Daily Archive: Friday, April 26, 2013

(Trinidad Express) -A female security guard at a primary school in south Trindiad was raped and robbed at gunpoint today.

Fitz Josiah, 63, who was on the run after the fatal stabbing of his 14-year-old step-daughter, was held last evening at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara.

Police Corporal Huford David, who is accused of taking a 14-year-old girl into Region Seven to be a sex worker, was yesterday charged with human trafficking.

The four girls rescued from the Tiger Creek Backdam, at Puruni, in Region Seven on Sunday, accompanied police back to the location yesterday as the investigation into human trafficking activities there widened.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has said that jewellers in Regions Three and Four are being affected by mercury in their workshops.

Two men were released on $1,000,000 bail each after they were charged with manslaughter when they made an appearance before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

Continuous setbacks for the Amaila Falls Access Road have caused the completion deadline to be pushed back once again, Transport and Hydraulics Minister Robeson Benn has said.

After perhaps ending the career of former world rater, Howard ‘Battersea Bomber’ Eastman with a 12-round drubbing on Saturday last, Jamaican Sakima Mullings has ambitions of thrashing  Guyana’s first world champion, Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis.

Guyana Amateur Basket-ball Federation (GABF) President David Patterson said he expects the Guyana male team to improve on their seventh place showing at the last Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships held in the Bahamas 2011 when they compete in the CBC tourney later in the year.

The opposition on Wednesday allowed the approval of the $775,656,000 in budget estimates for the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, but not before battering Minister Robert Persaud with a series of questions ranging from areas such as the salary of contracted workers to building maintenance.

Students of the University of Guyana are calling for the resignation of the University of Guyana Students’ Society (UGSS) President, Ganesh Mahipaul, who they have accused of misappropriating $800,000 of the students’ fund.

The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) will be relocating to its new offices at the former Guyana Broadcasting Corporation property at High Street, Werk-en-Rust, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon said yesterday.

The protest and blockage of access to the Rusal-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGIO) mining site by residents of the Hururu, Upper Berbice River, Region 10, community was yesterday afternoon called off after a meeting between the two sides and top officials.

The Guyana Consumers Association (GCA) has appealed to the National Assembly and the Executive to reconsider cuts made to funding intended for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and the specialty hospital.

The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) escaped a proposed budget cut of $130M on Wednesday, before the Committee of Supply’s approval of $7.1B budget for the Housing and Water Ministry.

The $1.1B budget estimates for the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce was on Wednesday approved by the Committee of Supply, without cuts proposed by the AFC.

The National Assembly on Wednesday night concluded the examination of the estimates of expenditure but not before the opposition cut the $20 billion allocation for the Low Carbon Development Strategy by $19 billion citing the need to have the project approved before monies could be voted for it.

The 2013 Inter-County Three-Day Under-19 Competition sponsored by Guyana and Trinidad Mutual Fire & Life Insurance Companies (GTM) in collaboration with the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has been pushed back one week owing to persistent inclement weather.

Seven persons including four children are counting their losses after a fire of unknown origin ravaged their wooden home yesterday at Bare Root, East Coast Demerara.

Chairman of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri (CJIA) Board Ramesh Dookhoo is leading an appeal for the restoration of the budgetary allocation for the expansion of the airport, as stakeholders warn that the opposition’s decision to cut funding will result in loss of investor confidence and jeopardise both security and businesses at the facility.

Closing arguments were heard yesterday in the trial of Ryan Bacchus, called ‘Rattie,’ who is accused of killing Lakeram McKenzie, called ‘Rambo,’ during a robbery in 2006.

Guyana national football player Walter Moore on Wednesday last led FC Vostok to their first victory in the Kazakhstan Premier League: a 1-nil win against

The Guyana Musical Arts Festival 2013 opens on Monday at 20:00 hrs at the National Cultural Centre.

Wolf’s Warriors were crowned male champions and took away the top prize of $500,000 along with bragging rights as the Digital Technology/Chow Pow 10/10 champions while Regal Champs copped the female award and carted off $150,000 when the competition ended recently.

The police have said that searches done yesterday revealed no sign of the two West Ruimveldt brothers, who reportedly fell out of a boat in the Konawaruk River after a number of missiles, were allegedly thrown at them on Tuesday.

The Child Care and Protection Agency is planning to implement a “one-stop” approach so that abused children will only have to tell their stories once to social workers and law enforcement officers.

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand and senior officials of the Guyana Learning Channel (GLC) on Wednesday defended their decision to rent satellite time from TVG Channel 28 saying that it was based solely on value for dollar.

A father of 25 was yesterday remanded to prison on a murder charge when he made an appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

Tutorial High School defeated Central High 3-1 through a Mario Padmore double in the 55th and 60th minutes on Wednesday evening when action continued in the Scotiabank/Pepsi Schools Football Tournament at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue.

Cyclists are set to pedal off this Sunday in the Mining Town as the Guyana Sports Development Foundation (GSDF) in collaboration

Arch rivals New Amsterdam/Canje and Lower Corentyne will be preparing to duke it out in the finals of the 2013 Berbice Cricket Board (BCB)/Diamond Fire & General Insurance Under-19 Inter-zone Cricket Tournament after successful wins the semi-finals of the tournament.

Ahead of today’s special mining lottery, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment yesterday said blocks of land up for distribution in Region Nine are not within Amerindian titled lands or within areas proposed for extension to titled lands.

(Cricinfo) You can be hero and villain on the same night.

While tacitly acknowledging that corruption exists in state-run agencies, Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar says efforts to tackle corruption in the society must also focus on “the business community” where he says “the bribers are located.

Christianburg/Wismar Multilateral Secondary compliments of a Terron Welch 29-point effort swamped four-time champions Mackenzie High School 100-31 as action in the Linden U-19 School Basketball Championships continued at the Mackenzie Hard Court on Wednesday.

Dismissing concerns being expressed here that local small businesses may not be benefiting – compared with their counterparts in other Cariforum countries – from financial resources for enhancing growth and building capacity available through the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce Dhaneshwar Deonarine is urging that they submit proposals for Direct Assistance Grants under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF).

Correcting Guyana’s unflattering image as a corruption-ridden country will have to be a priority of his administration if some of his other goals like attracting foreign investment are to be realised.

(Cricinfo) Ryan Harris, the Kings XI Punjab fast bowler, has returned to Australia from the IPL after being diagnosed with an Achilles tendon injury.

(Cricinfo) – On a day of nerves from both sets of players, Zimbabwe walked out happier after they picked up enough wickets to justify their decision to bowl.

LONDON (Reuters) – British boxer Amir Khan defended his link-up with American drugs cheat Victor Conte ahead of his fight with Mexico’s Julio Diaz tomorrow.

Hive of Activity All eyes have been plastered on the behavior of gold over the last few years as the price of the commodity created enormous buzz and stirred many to invest in the industry in Guyana. 

BASEL (Reuters) – David Luiz, lucky to be on the pitch after a shocking challenge, scored with the last kick of the game to give Chelsea a 2-1 win at FC Basel in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final after the Swiss side had levelled with an 87th minute penalty yesterday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House said yesterday that the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad has probably used chemical weapons on a small scale in the country’s civil war, but insisted that President Barack Obama needed definitive proof before he would take action.

Dear Editor, Having raised some pertinent questions with regard to CCTV, frequency assignments and transparency in recent months, I am moved once again to raise questions on the issue of telecommunications policy.

Kitty residents check for passengers in a car which ran off the road and into a ditch last night in front of the Ocean Spray International Hotel on Vlissengen Road.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The founder and managing director of Prim Capital Corporation has been charged with attempting to defraud the National Basketball Association players’ union out of $3 million with a bogus contract, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said.

Efforts by the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission to ensure compliance by the business community with legislation requiring traders to provide refunds on goods returned on the grounds that they are defective or for other specific reasons continue to be widely and flagrantly disregarded, Director of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission Seema Rambarran said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Banks and credit card companies can play a crucial role in shutting down human traffickers by flagging the electronic fingerprints they leave behind, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

Dear Editor, So the issue of trafficking in persons has finally caught the attention of the National Assembly.

More than two years after US President signed the country’s Food Safety Modernization Act into law, farmers and agro-processors who currently enjoy limited US markets still appear to be in the dark as to the magnitude of the changes that will be required if they are to meet the all of the conditions set out in the legislation.

LONDON/ABUJA (Reuters) – Pirates kidnapped four crew members when they attacked a container ship off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, the vessel’s management company said yesterday.

(Jamaica Gleaner) – United States authorities hurried to serve a stern warning that they would be relentless in their pursuit of convicted Jamaican lottery scammers after receiving the clearest of indications from their Jamaican counterparts that they would be extradited to that country to face the full brunt of the law.

Dear Editor, The plight of the peoples of Ituni, Kwakwani, and Region 10 as a whole is the ultimate example of what I am trying to point out and hopefully reverse when I pen these letters to the press.

PARIS (Reuters) – US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) president Travis Tygart accused the International Cycling Union (UCI) yesterday of failing in its promise to deal with the consequences of the Lance Armstrong scandal.

Dr Suresh Persaud insists that he is not a farmer. The legitimacy of such claims as he can make to the land are limited to his grandfather’s pursuit of rice farming, in which he took no interest.

Sprucing up: This small burial ground at Sheriff Street and the Railway Embankment benefited from a clean-up operation on Wednesday that saw trees cut down and bushes being cleared away and burned (Photo by Arian Browne)  

Dear Editor, The flexibility with which the compensation regimes in the Public Service is conducted, contrasts starkly with the evident meticulousness, if not meanness, that is applied to the Teaching Service component, as distinct even from the management and other technical components, of the education sector.

A Thomas Street, Cummingsburg residence between Middle and Quamina streets, flooded after rainfall Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US prosecutors yesterday alleged that a former federal government lawyer helped the Cuban intelligence service recruit a woman who was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for spying.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela has detained an American citizen it says was financing opposition student demonstrations after this month’s disputed presidential election, the latest in a flurry of accusations over last week’s post-vote violence.

In our April 12th issue, the Stabroek Business published a story headlined ‘Mobile Money Targets Billing Companies” in which we stated that GT&T “is operating under a licence issued by the Bank of Guyana and subject to oversight and regulation.

By  Ban Ki-moon and Bill Gates Ban Ki-moon is Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) last week announced the less than surprising re-election of  Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) Chief Executive  Officer Clinton Williams to the presidency of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The struggling Los Angeles Lakers suffered yet another morale-sapping injury setback yestersday with the news that backup guard Steve Blake will miss today’s Game Three against the visiting San Antonio Spurs.

(Barbados Nation) – Raul Garcia is a free man. The Cuban refugee broke down in tears within seconds of earning his freedom yesterday when the No 9 Supreme Court released him into the custody of a Barbadian family.

With Nicolás Maduro’s narrow victory in Venezuela’s presidential election still being contested by the Venezuelan opposition, even though he has already been sworn in as president, there is a growing feeling that, with a majority of only 50.7 per cent of the popular vote, the self-styled ‘son’ and heir of Hugo Chávez may well be in for a rough ride.

Dear Editor, I write to express my condolences on the passing of Neville Annibourne, whom I met several times in Georgetown during the struggle for the restoration of democracy in the 1990s (at GUARD meetings, press conferences, etc) as well as at political rallies after 1992 whenever I visited Guyana from my teaching breaks. 

LONDON (Reuters) – Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni was disqualified for eight years by the British Horseracing Authority yesterday for doping racehorses in a scandal that has caused serious embarrassment to Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

NICE, France (Reuters) – Police in France and the Netherlands have broken up a smuggling ring that used torpedo-shaped containers, cargo ships and frogmen for years to ship cocaine from South America to Europe’s largest commercial port.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 508’s trading results showed consideration of $681,870 from 6,720 shares traded in 4 transactions as compared to session 507  which showed consideration of $3,192,633 from 148,093 shares traded in 19 transactions. 

In five days’ time it will be the first of May – May Day, Workers Day, take your pick.