Daily Archive: Saturday, December 21, 2013

(Jamaica Gleaner) As the half-billion-dollar empire of convicted Jamaican drug kingpin Andrew Hamilton continues to crumble, the Financial Investigations Division (FID) yesterday revealed that it had identified several properties it will seek to have forfeited to the State.

The private sector earlier this month held separate meetings with APNU and the AFC to urge support for the anti-money laundering bill and proposed that the parliamentary select committee holds its hearings in public and it also forwarded a compromise on the procurement commission.

(Trinidad Express) A UNITED STATES judge has sentenced Trinidadian Doreen Alexander-Durity, the former wife of nat­u­ralised US citizen Balram “Balo” Maharaj, to 20 years in prison for her involvement in his kidnapping in 2005.

The police say they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a miner whose name has been given as Clement David of Baramita, NWD, and whose body was found with marks of violence to the head at about 0730h.

(Reuters) – New Zealand openers Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford safely negotiated their way to the close of play on the third day of the third test against West Indies on Saturday after their bowlers had set up a likely victory with a destructive display.

Close to 70 public servants took to the streets yesterday to protest against the 5% pay increase arbitrarily instituted by the government and Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) President Patrick Yarde said the protest action will continue on Monday.

A Shamdas Kirpalani sales clerk who was about to deposit a carton box filled with a reported $17m at the Bank of Baroda was robbed by two men on Avenue of the Republic yesterday.

  The body of a man, which was found within the vicinity of the Ruby Koker, East Bank Essequibo on Thursday afternoon with suspected gunshot wounds, has been identified as Rafeek Mohammed.

A combination of speed and alcohol has left a US-based Guyanese dead after two Toyota vehicles slammed into each other around midnight on Thursday on the Railway Embankment at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.

In addition to their five percent 2013 salary increase, members of the Joint Services will receive for Christmas, one month’s salary tax free.

A collapsed bridge on the Georgetown-Lethem Trail has residents of Lethem worried about power supply during the Christmas holiday as fuel tankers are currently stuck but Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn yesterday assured that it will be fixed by today.

Machinery Corporation of Guyana Limited (MACORP) has spent over US$450,000 to upgrade its Providence warehouse, making it Guyana’s largest parts inventory in response to customer demand.

The anti-money laundering bill will have a second chance in  a select committee of parliament after the opposition made it clear on Thursday night that it would be defeated if the government put it to a vote.

In perhaps the most high-profile domestic violence (DV) case prosecuted to date, the husband of a city magistrate was on Tuesday last found guilty of assaulting and threatening her and sentenced to four months imprisonment.

Three men, in two different cases, were yesterday brought before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court facing charges of illegal possession of live ammunition and illegal possession of a firearm.

The Alliance For Change says it is expecting that the 2014 national budget will provide sufficient funds for the complete rehabilitation of the main road in Mahdia (Potaro/Siparuni).

The Government of Guyana is partnering with the South Florida National Parks Trust to strengthen the functioning of the Protected Areas Commis-sion, and the National Protected Areas Trust Fund.

Reiterating that it will not accept government interference in the management of private companies like the Berbice Bridge Company, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) yesterday said it remains of the view that the government has no direct investment in the bridge company.

Air Services Limited (ASL) yesterday launched its aerial tours of Georgetown (Christmas special) at its Pilot School, located at the Ogle International Airport.

After receiving early Christmas and New Year’s monetary gifts from the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) on Wednesday, the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) and the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) have already made plans on how to utilize their funding.

Chief Education Officer Olato Sam saluted all teachers and educators for their tireless contributions to the education sector and was particularly pleased that 336 more graduates would soon be joining the system, after graduating from the Cyril Potter College of Education’s (CPCE) on Thursday.

A man, who claimed he stole a watch because he knew it was a trap, was yesterday sent to prison for 21 days after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

Ninety-one youths who completed a life and work skills training ‘Work Ready Now’ course through USAID’s Skills and Knowledge for Youth Employment (SKYE) programme were recognised at a function held on Thursday.

(Reuters) – Englishman Paul Farbrace will succeed Graham Ford as Sri Lanka’s head coach from the start of next year, the country’s cricket board said yesterday.

Chairman of the national selectors for the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Rayon Griffith has said that the hunger shown by the players in the recently concluded senior four-day competition will fuel the engine for the upcoming Regional Super 50 and four-day tournaments which bowl off next month in the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad & Tobago.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Christmas is still a few days away but already Premier League managers are piling up on the scrapheap like unloved toys.

Queen Street Tiger Bay will face off with Stevedore Housing Scheme in the grand finale of the Guinness Greatest of the Streets Georgetown Zone today at the National Park Tarmac, Thomas Lands.

After allegedly being caught with 729 grammes of narcotics on his person, Godfrey ‘Cut Throat’ Williams was yesterday remanded to prison by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

(ICC) Ahmed Shehzad has been able to avoid extended lean spells with the bat in his 37-match One-Day International career till now, thanks to that determination and, after a duck and an 11 in his past two innings, the 22-year-old scripted his second three-figure score in four matches and the fourth century of his One-Day International career.

Twenty-seven hospitals and health centres on Thursday received brush cutters from the Local Government Ministry as part of a nationwide clean-up exercise.

The Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) will continue to explore more avenues in order to get the green light for the staging of the GT Beer final on January 1.

(Reuters) – Following is a list of 10 memorable sporting quotes in 2013:   Lance Armstrong   “Yes” – American cyclist Lance Armstrong finally confessed to taking performing-enhancing drugs to win his seven Tour de France titles in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Tournament heavyweight, Waramadong will make their long anticipated debut in the Chico/Kashif & Shanghai Elite Next Generation Football Tournament today at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground.

VATICAN CITY, (Reuters) – Let the holy war begin. The holy war of cricket, that is.

The Georgetown Football Association (GFA)/ Banks Beer Knockout Cup round of 16 matches continues today at the Tucville Community ground with a doubleheader.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,  CMC- Prolific West Indies cricketer Dwayne Smith has pulled out of the Big Bash League (BBL), Australia’s premier T20 tournament, the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) has reported.

The name Carollene Leza Singh might not ring a bell, but everyone knows ‘Radika’, the energetic and blunt self-professed ‘coolie gyal’ comedienne from ‘Parika Backdam’.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – South Africa’s biggest union will not support the ruling ANC in elections next year, its general secretary said on Friday, in a blow to President Jacob Zuma whose political support with the working class is fast eroding.

Dear Editor, As I traversed the main public thoroughfare from Charity to Supenaam, I saw a contractor patching the road which has sunk, which has some potholes and where the approaches to bridges are uneven.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Cricket Australia has set up a dedicated unit to fight doping, match-fixing and other activities that might undermine the integrity of its competitions, the governing body said on Friday.

The Christmas holidays have always been the best time of year for me and my family.

KAMPALA,  (Reuters) – Uganda’s parliament passed a law on Friday that makes some homosexual acts punishable by life in prison, a move that raised alarm among gays who are already afraid to express their sexuality openly.

Dear Editor, In June 2012 I had several court matters involving the provisions of the Public Health Ordinance Chapter 145.

MOSCOW/BERLIN,  (Reuters) – Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Russian oil tycoon jailed for a decade after posing a challenge to Vladimir Putin, was freed by a presidential pardon on Friday and immediately flew to Berlin where he hoped to be reunited with his family.

Dear Editor, I should like to pay personal homage to the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr Derrick Josiah, whose station in life and journey in this world came to an end on Friday, December 13, 2013.

Hi Everyone,  De Trini(s) might never let me back in deh country for what I have done with their beloved Punch de Crème but I think if they stop long enough to taste my Punch de Crème Bread Pudding they might forgive me.

LONDON, (Reuters) – People who are already on the way to developing diabetes could significantly reduce their risk of having a heart attack or stroke by walking for just an extra 20 minutes a day for a year, scientists said on Friday.

(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of Thursday’s National Basketball Association games.

Dear Editor, I just cannot comprehend the illogicality taking place within the city administration.

BANGUI,  (Reuters) – Christian militia attacked Muslim neighbourhoods in the capital of the Central African Republic yesterday, as France appealed to European partners for assistance in quelling months of religious violence in its former colony.

Uncensored, the comedy event of the Christmas season is here again.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – India asked the United Nations yesterday to accredit a New York-based diplomat who was arrested for visa fraud, in an apparent attempt to defuse a crisis with the United States over her treatment by U.S.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – Cheteshwar Pujara punished South Africa’s wilting bowling attack with a sparkling 135 not out as he and Virat Kohli helped India take complete control of the first test at the Wanderers yesterday.

Dear Editor, I am now confortable to write on the issuance of the Permission of a Geological and Geophysical Survey (PGGS) to Muri Brasil Ventures Inc, following several revelations by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and information provided by stakeholders within the gold mining sector.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Humans of New York, a photography book that began as a blog by a former bond trader has captured the heart and soul of New York with pictures and commentary.

Dear Editor, The bridging of the Berbice River is one of the most invaluable projects executed for and delivered to the people of Guyana.

OTTAWA, (Reuters) – Canada’s Supreme Court yesterday struck down major restrictions on prostitution, including bans on brothels and street solicitation, declaring the laws unconstitutional because they compromised the safety of sex workers.

President Obama’s use of clemency powers to commute the long-term prison sentences of eight non-violent drug offenders is a courageous acknowledgment of the need for urgent reforms in the US criminal justice system.

Dear Editor, In ‘America is an immigrant society but is not tribalized’ (SN, Dec 17), Mr Mike Persaud makes statements that are not factual. 

MARRAKECH, Morocco,  (Reuters) – Referees will use the recently-developed vanishing spray at the World Cup next year to stop defensive walls creeping forward at free kicks, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said yesterday.

ISTANBUL,  (Reuters) – Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s purge of the police command spread to other state institutions yesterday, widening a crackdown on what he described as a foreign-backed conspiracy to undermine him and create a “state within a state”.

(Billboard) – From ultra-ambitious musical comebacks to hype-surviving debuts to a certain unexpected album released right before the end-of-year buzzer sounded, 2013 contained a beautifully diverse array of full-length statements.

There is a significant amount of success we could point to in our public healthcare system – from declining HIV infection rates and malaria control to recent confirmation that we have already met the Millennium Development Goals targets for nutrition and child health.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Caribbean Aquaculture Limited, the second of Jamaica’s two marine shrimp farms, has closed down operations due to praedial larceny and financial problems being experienced as a result of the imposition of duties on its inputs.