Daily Archive: Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Ministry of Home Affairs tonight announced that directions have been issued to the Commissioner of Police to effect immediate changes at the command level to the E&F Division in which Linden falls following the killing by police of three protesters there yesterday.

Lindeners tonight held a candelight vigil in memory of the three men killed by police during a protest in the mining town yesterday.

The European Union today issued a statement welcoming the government’s commitment to hold an investigation into the killing by police of three protesters at Linden yesterday.

The Office of the President (OP) today said that a full investigation will be done of yesterday’s killing of three protesters by police in Linden.

Members of the Linden Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Development (LCICD) were today summoned to a meeting with President Donald Ramotar at the Office of the President.

Arti Cameron, Miss Guyana 2012, arrived yesterday in Ordos, China to represent Guyana at this year’s Miss World contest being held on August 18.

Envoys from the United States, Britain and Canada today called for all parties and stakeholders to work in the interest of national unity in the backdrop of the killing by police of three protesters in Linden yesterday.

UNITED NATIONS,  (Reuters) – Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed U.N.

(Reuters) – Former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam has won his appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against a life ban from all soccer-related activity over bribery allegations.

HOUSTON,  (Reuters) – Allen Stanford, convicted of leading a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, is serving his 110-year sentence in a high-security federal prison in central Florida, according to the U.S

Picketers gathered outside of Police Headquarters, Eve Leary this morning to protest the police killing of three protesters in Linden last evening and the injuring of around a dozen others.

Residents of Linden are back on the streets on both banks of the Demerara River, erecting blockades across the road and lighting fires.

(Jamaica Observer) MONTEGO BAY, St James — Deputy Mayor of Montego Bay Michael Troupe and his People’s National Party (PNP) colleague Sylvan Reid were among five people taken into custody yesterday during pre-dawn raids carried out by members of the Lottery Scam Task Force.

(Jamaica Observer) Government is yet to be officially informed about the decision to remove the Air Jamaica logo from Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) planes, days after reports that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in Trinidad had instructed the airline to drop the Air Jamaica brand.

(Reuters) – Thousands of mourners, including Bollywood stars, gathered today for the funeral of actor Rajesh Khanna, braving heavy rains and traffic jams in Mumbai.

(Barbados Nation) Government has been told that it must urgently put  its economic house in order, following the latest downgrade of Barbados’ sovereign credit rating by Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

-The unbelievable story of Winston George, Guyana’s first locally-based athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games in over a decade Four years ago Winston George had no idea that he would be at the next Olympics Games.

Protests over an increase in power tariffs took a tragic turn last evening in Linden, when three persons were shot and killed and buildings and vehicles were set on fire.

The government last night said it will do all that is possible to protect the people of Linden “from irresponsible and reckless” leadership while warning that mayhem cannot be tolerated and promising a full probe into yesterday’s protests in the mining town which left three persons dead.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) condemns the police killings in Linden and has written to the Speaker of the National Assembly requesting an emergency sitting of the Assembly to address the Linden crisis, it said in a press release today.

The police last night acknowledged that shotgun cartridges were fired in the direction of the crowd of protesting Lindeners yesterday but did not mention any deaths since the force said that is has “been unable to acquire sufficient information.”

The Alliance For Change last night condemned the use of deadly force by the police in the Linden power protest which led to three people dying.

Although finding that the National Assembly did not have the power to cut the budget, acting Chief Justice Ian Chang yesterday said in an interim ruling that the court could not restore the funding sought by government, except for allocations to the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) to perform its constitutional duties.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds yesterday expressed regret at Lindeners’ stance in relation to the reduction of the electricity subsidy and said that the ongoing protest is hurting Guyana but the town most of all.

The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) yesterday rejected claims that miners reportedly made at a meeting with the Guyana Women Miners Organisation that Chinese are taking over Imbaimadai and other interior locations for mining purposes.

The best of the best of Guyana’s junior squash campaigners are already in Jamaica and set to take to court tomorrow for the first round of matches in the individual category of the Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Caribbean Junior Squash Championships 2012.

A key officer of the Police Narcotics Division was earlier this week transferred to the Berbice area as the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) investigates the disappearance of a quantity of cocaine that was evidence in a recently discharged court matter.

By Emmerson Campbell “After seven or eight fights I’m looking to take on Elton  Dharry for the bantamweight title,” a confident 19-year-old Richard Williamson declared during a recent interview with Stabroek Sport.

Nine days to the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games and Guyana’s chef de mission to the Games Dr Karen Pilgrim is very confident that the team will make the most of the opportunity to compete  on at the world’s biggest stage.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon says that Cabinet is considering the replacement of the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown with an Interim Management Committee because of the ongoing findings of corrupt practices and said too that senior persons will be sent on leave to allow for a criminal investigation.

Kristina Cheeks of the Association Do Shotokan of Guyana (ASKG) was named the top medalist from her Dojo’s at the 2012 International Karate Daigaku (IKD) World Cup held in Toronto, Canada earlier this month.

A boat caught afire yesterday morning after its engine exploded when fuel was spilt on it, resulting in the captain sustaining minor injuries.

DIGICEL’S US$20 million sponsorship deal with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will come to an end in September but the telecommunications company and WICB are still not close to committing to a new contract.

As the police intensify their campaign against the use of ‘mag rims’, minibus operators are united in their call for them to be allowed to use the rims to ensure their safety and that of their passengers, saying also that the campaign is ‘senseless’.

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MYCS)/ National Sports Commission will sponsor the second edition of the East Coast Under 17 Cricket Camp at the Enterprise Community Centre Ground, East Coast Demerara, beginning next Monday.

Guyana’s Under-15 cricket team was 80-5 in their second innings against the Windward Islands at the close of play of their opening two day match of the West Indies Cricket Board’s regional Under-15 cricket competition in Conaree, St Kitts.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Integration of the Republic of Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño, will today pay an official visit to Guyana, and he will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with his Guyanese counterpart.

From  Iva Wharton in Trinidad Guyana ‘s netball team on Tuesday picked up its fourth loss in the Americans Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA) tournament when it came up against another Caribbean powerhouse Barbados at the Jean Pierre Complex in the compound of the Hasley Crawford Stadium, Trinidad.

By Iva Wharton Guyana’s netball tea managed to record its highest number of points in the Americas Federation of Netball Association (AFNA) tournament but the points scored were not enough to land them a win against the United States of America team and they went under by 25 goals to 82.

Dear Editor, I thought it would be prudent to let some of the dust settle before I venture in a personal capacity into the controversy over the now infamous Guyana Chronicle editorial of July 3. 

Prominent New Amsterdam businessmen Tito Sancho and Winston Wade, who were charged with possession of 10.1 kilos of cocaine, were both freed of the charges at the Springlands Magistrate Court on Monday.

Anthony Downes and Andre Lopes defeated the pair of Craig Campbell and Judah Stephney at the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) Recreational Centre on Tuesday last when matches in the GBTI Open tennis tournament continued.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon says that talks between Government and Opposition are “in a bit of a vacuum” because of the focus on the PNCR’s Congress and will not likely get back on track before early August.

Dear Editor, Animals are left to stray on the roadways of this country, and it is clear that we have made the roads a pasture, while the authorities have been unable or reluctant to stop this.

A miner says he was beaten, chopped and threatened with death by a group of men, who accused him of stealing a mat near Omai last Friday morning.

Dear Editor, In my letter regarding the recent confirmation of Mrs Geetanjali Singh as an Audit Director in the Auditor General’s Office, I described the ensuing public reaction, as an “imbroglio, politically inspired and concocted,” and contended that the same constituted an “attack by members of the legislature and their cohorts” upon the Auditor General’s constitutionally and statutorily guaranteed independence (‘The squabble over conflict of interest in the Audit Office is much ado about nothing’ SN, July 13). 

Dear Editor, It seems as though the Police Complaints Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs only handles ‘special’ cases against the police.

The National Under-17 football squad preparing for the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) qualification tournament next week was holed up in the volatile Linden community as residents started a five-day protest over a hike in electricity tariff.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua,   CMC – Temperamental left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn has inched his way even closer to a senior team recall after being named in a provisional 30-man West Indies squad for the ICC World Twenty20 Championship in September.

A 17-year-old North Ruimveldt girl who threatened to poison her mother’s food and later charged her with assault was yesterday placed on one-year probation when she appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

(Jamaica Gleaner)  Head of the Lottery Scam Task Force Superintendent Leon Clunis has described deputy mayor of Montego Bay, Michael Troupe and the Councillor for the Salt Spring Division, Sylvan Reid as major players in the lottery scam.

National School Basketball Festival (NSBF) 2012 champions, Kwakwani, made good their debut on the international scene in Antigua last Monday with a 76-72 win over Clarehall Secondary of Antigua.

The body of the porter who was stabbed to death at 14 Miles, Issano, during an altercation with two men on Tuesday last was yesterday brought to Georgetown and a post-mortem examination is to be conducted today.

Dear Editor, Usually I am exhilarated by my Friday sundowners – in anticipation of a mentally risk-free weekend.

(Reuters) – India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has been named in a preliminary 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup, raising hopes of a return to international cricket after undergoing cancer treatment.

Rajesh Khanna, one of the Indian film industry’s first home-grown screen idols, died  yesterday morning, his family said, according to Reuters.

(Trinidad Guardian) T&T’s revenue has declined by TT$10 billion over the last four years because of the global economic recession, says Finance Minister Larry Howai.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – England pace bowler Graham Onions may be ruled out of the opening match of the three-test series against South Africa starting at the Oval  today after a hamstring strain forced him to miss training  yesterday.

Dear Editor, I attended the inaugural lecture of the National Assembly’s Governance and Democracy series, fortuitously I must add, but not regrettably.

Dear Editor, What‘s so offensive about the Chronicle editorial of July 2, 2012 in a liberated country?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it will continue to work with the Bosai Minerals Group (Guyana) as it takes steps to install a dust collection system for Kiln #13 used to process bauxite at its operations plant in Linden.

GENEVA, (Reuters) – The Dominican Republic filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization about Australia’s tobacco packaging laws yesterday, becoming the third country to challenge regulations strongly opposed by big cigarette manufacturers.

St John’s, Antigua – Windward Islands batsman Keone George topped the batting charts in the recently concluded West Indies Cricket Board inaugural Under 17 Tournament played in Tobago.

(Barbados Nation) A Standard & Poor’s “junk status” downgrade of Barbados’ economy drew sharp criticism from the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Delisle Worrell, on Tuesday, while the Opposition called for his head and for Prime Minister Freundel Start to call a general election.

The Region Five administration on Monday presented $600,000 to four student athletes who were selected to participate in the Guyana Teachers’ Union/Caribbean Union of Teachers Athletics Championships in Jamaica.

Dear Editor, I listened to President Ramotar address the Caricom heads of state meeting and felt embarrassed to be a Guyanese.

BAGNERES DE LUCHON, France, (Reuters) – Defending champion Cadel Evans bowed to the heat and the four Pyrenean climbs on the 16th stage of the Tour de France to surrender his crown yesterday.

(Jamaica Observer) The Clarke family has expressed satisfaction with Tuesday’s ruling by the director of public prosecutions (DPP) that murder charges be brought against three soldiers for the 2010 shooting of their loved one, Keith Clarke, during the hunt for former Tivoli Gardens don Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The suicide bomber who attacked a crisis meeting of Bashar al-Assad’s security officials yesterday did more than just kill and wound some of Syria’s most senior figures.

Dear Editor, For the first time in decades I have finally seen a senior public figure to whom youths respond well, and that person is none other than Brigadier (rtd) David Granger.

(Reuters) – Kevin Pietersen was left out of England’s provisional, 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup announced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) yesterday.

Given the serious challenges facing this nation in this second decade of the 21st century, we must focus on one major goal to transform how the next generation lives.

Patchwork approaches to fixing what goes wrong in this country seem to be the order of the day.

Region One residents said improved social services are crucial to stemming domestic violence as police seem ill-prepared to deal with such cases.

(Trinidad Express) A Moruga man was yesterday sentenced to 26 years in prison with hard labour for the rape of an epileptic woman.

The Alliance For Change last night condemned the use of deadly force by the police in the Linden power protest which led to three people dying.