ceremony  in the ballroom of the Princess Hotel at Providence.

FATULLAH, Bangladesh, CMC – West Indies sustained their impressive showing in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier with a 58-run win over Sri Lanka here yesterday as they romped to the final for an appointment with Pakistan.

Dear Editor, Guyanese women once more celebrated an inauspicious day – a day of mourning the loss of loved ones – destroyed by reckless and, in most cases, unapprehended drivers.

Police have arrested three villagers for the assault on three Buxton teens on Wednesday at Non Pareil, East Coast of Demerara, which is being blamed on a misunderstanding.

Dear Editor, Reference is made to Mr M Maxwell‘s letter, ‘Bisram uses information selectively‘ (SN, Nov 23) accusing me of sinister objectives regarding my polls on the upcoming elections.

Junior Bourne was committed yesterday to stand trial in the High Court for the 2010 Cool Square Bar murder of Canada-based Guyanese  Rawle Harding.

Business Cartoon

Dear Editor, My personal experience with the bilge that was being supplied by Guyana Water Inc to the Cornelia Ida residents is one of abhorrence.

Last Monday’s discourses between some of the country’s business and political leaders and senior representatives of Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOB) may well have attracted a great deal less public attention than merited on account of the understandable preoccupation with next Monday’s general elections.

A 19-year-old man was remanded to prison after he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on a  charge of unlawful and malicious wounding.

Dear Editor, Winston Murray fetched on his shoulders for years, some tasks which added dignity to the service he rendered  his beloved country.

The subsidiary of the Chinese company that won the contract to build the Marriott Hotel here has been at the centre of much controversy in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago with allegations that it benefitted from favourable treatment from the previous Patrick Manning-led administration.

Living Conditions Quite recently, the World Bank, in a September update of an online report, observed that Guyana would not meet the goal of poverty eradication as required by the Millennium Development initiative. 

Minister of Housing Irfaan Ali on Tuesday announced that the ministry has surpassed its house lot distribution target for 2011, at a ‘One Stop Shop’ where 240 more families were given lots in the new Leonora housing scheme.

Minister Shaik Baksh says government has “implemented significant reforms” in the education sector over the last five years and has reaped the benefits with top NGSA and CXC scores, while dismissing calls from the opposition political parties for the revamping of the sector as “uninformed statements.”

Dear Editor, Here we are again, at that point in time when a part of Guyana’s history is about to be written.

Three weeks after the commissioning of the National Aquatic Centre, officials are pointing to administrative problems and the lack of an effective structure for the use of the Olympic-size pool at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.

Guyana, it appears, is not the only country in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) where the pace of economic progress is retarded by the steely bonds of bureaucracy and where both local and foreign investors must endure what are sometimes bewildering layers of procedure in order to secure approval for their business pursuits.

The AFC says it will simplify and reform the tax regime on motor vehicles and give special concessionary rates to the transportation sector on new vehicles.

The new John Lewis Styles store situated on Waterloo Street immediately north of the Astor Cinema embodies the tasteful ambience that meets the demands of the contemporary fashion-conscious Guyanese shopper and the owner, a member of one of the city’s best-known business families, is entirely satisfied that he has begun a journey towards a long-cherished dream.

Dear Editor, I am an extremely proud Guyanese living in New York, newly licensed as an attorney, and am ready to serve the Guyanese and Caribbean community.

At a simple commissioning ceremony at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue yesterday, the Guyana Volleyball Federation in partnership with the World Volleyball Federation (FIVB) opened the newly- refurbished volleyball court.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Jamaica Government is pushing ahead with plans to reform the country’s libel laws with the tabling of new legislation in Parliament.

(Barbados Nation) Digicel Barbados has appealed to Government to approve its application for a fixed line service in order to level the telecommunications playing field.

Dear Editor, The Natural Resources section of APNU’s manifesto (reproduced in SN of November 23) under Mining Sector mentions that “APNU in a new administration will encourage companies operating in Guyana to broaden their ownership bases to include ordinary Guyanese employees.“

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is donating an additional $50 million grant to expand access to free, quality education for all Haitian children, in keeping with education reform Haiti launched in 2010.

The 2011 edition of the National Table Tennis Championships scheduled to bounce off on December 9  will see a number of national players vying for supremacy during the course of the tournament.

Floodlights crushed Parika Defenders last Sunday by 76 runs to make it into the final of the over-40 category of the 2011 Bakewell Nationwide Softball Tournament scheduled for December 11 at the Ministry of Education Ground.

(Jamaica Observer) The Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) is developing a Primary Exit Examination, Professor of Research, Measurement and Evaluation at the University of the West Indies’  School of Education, Dr Stafford Griffith, has disclosed.

(Trinidad Express) Brazilian energy company Petrobras has agreed to partner with Trinidad and Tobago in energy initiatives, says Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Dear Editor, The elections for a new parliament and president are on but even with a new AFC government in place, the developmental challenge left behind by the Jagdeo regime remains mammoth.

Dear Editor, With just a few precious days left tor the casting of national ballots, it is an opportune moment to scrutinize the election canvas and evaluate the possible outcome of the 2011 polls.

November 18 marked the 33rd anniversary of the Jonestown murder-suicide that took the lives of some 909 Americans, members of the People’s Temple of Jim Jones, at their sanctuary near Port Kaituma.

Melissa Barnwell is obsessed with the idea that she is destined to become a successful entrepreneur.

Politikles

Strange defections and “unity” Some choice campaign quotes Obviously, this is my final Pre–Polling Day contribution to the Elections to be held on Monday.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Suspected drug gang hitmen  murdered more than 20 people and dumped their bodies in the  centre of Mexico’s second city of Guadalajara yesterday.

(Trinidad Guardian) The board of the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) has sacked its general manager, Glenford Cyrille.

MUMBAI, India, CMC – India batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar hit an unbeaten half-century to remain on course for a 100th International century as batsmen again enjoyed the pitch at the Wankhede Stadium on the third day of the third and final Test against West Indies yesterday.