Daily Archive: Sunday, April 29, 2012

(Jamaica Gleaner) Minister of National Security Peter Bunting says the country’s murder rate has declined by 30 per cent since the start of the year.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Prime Minister of Belize Dean Barrow has met with officials from civil society groups to outline his administration’s plans for dealing with the recent increase in gang-related crime in the country.

(Jamaica Gleaner) A leading expert at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has warned the Caribbean to be prepared for a tsunami.

The ruling PPP/C says that it will continue to educate Guyanese about the “anti-development acts” of the combined opposition and will act to ensure that Guyana is not held to ransom by the “tyrannical” action of the joint opposition in the National Assembly.

(ICC) West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has regained the number-one ranking in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen after hitting two half-centuries in the Dominica Test which Australia won by 75 runs to claim the series 2-0.

(Trinidad Guardian) Two years after former executive chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott) resigned from the state agency—civil proceedings are set to be initiated against Calder Hart in relation to the controversial Brian Lara Cricket Academy this week.

(Jamaica Observer) A teacher who was convicted and sentenced for indecent (sexual) assault against an eighth grader at a high school in Kingston is still working there, as no disciplinary action was ever taken against him by the school board.

(Trinidad Express) Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh yesterday promised to make this country the first nation to achieve universal early childhood care by 2015.

(Trinidad Express) Trinidadian novelist Earl Lovelace last night won the OCM Bocas prize for Caribbean Literature.

(Trinidad Express) A Laventille mother is today torn between joy and sorrow, as two of her three daughters who went missing last Thursday are back home.

KANO, Nigeria, (Reuters) – Gunmen killed at least 15 people and wounded many more in an attack on a university theatre being used by Christian worshippers in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano today, a witness said.

(Trinidad Express) An early morning attack yesterday left one man dead and another man, a foreigner, being treated for gunshot wounds.

QUETTA, Pakistan,  (Reuters) – The beheaded body of a kidnapped British doctor working for the International Committee of the Red Cross was found dumped by the roadside today in the southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta, police and Red Cross officials said.

(Trinidad Express) The spoils of exploration for two of the country’s deep water blocks, which were put up for bid just last week, are threatening a conflict between Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada.

Leader of the Opposition David Granger yesterday said APNU and the AFC acted in the nation’s interest by making cuts to the national budget and he called on the PPP/C to return to the negotiating table and agree to introduce reasonable reforms, like a lower VAT.

Story and photos by Gaulbert Sutherland At the place where the Mazaruni and Kukui rivers unite in the heart of the jungle sits Jawalla, an Amerindian village of gold mines, casak and religious accord.

An eight-year-old St Margaret’s Primary School boy is feared drowned after he disappeared yesterday when he and a group of friends went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean aback of the Guyana Forestry Commission.

A Guyanese medical student was up to press time last evening in a Havana, Cuba jail after he reportedly stabbed a man to death and seriously injured a woman during what has been described as a bitter fall out.

A 29-year-old mother of two died at the Georgetown Public Hospital last Thursday and her relatives are accusing doctors of taking too long to remove the dead foetus that was inside her.

The opposition will utilize the Economic Services Committee of Parliament as well as other means to scrutinize government spending and ensure that cuts are implemented and not funded through extra-budget sources, AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan said.

In Lethem the lights go on and off, six hours at a time.

I once read a good book called The World According to Garp by John Irving.

Two years ago 54-year-old Lata Inderdeo witnessed the brutal murder of her only daughter, a tragedy that not only left her emotionally scarred for life but with physical scars as well, since the man who snuffed out her daughter’s life also severely chopped both her arms.

President Donald Ramotar’s reaction to the budget cuts was “reprehensible” in the light of his “hard and callous” response to the opposition’s arguments during two days of engagements with administration officials prior to the passage of the reduced budget, AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan said.

Some commuters are now ensuring they enter Route 40 (Kitty/Campbellville) minibuses with $60 in change for the fare as some operators continue to charge more.

By Emmerson Campbell The name Ana Lozano might not have been  a familiar one among Guyana’s boxing fans before Friday night but after the Venezuelan thrashed the World Boxing Council’s  No.12 ranked boxer, Mandessa Moses in her debut bout at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Friday night, she may well be on her way to world recognition.

The University of Guyana Library has announced in a press release that it will be open to all users from 10:00hrs to 17:00hrs  on the following Sundays: May 13, May 20, May 27, June 3 and June 10.

KOLKATA, India,  CMC – Talismanic West Indies left-hander Chris Gayle smashed his fourth half-century in six innings and surpassed 300 runs for another Indian Premier League season but his Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a 47-run defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders here  yesterday.

The executive of the Guyana Women Miners’ Organisation is very concerned about being perceived as “the enemy” by officials and is calling for the organisation to be recognized as working to improve the lives of women and young girls in need of protection in the country’s interior.

This is the Sixteenth in our series on new parliamentarians After twenty-three years in the Guyana Defence Force and another 15 years as a lawyer in private practice, Joseph Harmon is now an “active politician” and a new face in the 10th sitting of the National Assembly, a sitting he hopes would be the turning point in the country’s history.

Is the value of the 2008 EU Cariforum Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe attenuating or can it still be made to work to the region’s advantage?

PPP leaders said on Friday that the governing party is prepared for fresh elections, but noted that the decision lies with President Donald Ramotar.

By Iva Wharton The uncertainty is over, Alpha `The Hammer’ United is officially out of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) club championships.

Today we continue our review of the annual reports of two more of the country’s public companies – Caribbean Container Incorporated (CCI) which held its annual general meeting last Friday and the Guyana Stockfeeds Incorporated (Stockfeeds) whose annual general meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.

The Police Sports Club ground at Eve Leary will come alive today with the staging of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Under-23 track and field championships.

Four years after Latin America made headlines by becoming a world leader in giving out free laptops to millions of schoolchildren — an idea that has since been embraced by more than 20 African, Asian and Eastern European countries — the first results are in, and they give some reasons for hope.

By Emmerson Campbell London Olympic Games hopeful and joint Junior Sportsman of the Year Imran ‘Magic’ Khan, along with Stefan Gouveia and Burt Braithwaite will wing out to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Tuesday to participate in the Olympic Games box offs.

Dear Editor, During last week on a television call-in programme, the guest Mr Manzoor Nadir in reply to a caller concerning Property Tax (GRA), said that even though the threshold had not increased, the rate had been reduced about five or six years ago.

Introduction The noise that surrounds the presentation and debates of annual national budgets in Guyana for decades now is legendary.

As with Indian coach Duncan Fletcher last year, Australian captain Michael Clarke had good words to say about the West Indies after their latest series ended on Friday.

Danger: A leaning transformer near these residences in South Ruimveldt

Sometimes you learn from an unexpected source.  When I lived in Grand Cayman, I came to know one of the older boat builders, an interesting man named Ira Walton.

Crabwood is a common component of season-ally inundated forests along streams and upland lateritic hills in Guyana.

A gold and diamond mine at Jawalla, upper Mazaruni

CAIRO (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia said yesterday it had recalled its ambassador in Cairo for security reasons after protests in Egypt against the kingdom’s arrest of an Egyptian lawyer, marking a diplomatic rupture between the long-time allies.

Dear Editor, NCN’s extensive coverage of a vigil held by its workers and sympathizers, followed immediately by a panel discussion on the effects of the budget cuts on the LCDS, is probably the strongest example of how this particular state agency continues to be used as a means of propagating the PPP/C’s political perspective.

ROSEAU, Dominica,  CMC – Despite the inexperience of his charges in English conditions, West Indies captain Darren Sammy has remained upbeat about their chances in the upcoming three-Test series against England.

A story which appeared in Saturday’s issue of Stabroek News about the hardships being encountered by a double amputee so moved Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Clive Lloyd, that he has decided to donate a wheelchair to the double amputee Rickford McKenzie.

Water from a mining operation flows into the Mazaruni River close to Jawalla

BEIJING (Reuters) – Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is under US protection in Beijing after an audacious escape from 19 months under house arrest, a US-based group said yesterday, in a drama that threatens to ignite new tensions between the two governments.

With respect to a letter by Krysta Bisnauth which appeared in our Friday edition (April 27) captioned ‘St Stanislaus workshop on Henry Greene case had brilliant speakers,’ it was Dr Alissa Trotz who spoke at the workshop and not Dr Maya Trotz as was erroneously printed in the letter.

(Trinidad Express) The Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Association has objected to the proposed award to build the new UWI South Campus project at Debe to foreign firm China Jiangsu International Economic Technical Corp.

Regma Primary won the Linden Town Week’s Spelling Bee Competition

Many ornamental plants have the reputation of being hard to care for.

Dear Editor, On Friday night we learnt of President Ramotar’s position on events of the past week in parliament.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Gunmen in inflatable dinghies killed several security officials in an attack on a military unit on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, state media said yesterday, the first seaborne assault reported during the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

LONDON, England,  CMC – Off-spinner Graeme Swann believes the chilly Spring weather will hand England the advantage in the upcoming series against West Indies but said he remained wary over the Caribbean side’s ability to spring surprises.

(Trinidad Express) Members of one of the most dangerous gangs in the world, MS-13, are currently in this country working on construction sites, says Opposition MP Dr Amery Browne.

Dear Editor, One of the objectives of the recent Budget cuts was to remove the inequities in earning among the specially paid government contract employees who earn close to and over $1,000,000 per month and those in the regular public service who earn under $100,000. 

A moonscape (desolate landscape, refers to a barren mined-out plot of land in mining jargon) at Jawalla

ALBUQUERQUE, NM (Reuters) – Tom Roubideaux had not been to the annual meeting of Native American and indigenous people, known as the Gathering of Nations, for a decade because he was battling cancer and too sick to dance.

General comments Today, we commence a whole new topic. Ailments of the urinary tract are quite common in dogs and cats.

MUMBAI, India,  CMC/IANS – Cheteshwar Pujara will lead India A on a tour of the Caribbean next month, the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) has announced.

Dear Editor, On Friday, Shiv Chanderpaul playing for the West Indies against Australia joined a distinguished band of cricketers in attaining 10,000 runs in his Test career.

If one didn’t know better, one might have thought that some of our politicians were competing with the rulers of the Italian city states in Renaissance times, since there has been more than enough intrigue and perfidy to go around in the last ten days.

(Trinidad Express) Government may decide to give jurisdiction to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for constitutional appeals on criminal matters, particularly murder cases.

LONDON  (Reuters) – Britain’s wealthiest people saw their fortunes rise to record levels last year, according to the annual Sunday Times Rich List, at a time when most Britons’ earnings and savings were squeezed by inflation and low interest rates.

Sunday Cartoon

The discoloured polluted water of the Mazaruni River

LONDON, England,  CMC – With West Indies poised to begin their tour of England next week, wintry and rainy weather has continued to torment the English County season.

A new play, Front Yard, was performed a week ago at the National Cultural Centre by one of the newest theatre companies in Guyana.