Daily Archive: Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change today called on the Government of Guyana to end the lockout of the Guyana Cricket Board and to withdraw the Clive Lloyd-headed Interim Management Committee from cricket operations here.

Amid a furore, PPP/C members of the University of Guyana council tonight broke their silence on the sacking of 61-year-old University of Guyana lecturer Freddie Kissoon and defended the decision they took.

 Citizens are advised that the La Nina phenomenon still persists over Guyana.

(Jamaica Observer) Legendary Jamaican vocalist King Stitt is dead. King Stitt, whose real name is Winston Sparkes,  passed away at his home in Nannyville, Kingston minutes after 1 this afternoon.

(Barbados Nation) Mia Mottley is taking her latest rejection by party leader Owen Arthur in stride.

The police say they are investigating a fatal accident that occurred at about 1155h.

The residents of the Mahaica Creek will face a flooding risk again as the government this afternoon announced that it will have to release water from the swollen East Demerara Water Conservancy into the Creek.

Lecturers at the University of Guyana stayed away from classes today in protest over the sacking of lecturer Freddie Kissoon.

(Jamaica Gleaner) WESTERN BUREAU: Less than two months after returning to Miami, Florida, Air Jamaica is pulling out of that gateway again.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Popular dancehall entertainer Elephant Man has been charged with grievous sexual assault and rape.

(Barbados Nation) Job and route cuts are on the horizon as LIAT charts a course to keep its planes in the sky and return to profitability.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall this morning said that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack has completely withdrawn herself from giving advice in the sexual molestation scandal involving a Muslim scholar and that a senior member of her chambers will now be handling the matter.

(Barbados Nation) Canada has pointed a finger at Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada and their Commonwealth Caribbean neighbours, accusing them of being behind the times by keeping anti-homosexual laws on their statute books.

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Police arrested the head of the customs’ Special Laws department last Saturday for aiding and abetting fuel fraud.

(Trinidad Express) San Fernando East Member of Parliament Patrick Manning continues to show signs of improvement, as he recovers from a stroke at the San Fernando General Hospital.

(Trinidad Express) Yesterday morning, at his Abercromby Street office, Minister of Sport Anil Roberts and Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) president Azim Bassarath put their recent clashes behind them and began a new partnership.

(Trinidad Express) Even as a Guyana team was trying to settle in Dominica in preparation for their rescheduled Regional four-day opening fixture against the Leeward Islands, the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) was again airing its concerns about the “rock and a hard place” between which Guyanese players find themselves.

(Trinidad Express) National Security Minister Brigadier John Sandy has asked top cop Dwayne Gibbs to provide a report on the TT$900,000 contract between the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and Trinidad and Tobago Air Support Company for the use of a light aircraft for police surveillance.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Mahendra Singh Dhoni would readily step aside as India captain if there was a suitable replacement available, the under-fire skipper said today.

The European Union (EU) is expected to plug €24.9 million into the local sugar sector this year as it continues to assist the government in reforming and improving the competitiveness of the sector.

Deputy Mayor of Georgetown Robert Williams died yesterday morning at the Caribbean Heart Institute, where he had been a patient for several weeks.

By Alva Solomon with photos by Anjuli Persaud Buxton was one of several communities along the East Coast Demerara (ECD) that remained under inches of water following prolonged rainfall over the weekend.

An Essequibo father says his 13-year-old daughter has not been seen for almost a week since she was spotted leaving her home with a man, who is now keeping her at an unknown location.

Students and some lecturers will move to shutdown operations at the Turkeyen Campus of the University of Guyana (UG) today to protest the dismissal of lecturer Freddie Kissoon, which they say was a political move.

SOL (Guyana) says it is losing millions of dollars annually because vessels with the capacity to carry large quantities of fuel cannot enter the heavily silted Demerara River channel while fully laden.

Guyana’s new soca chutney king Haresh Singh will head to Trinidad & Tobago to take place in that country’s soca chutney competition along with Terry Gajraj and Fiona Singh who placed second and third respectively.

Residents and users of the Timerhi main road that leads to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport are concerned about their safety

The mother of four of the boys at centre of the sexual molestation scandal at the Turkeyen Masjid says that her sons are being denied justice because of the failure by police to charge the suspect.

The government yesterday met the Alliance for Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) as the tripartite talks continued on a number of issues and an agenda has been agreed for further discussion starting with the next meeting on Tuesday of next week.

Corentyne farmers yesterday began totalling their losses after heavy and persistent rain over the weekend, with a large-scale poultry farmer of Don Robin Farm, Corentyne reporting that he lost close to $1 million when 700 of his chickens died in the floodwaters.

A two-year-old boy who is suffering from a severe health condition requires kidney surgery and his mother is asking the public for financial assistance to meet the cost of the medical treatment.

Justice Brassington Reynolds yesterday said that he is only prepared to admit hundreds of editions of the Kaieteur News into evidence in the Jagdeo libel case, if specific parts connected to the article that prompted the lawsuit are presented.

The man who was struck down and subsequently died on Saturday was yesterday identified as 38-year-old Balwant Mangru.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of five deer that were once exhibited at the Georgetown zoo.

Cricket Operations Officer of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Robin Singh is claiming that the current impasse between the GCB and the government installed Interim Management Committee (IMC) has affected the preparation of the national side.

Nineteen-year-old Tiffany Clarke who stands accused of murdering her lover Sonobia James at the Red Dragon Night Club on February 26, 2011 was yesterday committed to stand trial

Long before Donald Ramotar was eventually chosen by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) to be its presidential candidate at the 2011 general elections, there was talk that a way was being sought to have Bharrat Jagdeo circumvent the constitutional provision which he himself had signed into law in order to have a third presidential term.

The Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE), University of Guyana in collaboration with the European Union recently concluded a three-day workshop at Moruca Region One held under the theme ‘Embracing Each Other as We Develop Together Leadership in Partnership’, to equip Amerindian village councils to better manage projects.

The Annandale, East Coast Demerara-based Doobay Medical Centre Inc is pushing ahead with plans to offer low-cost cardiological treatment – a move that will mirror its dialysis programme for persons suffering from renal failure as it has now acquired the adjoining property.

Magistrate Sueanna Lovell granted $200,000 bail to a reputed husband and wife charged with stealing more than $1 million in cash and items, when they yesterday appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

Thrust into the captaincy of the Guyana national cricket team which will compete in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional Four-day competition which bowls off Friday, 22-year-old Veerasammy Permaul understands that he will have to make adjustments quickly.

What Guyanese usually become preoccupied with whenever the country goes to the polls – apart from who will win the elections, of course  – is whether or not the outcome will be attended by violence, race on race violence.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Australia all rounder Shane Watson is hoping to be fully fit in the next few weeks and would prefer to remain a top order batsman for his country.

A mere of two months after the Alliance for Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) polled sufficient votes to secure a single seat more than the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in the National Assembly, questions have arisen as to just how effective a parliamentary opposition they are likely to be.

MIAMI, – LeBron James scored 35 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls 97-93 in a thrilling duel between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference on Sunday.

Guyana Review: Is A Partnership for National Unity now satisfied that the controversies that arose out of last November’s general elections are behind us?

The Director of Public Prosecu-tions (DPP) yesterday advised the police to conduct an inquest into shooting to death of 11-year-old Justin Nobrega, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Tiger Woods’s joint third-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Championship showed the former world number one was getting closer to regaining his imperious form of old.

Raphael Trotman readily concedes that the political tumult that preceded his belated emergence as the Speaker of the National Assembly makes his eventual accession to office a wholly unexpected turn of events.

LONDON, (Reuters) – When the year began common logic suggested Novak Djokovic would struggle to emulate his extraordinary 2011 but after retaining his Australian Open title in astonishing fashion on Sunday the question is can anyone stop him setting the bar even higher.

Dear Editor, I note that in the vacancy advertisement from the Teaching Service Commission in the Sunday Stabroek of January 29 there are three closing dates for the receipt of the original application forms:  Friday, March 09, 2012 for receipt by the Head of the Department of Education; Friday, March 09, 2012 for receipt by Central Ministry; and Friday, April 13, 2012 for receipt by the Teaching Service  Commission itself.

Buxton resident Lorna Glen and her children were last evening in a state of disbelief and uncertainty after a plum tree collapsed and smashed their home amid pouring rain on Sunday night.

By Emmerson Campbell National welterweight champion Iwan ‘Pure Gold’ Azore says he plans to regroup and return to the ring to fight at the junior welterweight level, after suffering a ninth-round knockout by Simeon ‘Candy Man’ Hardy in their WBC CABOFE welterweight title bout on Friday.

Dear Editor, At a media briefing at the Pegasus Hotel held on Jan 25, executives of the investor Sithe Global, which in an apparently unusual deal bought a licence/contract instrument from Synergy Holdings for US$12M to develop the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHEP) on the Potaro River, now appears to be struggling just as Fip Motilall of Synergy did.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States and other Western countries called on the UN Security Council yesterday to end its “neglect” of the violence raging in Syria and rapidly endorse an Arab League plan for a political transition there.

Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry remanded a couple who allegedly sold cannabis to an undercover police officer, when they yesterday appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer to the charge.

For most of the past eighteen days, I’ve kept Al Jazeera’s website open on my laptop and Martin Carter’s poems close at hand.

(Trinidad Express) Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan promised “harsh decisions” after an ambulance service ignored the cry for help from a young mother and her ailing baby.

The National Sports Commission (NSC) is up and running and awaiting the passing of the budget before continuing the plans it has set for 2012.

LONDON (Reuters) – The world is running out of time to make sure there is enough food, water and energy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and to avoid sending up to 3 billion people into poverty, a U.N.

One of the pressures of conducting a newspaper interview reposes is pursuing a line of questioning that elicits responses that allow for the creation of a logical order in which you set down what you are told.

The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) said power has been restored to areas that had been affected by an outage that started from Saturday morning and continued until Sunday evening in some areas.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – West Indies batsman Kirk Edwards has been crowned Barbados’ Sports Personality for 2011.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan will press Pakistan for access to Taliban leaders during a one-day visit to Kabul by Pakistan’s foreign minister, with Afghan officials hoping to ease cross-border strains and lay the ground for peace negotiations with the insurgents.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Mexico’s ambassador to Caracas and his wife were kidnapped overnight and then freed yesterday in the latest high profile abduction in Venezuela, where violent crime is routinely listed as citizens’ No 1 worry.

Dear Editor, The attached photo shows the deplorable condition of Good Hope bridge on the East Coast of Demerara.

By Jagdish Bhagwati Jagdish Bhagwati, Professor of Economics and Law at Columbia University and Senior Fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, recently edited, with Gordon Hanson, Skilled Migration Today.

These yards on the Corentyne 

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Australia have dropped struggling top order batsman Shaun Marsh and rested wicketkeeper Brad Haddin for the first three matches of the one-day Tri-series against India and Sri Lanka, which starts next week.

That the Government of Guyana ascribes an altruistic motive to its intervention in the feuding among the rival factions in the struggle for control of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) which had placed local cricket in an even more perilous state than it had been previously, does little to disguise the fact that the intervention was “political,” initiated as it was by President Bharrat Jagdeo during his last few months in office.

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Former Haitian dictator Jean Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier will face trial for corruption during his 15-year rule, but not for human rights abuses, the judge handling the case said yesterday.

A taxi driver who allegedly demanded his passenger’s phone along with $10,000 while taking the woman to her destination was yesterday placed on $75,000 bail after he appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

Dear Editor, Mayor Hamilton Green makes a paltry attempt to justify incompetence and politicking as he presides over the constant decay of the city.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Several American citizens have taken refuge in the US Embassy in Cairo amid a sharpening dispute between Washington and Egypt over US-funded pro-democracy groups in the country, the State Department said yesterday.

Traffic backed up along Hadfield Street

Hot Momma’s Advice: Different, not less. Accept your child for who he/she is and challenge him/her to become everything he/she can be!

Dear Editor, The ability to conduct an effective Preliminary Inquiry (PI) in an effective, efficient and timely manner is the foundation on which the entire criminal justice system should be built. 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Off-spinner Jamie Merchant is the only new face in an experienced Jamaica 13-man squad for their opening match of the Regional Four-Day Championship starting here on Friday.

The Guyana Red Cross Society (GRCS) and its partners in the Caribbean Community Resilience to Disaster Risk (CCRDR) group met recently to review the work done since it convened and to establish a second year work plan and budget.

In October, West Indian cricket legend and former team captain, Brian Charles Lara spoke to the UWI graduating class of 2011. 

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian builder Odebrecht plans to produce sugar in Cuba, the company said yesterday, as looser restrictions on foreign investment in the communist island raise hopes of a recovery in the once-booming sector after decades of decline.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s top court gave former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase a two-year jail sentence for corruption yesterday, a landmark conviction in the graft-prone European Union country that has prosecuted few senior officials.

Dear Editor, I have noted an attempt to comment on my absence from the 7th Regional Democratic Council of Region 10, in articles published in Kaieteur News and wish to share with you that ever since I was elected Regional Chairman in  2006 by the 6th Council of the RDC, I had stated that this would be my last term of office as Chairman.

A waterlogged St Stanislaus College playfield

St John’s, Antigua – The West Indies Cricket Board’s Event Management Internship Programme has commenced with the first intake of two interns.

On December 3, 2011, Bharrat Jagdeo assumed the status of a ‘retired’ president.

ROME (Reuters) – Hours after the Costa Concordia‘s captain had abandoned ship, and after helping dozens of passengers to safety, Carlos Garrone stripped off his clothes and plunged into the freezing waters off Giglio island and rescued a drowning fellow crew member.

Dear Editor, An examination and analysis of Gecom’s declared results of the 2011 elections would show that that close to 25% of the traditional PPP supporters either voted against the regime or stayed at home.

Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry dismissed the case against APNU youth activist and attorney-at-law James Bond yesterday after the virtual complainant declined to proceed with the matter when it was called in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

By Romain W M Pitt The issue is: what is more likely to cause long term harm to West Indies cricket?

A Mayor and City Council machine

Mohammad Musa Mahmodi is Executive Director of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – The commercial sex industry is also benefiting from high gold prices.