Daily Archive: Thursday, February 6, 2014

The police say that at about 2045h last night, taxi-driver Dwayne Estwick of Diamond Housing Scheme, EBD, was attacked and robbed of his motor car at Kiskadee Drive, South Ruimveldt, by two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun.

The private sector and the local anti-corruption group today issued a joint statement voicing support for the US leadership and democracy project and urging the political parties to expedite anti-money laundering legislation among other things.

OTTAWA,  (Reuters) – Canada will toughen citizenship rules to prevent foreigners from picking up Canadian passports of convenience without spending much time in the country, part of a sweeping package of reforms under legislation introduced on Thursday.

(Reuters) – England called up the uncapped Moeen Ali, Stephen Parry and Harry Gurney for this month’s one-day tour of West Indies in the first squad to be named in the post-Kevin Pietersen era.

(Jamaica Observer) SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland – THE eight children who were left orphaned after their parents were killed in their presence during a brutal attack by gunmen at their Dalling Street, Savanna-La-Mar, home last week Wednesday night are now in desperate need of financial and other forms of support.

Government on Tuesday once again concluded the work of the select committee responsible for the revision of  anti-money laundering legislation in the absence of opposition members, setting up a potential clash on the crucial bill when the National Assembly meets next week.

A report on the severe flogging of a pupil of the West Ruimveldt Primary School by the principal has recommended that disciplinary action be taken against her.

The Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) will soon begin interviewing four candidates shortlisted for the post of Chief Election Officer (CEO), including former Jamaican elections director Danville Walker.

Thirty-seven-year-old Lavena Williams-Todd of Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara was killed in an accident last night as she was on her way home from work.

Alleged drug lords and money launderers are openly flaunting extravagant lifestyles without fear of investigation under the PPP/C government, the PNCR charged yesterday in response to a scathing attack on the opposition by the ruling party’s General Secretary Clement Rohee on Monday.

A Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Private was yesterday charged with the murder of her boyfriend’s mother, who was found dead with her throat slit in her backyard at Agricola last Saturday.

A Norton Street caretaker was remanded to prison yesterday after being arraigned on a narcotics charge.

Chief Fire Officer Marlon Gentle has indicated that there are plans in the pipeline to build a fire station on the West Bank of Demerara.

A grocer has been remanded to prison over an alleged attempt to defraud another man in the sale of car.

The Guyana Sugar Corpo-ration (GuySuCo) is in talks with a Guatemalan sugar company looking to invest, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.

The African Cultural & Development Association (ACDA) yesterday launch-ed its African History Month programme to commemorate Black History Month and this year’s celebrations will see an emphasis on the involvement of young people.

Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), retired Chancellor Cecil Kennard has completed his review of the Colwyn Harding investigation and yesterday he sent the case file with his recommendations to the Crime Chief Seelall Persaud.

The re-trial of Satnanand Sahadeo, called ‘Boyo,’ continued yesterday before Justice William Ramlal in the High Court.

SHAWPARK, Tobago, CMC– Captain Dwayne Bravo and former captain Denish Ramdeen choreographed a middle innings revival to complement destructive bowling from Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine as Trinidad and Tobago rebounded with a vengeance to crush Leeward Islands by five wickets in the NAGICO Super50 match at Shaw Park here yesterday.

The Private Sector Com-mission (PSC) has asserted that investment in infrastructure is a necessary catalyst for more economic progress.

With recent burials obstructed by the flooding of the La Repentir Cemetery, Public Works Minister Robeson Benn says efforts are underway to fix the problem even as Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green maintains that the “sorry state of affairs” is because of central government’s obstruction.

Guyana Football Federation (GFF) vice president Ivan Persaud is calling for the resignation of GFF president Christopher Matthias.

The Private Sector Com-mission (PSC), Canadian High Commissioner Dr Nicole Giles and Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission Dr Steve Surujbally met last Thursday to discuss the possibilities of using an Automatic Ballot Scan and Tabulation Voting System in local and national elections.

(Reuters) – Kumar Sangakkara struck his maiden triple hundred and became the ninth batsman to score 11,000 test runs as a dominant Sri Lanka seized full control of the second and final test against Bangladesh yesterday.

Autopsies performed on the two fishermen who were found entangled in a seine at De Kinderen, West Coast Demerara, on Monday revealed that the men died as result of asphyxiation due to drowning.

Once replaced, the existing Demerara Harbour Bridge is to be sited at a hinterland location and mining industry players are welcoming the plan.

At the invitation of concerned village leaders and residents, of the Moruca sub-region, on January 27 2014, a team from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) visited Santa Rosa and Kumaka and heard more complaints about the troubled $43.7m bridge in the area.

Heavy rain in Regions 2 to 6 and Region 9 was predicted for last night by the Hydromet office, ranging from about 45 to 60 mm.

President Donald Ramotar says that Chinese investments will always be welcome in Guyana, once they are within the ambit of local laws.

Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Christopher Matthias said yesterday that the senior Technical Director vacancy that currently exists within the Golden Jaguars setup will be filled today.

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)’s camp for cricketers vying for places in the regional four-day squad commenced yesterday at the GCB’s La Bonne Intention facility.

Doctors who participated in the Guyana Pandit’s Council and Hindu Parishad’s first medical outreach for the year at Bush Lot Village, West Coast Berbice found most of the 120 persons treated suffered ailments that were the result of poor lifestyles.

Savings from the 2013 current budget allocation of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), Region Five facilitated the rehabilitation of several streets, GINA reported yesterday.

(Cricinfo) N. Srinivasan, the BCCI president, has strongly defended India’s claim for a higher percentage of the ICC’s global revenues and has asserted that India would have never signed the Members Participating Agreement (MPA) in its existing form.

Qualfon, a business process outsourcing and call centre services provider last week signed an affiliation agreement with the University of Guyana (UG).

Dear Editor, When the Procurement Act received the President’s assent in 2003 the establishment of the Procurement Commission was already part of the constitution.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC-Former West Indies captain Floyd Reifer will retire from regional cricket at the end of the season, Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) management has announced.

Dear Editor, Much has been said by many on the recent decision by the Chief Justice concerning the budget of two years ago, and it is most unfortunate that the judiciary had and will have to get into this matter again.

The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has expressed sorrow at the passing of Rawlewayne Payne who died on February 1, 2014.

Dear Editor, The General Secretary of the PPP Mr Clement Rohee is reported to have urged the government, of which he is a member, to “move expeditiously to establish the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry.”

Andre Stoll, the tall, left-arm, medium-fast bowler from the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), who represented Guyana at the U15, U17 and U19 levels, is seeking to make the final squad for the upcoming regional four-day cricket competition.

GENEVA/VATICAN CITY,  (Reuters) – The United Nations yesterday accused the Vatican of systematically turning a blind eye to decades of sexual abuse of children by priests, and demanded it immediately turn over known or suspected offenders to civil justice.

Digicel presented its annual donation to the Parkside Steel Orchestra on Monday as the group prepares for the finals of the Pan-O-Rama Steel Pan Competi-tion as part of Guyana’s 44th Republic Anniversary celebrations.

Dear Editor, I was moved to share these thoughts, in much summary, a few months ago when a former government minister declared to Dr Philip Mozart Thomas, in good natured banter: “Man Dr Thomas what you’re setting out to do is good and necessary, but Guyana’s civil society is a bunch of cowards” Again, I meant to respond to Lennox Cornette when in early January, in your letter columns, he stated that he and “citizens have no faith in Guyana’s civil society” (SN, January 6). 

Following continuous complaints about noise nuisance in the society, the National Assembly’s Sectoral Committee on Social Services last Friday began hearing submissions on its prevention and the interpretation of the law.

(Reuters) – South African police are ready to present their case when Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius goes on trial on March 3 for the murder of his girlfriend, domestic news agency SAPA reported yesterday.

MADRID,  (Reuters) – A planned extension of the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important shipping routes, was thrown into doubt yesterday after a group of companies said its talks with Panama’s government over how to expand the canal had fallen apart.

(Reuters) – Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been given a three-match ban and fined after his red card in Sunday’s 1-1 La Liga draw at Athletic Bilbao, the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) said  yesterday.

THE HAGUE,  (Reuters) – The International Criminal Court has no realistic chance of successfully prosecuting Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in the face of the Nairobi government’s “pure obstructionism”, prosecutors said yesterday.

Dear Editor, I read with dismay and apprehension the report in another section of the national media that the Minister of Agriculture stated that “Guyana’s capacity for drainage of accumulated rainwater is increasing and flooding is being gradually reduced, although it is still not at the level where it can deal effectively with unusually heavy rainfall.”

The Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches has launched a year-long roster of activities to celebrate its golden jubilee anniversary this year.

Swing: South Ruimveldt Secondary students in a group dance entitled `Swings from yesteryear’ as the Children’s Mashramani competition continued yesterday at the National Cultural Centre.

(Reuters) – CVS Caremark Corp will stop selling tobacco products at its 7,600 stores by Oct.

Dear Editor, I am aware of four main bridges in the Anna Regina area on the Essequibo Coast that are currently without rails.

The Ministry of Public Works will host its fourth engineering conference in collaboration with the University of Guyana today at the Guyana International Conference Centre.

Teams aiming to compete in the 10th  Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTYSC) Busta Champion-of-Champions Cricket tournament are being asked to get ready for the competition which bowls off on February 16 weather permitting.

SAN FRANCISCO, (Reuters) – Twitter Inc yesterday reported its slowest pace of user growth in recent company history, dimming hopes that the social media phenomenon can sustain its torrid pace of expansion and wiping out nearly a fifth of the company’s value in after-hours trading.

(The Sports Xchange) – – -Indiana forwards Paul George and David West combined for 40 points and sparked a third-quarter uprising that enabled the Pacers to beat the Atlanta Hawks 89-85 for their third straight win Tuesday night.

Keepers: North Georgetown Secondary students doing `Keepers of El Dorado’ in the Legends and Traditions segment of the children’s Mashramani competition yesterday at the National Cultural Centre.

Cancer is the third leading cause of mortality in Guyana, according to a report from the Ministry of Health.

Dear Editor, These responses to me by email and other notes are intended to complete or correct the picture in my recent letter about the rural renal clinic at Annandale.

(Trinidad Express)  Energy giant BHP Billiton has taken a leap of faith in the potential of the country’s largely untested deep water acreages, committing up to investing US$1 billion to exploration.

(Trinidad Express) A COUVA mother was found murdered in her bed on Tuesday, with her hands and feet bound and throat slit.

Dear Editor, The spate of teenage violence and criminal behaviour in Guyana must be of concern to every right-thinking person.

By Jeff Trotman The board of directors of the Linden Enterprise Network Inc.

Feel our pain: Children of the Richard Ishmael Secondary doing a piece entitled `Despair’ in the group dance in the social commentary category of the children’s Mashramani competition yesterday at the National Cultural Centre.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States issued a warning yesterday to airports and to some airlines flying to Russia for the Olympics to watch for toothpaste tubes that could hold ingredients to make a bomb on a plane, a senior U.S.

(Trinidad Express) The bill for the December oil spills will cost state-owned oil company Petrotrin upwards of TT$50 million, vice president for exploration and production Jamaludin Khan said on Tuesday.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Kevin Pietersen is one of world cricket’s heroes and his sacking by England represents a failure by the team’s leadership rather than the player, according to former International Cricket Council president Ehsan Mani.

Jump: South Ruimveldt students dancing to `Our Ancestors’ in the Legends and Beliefs section of the children’s Mashramani competition yesterday at the National Cultural Centre.

Dear Editor, I refer to the caption in the Stabroek News dated January 22, ‘Security expert urges selective legalizing of ganja as part of drug response.’ 

CAPE TOWN,  (Reuters) – The World Bank wants to launch a $1 billion fund in July to map the mineral resources of Africa, using satellites and airborne surveys to fill geological gaps across the continent where a lack of adequate data hampers mining investments.

Dear Editor, The details of the reports relating to police brutality in Guyana have already been well publicized.

Whoever thought that garbage was the main issue in Georgetown and that removing the piles of it that abound every which way and charging litterbugs would restore the city must have had a jolt when Alisha Thomas and her two-year-old daughter fell into a manhole near the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet at Stabroek.

Cartoons

(Reuters) – Alastair Cook should continue to captain England despite their recent run of hapless performances, batting coach Graham Gooch said yesterday.

How real is our Parliament, as a repository of the power of the people, to effect good governance?

Work underway yesterday on the modern crematorium at Le Repentir cemetery.

Politikles

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – A Venezuelan opposition party demanded yesterday that President Nicolas Maduro’s government release seven protesters arrested following a weekend fracas outside the hotel of a visiting Cuban baseball team.

(Trinidad Express) Reigning Chutney Soca Monarch Raymond Ramnarine is not obligated to defend his title and the show will go on with or without him, according to Southex Promotions chief executive officer, George Singh.