Daily Archive: Friday, March 2, 2012

Suriname Airways’ direct flight between Georgetown and Miami will be launched in April.

Former Caricom Deputy Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett has been appointed as Vice-President (Operations) of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

The Alliance For Change has called upon Attorney General Anil Nandlall to recuse himself from matters related to the cricket impasse here and the party also condemned what it said was the “state-sponsored harassment” of the members of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).

BAGSHOT, England, (Reuters) – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke made a scathing attack on Brazil’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup today, saying “not a lot is moving” and organisers needed “a kick up the backside”.

Government and the opposition are at sharp odds over the number of members for influential Parliamentary committees and APNU says the PPP/C has refused to nominate its representatives.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Office of the Prime Minister has intervened in the issue surrounding the treatment of local media personnel who will be covering the arrival of Prince Harry.

(Barbados Nation) Law firm Thompson & Associates has distanced itself from a January 2009 multimillion-dollar transaction involving the beleaguered CLICO International Life (CIL).

LONDON, (Reuters) – British singer Engelbert Humperdinck will represent the United Kingdom at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, according to the BBC, which chooses the country’s contestants.

(Reuters) – More than two dozen people from the United States and China have been charged in a $325 million counterfeit goods operation, one of the largest smuggling rings ever charged, federal authorities said today.

In some of its sternest language, the Auditor General’s report for 2010 flayed the Ministries of Education and Finance over a $110M textbook procurement deal which it said employed a strategy to defeat the controls of the Fiscal Management and Accountability (FMA) Act of 2003.

(Jamaica Observer) Two men, who are believed to be members of the notorious Klansman gang, were fatally shot by the St Catherine police last night.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) is expected to, before the end of the month, conduct a long-awaited mediation meeting with West Indies batsman Chris Gayle in a bid to stem the ongoing dispute between himself and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

(Jamaica Gleaner) Cellular service provider Digicel has announced it is cutting its prepaid cross-network rates by roughly 35 per cent to J$8.99, but customers must log in a code to enact the savings.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The police have confirmed that four men were killed in an operation on Hart Street, downtown Montego Bay, St James this morning.

PARAMARIBO – In 2011, Rosebel Goldmines (RGM) pumped US$ 340.4 million into Suriname’s economy.

(Barbados Nation) As Trinidad conglomerate Neal & Massy continues its search for an Almond Resorts buyer, the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA) is warning of serious consequences if the three Barbadian hotels are allowed to fail.

(Barbados Nation) With thousands of CLICO policyholders and investors now faced with the growing likelihood of losses, the spotlight has been turned on the Office of the Supervisor of Insurance.

(Trinidad Express) The Parliament will be transformed to an arena-type setting today as Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar takes on the role of a self-styled “matador” to attack Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, dubbed the “raging bull”.

(Reuters) – Sri Lanka beat Australia by nine runs in a triangular series one day international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today.

(Trinidad Express) The present Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will remain in force until the dispute between the two parties is decided in the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago at a future date.

(Trinidad Express) Moments before the guilty verdict yesterday, child killer Marlon King moved to stop the decision being delivered to offer evidence he thought might save him from the hangman’s noose.

Up to last night a search and rescue mission was ongoing for four men who are missing after the tug and barge they were on sank and ran aground respectively on Wednesday night in the vicinity of Iron Punt along the Waini Coast in Region One.

For the police force to restore its good image and public trust, corrupt ranks need to be rooted out, President Donald Ramotar said yesterday, while also urging more quality investigations to reduce failed prosecutions.

The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) will be hosting a lottery for 360 mining lots, according to the Government Information Agency.

President Donald Ramotar yesterday refused to answer questions on the fate of Police Commissioner Henry Greene and his admission that he had sex with a woman who was the subject of a criminal investigation and who had gone to him for help.

The increase in serious crimes, especially murders in the interior regions, and reports of police corruption will be given special focus during the three-day Annual Police Officers’ Conference that opened yesterday, acting Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell said.

President Donald Ramotar yesterday chaired his first meeting of the National Stakeholders’ Forum where over 100 representatives of civil society took part in what has been described as a satisfying and fruitful engagement.

Seventeen-year-old Samuel Cornelius who is accused of murdering Anfernee Bowman on Monday was remanded to prison yesterday by Magistrate Sueanna Lovell  after he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Red hot off-spinner Sunil Narine is among 30 players expected to arrive here Thursday to begin a two-week training camp in preparation for the upcoming Australia series.

Head of the EU Delegation to Guyana Ambassador Robert Kopecky yesterday pledged the support of his office to the mangrove restoration project, during a visit to several sites along the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) where the tropical shrub is being replanted.

Coach of Guyana’s national football team, better known as the ‘Golden Jaguars’, Jamaal Shabazz, is  optimistic regarding the efforts of his troops after the team lost their first competitive international for 2012, 2-0, at the hands of Central American side Guatemala at the Providence Stadium  on Wednesday evening.

Government has deployed a mobile pump and excavator to Mahaica to aid in the draining of farmlands and to carry out dam maintenance in response to the La Nina rains as efforts are made to save a 3,000 acre rice crop.

The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) says adverse weather conditions on Wednesday caused a number of network faults and power outages but its crews worked diligently to restore power to the affected areas.

By Emmerson Campbell The national men’s Sevens rugby team, fresh off being declared joint Bowl winners at the recently concluded Las Vegas Invitational Sevens tournament, held their first beep test (multi-stage aerobic fitness test) yesterday to gauge the fitness of their players who  will be representing Guyana at the HSBC Sevens World Series in Hong Kong from March 23 to 25.

Amid the cricket imbroglio here, the Guyana team is currently in fourth place on 24 points in the seven-team league of  the 2011/12 regional first-class season and coach Esaun Crandon is full of praise for the leading batsmen and hoping that his side can improve.

Record world market prices have transformed Guyana’s gold-mining industry in several significant ways.

Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry yesterday remanded a man to prison after he was accused of assaulting his pregnant, common law spouse.

Just weeks after the Coateses launched their new $50 million funeral home at Little Diamond on the East Bank Demerara, one of the three directors of the entity, Petal Coates, is talking about writing the family name into the annals of an industry that has already produced quite a few household names.

(Reuters) – U.S. sprinter Mike Rodgers has accepted a nine-month ban for a failed drug test but will still be able to compete in the London Olympics if he qualifies, the U.S.

Cabinet has given the green-light for a $1.299B contract for the installation of force mains, riser mains and the rehabilitation of sewer stations in Georgetown, under the Sanitation Improvement Programme, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon said on Wednesday.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – An ebullient-sounding Hugo Chavez said yesterday he was eating, walking at dawn and recovering fast from an operation on a suspected recurrence of cancer for the Venezuelan president.

Dear Editor, I trust that you and your staff have had an enjoyable Mashramani.

KARACHI,  (Reuters) – Former test spinner Iqbal Qasim will head a revamped Pakistan national selection committee after the one-day series defeat to England last month, officials said yesterday.

The Youth Coalition for Transformation (YCT) has disassociated itself from a Guyana Times headline, “YCT distances itself from APNU,” saying it as an attempt to confuse the populace and “stir up political quarrel.”

A certain measure of public sympathy – deriving from the fact that street vending is an honest alternative to unemployment – has always accrued to street vendors.

DUBAI, (Reuters) – World number one Novak Djokovic beat fellow-Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-1 7-6 in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships yesterday to set up a meeting with Andy Murray in the last four.

A 14-year-old Charlestown Secondary School student has disappeared after running an errand for her mother, who fears someone has kidnapped her.

Dear Editor, Farmers are gearing up for harvesting in Region Two as the autumn crop draws near, with heavy rainfall taking its toll.

Look Hammy mek up ya mind!

(Trinidad Express) The first-ever commercially viable onion crop in Trinidad and Tobago was harvested yesterday at the Tucker Valley Farm, Chaguaramas, in a pilot project run by the Ministry of Food Production and local company Caribbean Chemicals Ltd.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Companies will try to piggyback this year’s London Olympics to win themselves free advertising, despite some of the strictest rules ever, by upstaging rivals paying millions of pounds to be official sponsors, a survey said yesterday.

Lakeram Prashad, the driver who allegedly caused the death of call centre worker Rozena Razack last July, has had his driver’s licence suspended, police said yesterday.

Barbados agri sector looking up The Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) is claiming modest accomplishments in the country’s agricultural sector against the backdrop of what is generally felt to be few if any strides by Caricom countries to reduce the region’s huge food import bill by doing more to energize their agricultural sectors.

Dear Editor, It is some time now since a teenager died as a result of an abortion, yet my mind is still reeling at the thought of what she must have suffered.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Jeremy Lin was given a helping hand by fellow point guard Baron Davis as the New York Knicks made good use of their newly discovered depth to roar past the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-103 on Wednesday.

Dear Editor, This University of Guyana/Kissoon matter has reminded me once again of an exchange between a former Guyana Chronicle columnist and Moses Nagamootoo at a conference held at the NAAC1E building in Kingston some years ago.

A Lamaha Springs teen was yesterday placed on $600,000 bail after he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court facing six counts of breaking  and entering the homes of Lamaha Springs residents and stealing jewellery and household articles valued over $4M.

Housing Programme The structure of the mortgage market for housing is no accident. 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Thousands of Haitians took to the streets on Wednesday in support of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, marking the eighth anniversary of his ouster amid Haitian media reports he could face charges for corruption during his rule.

The Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) has served notice that the bridge will be closed on Sunday, March 4 for  six hours commencing at 05:30 hrs to accommodate urgent repairs.

(Reuters) – New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder and paceman Doug Bracewell have been handed one-match bans for going out drinking while recovering from injury and being goaded into a verbal slanging match with a patron at a local pub.

Unless the current industrial dispute between Trinidad Cement Ltd. (TCL) and its 600 employees is settled quickly a serious cement shortage could afflict the region.

Dear Editor, I have not been paying keen attention to this cricket mess unfolding in Guyana.

KARACHI, (Reuters) –  Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir will not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against a five-year ban for his involvement in a spot-fixing scandal, an International Cricket Council (ICC) spokesman said yesterday.

ISTANBUL, (Reuters) – Turkish President Abdullah Gul said yesterday Russia and Iran would soon realise they had little choice but to join international diplomatic efforts for the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Dear Editor, I refer to Mr Chris Ram’s epistle, ‘Ramkarran has disregarded essential facts in his comments on the 1961 and 2003 finance Acts‘ (SN, Feb 29).

While Guyana, and the Caribbean as a whole, are yet to make a meaningful mark on the global market for tropical fruit, local fruit growers can take heart from the continually optimistic soundings of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) regarding a growing market for the world’s leading tropical fruit, much of which are produced locally.

A Route 43 (Linden – Georgetown) minibus carrying 14 passengers drove off a main road at Mackenzie into a creek, after it was allegedly hit by another bus on Wednesday night.

CANBERRA,  (Reuters) – Australia’s treasurer lashed out at some of the country’s wealthiest and most powerful mining executives yesterday, accusing them of using their power and influence to threaten democracy and undermine good policy.

Despite a reported steady annual increase in the country’s earnings from its tourism industry, Jamaica’s reliance on tourism as a tool with which to improve the country’s economy continues to come under scrutiny.

Dear Editor, A country’s strength is usually measured in part by its economic growth.

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport is encouraging the nation to capitalise on the opportunity to learn to swim as a Japanese coach has been hired to train persons at the National Aquatic Centre and the Colgrain pool.

BERNE,  (Reuters) – Bahrain’s 10-0 win over Indonesia in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday is to be examined by FIFA’s security department, soccer’s governing body said yesterday.

By Oluatoyin Alleyne in Washington DC Caribbean countries do not have the capacity to deal with the organised crime “that has crept into their societies…,” Organisation of American States (OAS) official Yasmin Solitahe Odlum, has said.

(Trinidad Guardian) For more than a year now, the Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) group has been negotiating a restructuring of its debt, which is estimated to be about TT$1.8 billion, with a lenders’ steering committee who hold about 75 per cent of that debt among them.

(Reuters) – Coffee drinkers have no more risk of getting illnesses such as heart disease or cancer, and are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a German study involving more than 40,000 people over nearly a decade.

thief was yesterday captured by police after breaking into a Diamond, East Bank Demerara home.

At the beginning of the week, the news from Havana was that Cuban surgeons had completely removed a lesion from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and that he was in good physical condition and in direct contact with his government in Caracas.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 448’s trading results showed consideration of $876,662 from 57,708 shares traded in 7 transactions as compared to session 448 which showed consideration of $1,922,391 from 89,948 shares traded in 12 transactions. 

Today’s offering is a (rather rare) tribute to, and agreement with the views of a fellow-citizen I regard as an acquaintance worthy of note and recognition.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Arjen Robben provided an emphatic response to his critics with a match-winning performance against England on Wednesday.

With the current dispensation

Dear Editor, I write to congratulate the 2012 Miss India Worldwide Queen, Guyanese Miss Alana Seebarran.