Daily Archive: Wednesday, September 3, 2014

A piece by Sheliza Rampersaud from the E. R. Burrowes School of Art’s Graduating Class of 2014.

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will be hosting a press conference tomorrow at 14:00 hours to address issues relative to the integrity of the National Register of Registrants, the current Preliminary List of Electors and the Official List of Electors to be produced following the conclusion of the ongoing claims and Objections exercise.

Investigations are being conducted into the circumstances surrounding an incident in which Police Constable Leroy English was shot and injured to his right hand and foot at about 0030h.

Guyana Goldfields today announced that it has signed an agreement with a consortium of lenders for US$185M which means its gold mining project in the Cuyuni area is now fully financed.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro yesterday pushed Rafael Ramirez from his twin posts as oil minister and a chief of state oil firm PDVSA in a cabinet shake-up that opposition critics said fell short of the overhaul needed to reverse the OPEC nation’s economic decline.

JAKARTA, (Reuters) – Indonesia’s anti-corruption agency said on Wednesday the energy minister was a suspect in a case involving extortion and abuse of authority, the latest in a string of cases that have tainted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s final year in office.

European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs yesterday signed development programmes for 21 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group countries and Guyana’s allocation is Euros 34 Million ($9.28B) over the next seven years.

A Mahaica farmer was fatally chopped yesterday afternoon near his farm by another man who had hurled insults at him about his wife.

The Blue CAPS group has expressed concern over a surge of unofficial reported cases of chikungunya in Georgetown and the rest of Region Four and the silence of local health authorities on the situation.

A man was yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with killing another man in Essequibo as part of a robbery.

Two gunmen yesterday escaped with millions of dollars after robbing the Post Office Training School and Business Centre, at Lamaha and Carmichael streets.

Local singer and actress Delma Lynch died yesterday. Lynch entertained Guyanese for decades with various bands, such as Mischievous Guys and acted in two local movies produced by Signal Studio Productions director Bonny Alves.

The Essequibo Coast is once again being plagued by frequent blackouts, which have caused enormous losses for business owners and have disrupted the daily lives of residents.

Five persons have been held in connection with an armed robbery that occurred during the wee hours of Monday morning.

Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang has ordered that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) release the vehicles belonging to Narootandeo and Gharbassi Brijnanan, who moved to the High Court yesterday to challenge the lawfulness of the agency’s decision to seize and detain them.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Guyana Power and Light (GPL) recommended in July the voiding of a $16.6M contract for air-conditioners after the original bid price was jacked up by 42.6% and he also proposed changes to tender procedures as a result of this tender and another.

A car stolen from a man on Mandela Avenue on Sunday was found by police on Monday night in South Ruimveldt and five men are now in custody, according to a statement yesterday by the police.

A Kitty man, accused of breaking into a storage bond and stealing $1M worth of items, was remanded to prison yesterday.

INet Communications and Newtec yesterday announced that they have launched a new high speed broadband service for Guyana which they said enables download speeds of 10Mbps for the first time here.

The dawning of a new era in Guyana’s football will take place today when the Golden Jaguars faceoff with Dominica at 17:30hrs in their opening group matchup of the CFU Cup Qualification Tourney at Warner Park Sporting Complex in St.

Work on roads at Belle West on the West Bank of Demerara is expected to begin soon as tenders for the contract were opened yesterday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.

DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC- Left-arm spinner Elias Sunny has been called-up to replace Sohag Gazi in Bangladesh’s squad for the two-test series against the West Indies starting this weekend.

BANGALORE, India, CMC- Sprint superstar Usain Bolt admitted yesterday that his decision to pursue a career in track and field was based on the advice of his father.

President Donald Ramotar on Monday commissioned two laboratories at the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute’s (NAREI), Mon Repos compound.

The trial of Leonard Allicock, who is accused of chopping another man to death, began yesterday in the High Court before Justice Diana Insanally.

Ramesh Jaigopaul, who was hospitalised in critical condition after he was hit off his motorbike by a bus along the Walton Hall Public Road last week, succumbed to his injuries on Sunday.

LONDON, (Reuters) – India’s Shikhar Dhawan smashed a six to seal a crushing nine-wicket victory over hapless England in the fourth one-day international in Birmingham yesterday.

Dear Editor, BaiShanLin International Forest Development Inc has issued several responses regarding concerns that have been recently raised in the media about the company’s operations.

MONROVIA, (Reuters) – The United Nations said yesterday the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa was causing food shortages in one of the world’s poorest regions and the U.S.

HARARE, (Reuters) – A swashbuckling innings from Mitchell Marsh helped Australia bounce back from two successive defeats to beat South Africa by 62 runs and reach the final of the triangular one-day series yesterday.

A carpenter will be spending the next 12 months in prison after stealing a can of insecticide from a city supermarket.

Three persons were on Saturday last injured in an accident after the driver of the car they were travelling in, lost control of the vehicle.

Ten participants received awards as the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/ Scotiabank Kiddy Summer Camp concluded last week in Berbice.

MOGADISHU, (Reuters) – A U.S. military airstrike in Somalia has targeted the leader of the Islamist militant group al Shabaab, Somali and U.S.

Dear Editor, The passing of Victor Ramraj is sad news for us all, I think, and I want to add to what Clem Seecharan and David Dabydeen (distant cousin) said about him, from my Canadian perspective.

A labourer who stole an air conditioning (AC) unit and accompanying copper tubing installed at the law office of attorney Glenn Hanoman was yesterday sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.

DUBAI, (Reuters) – The Islamic State militant group released a video yesterday purporting to show the beheading of a second American hostage, journalist Steven Sotloff, raising the stakes in its confrontation with Washington over U.S.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC- Top Trinidad and Tobago swimmer George Bovell claimed gold in the men’s 100m individual medley at the second leg of the Fina/Mastbank Swimming World Cup in Dubai on the weekend.

Dear Editor, I regard with some unease a letter appearing in the September 1 edition of SN, written by David Hinds.

Dear Editor, It’s now been three weeks and I am yet to receive a refund for an all-inclusive ticket I paid for a trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (Reservation #115679).

BRUSSELS/DONETSK, Ukraine, (Reuters) – EU officials proposed sanctions yesterday to starve Russian firms of cash as punishment for Moscow’s role in Ukraine, where rebels said they were storming Donetsk airport, potentially their biggest prize since turning the war’s tide last week.

MARRAKECH, Morocco, CMC- Eleven Jamaican athletes have been invited to represent the Americas at the IAAF Continental Cup starting here in Marrakech, Morocco next weekend They include Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jason Morgan, the first ever discus thrower selected from Jamaica to compete at the Continental Cup.

A man was chased and shot by two men in a car on Monday night at Craig Street, Campbellville.

Dear Editor, Ms Shabnam Ali and Mr Raymond Chickrie in their letter, ‘An inconsistent position on secularism,’ (SN, August 25), are guilty of a blatant use of fallacious analogy in seeking to connect the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

A young man, who the police say was planning to use a toy gun to commit a robbery, was yesterday admitted to $30,000 bail after denying the charge.

SAN FRANCISCO, (Reuters) – The week before a crucial launch of its new iPhone, Apple Inc said intimate photos of celebrities including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence were leaked online through the apparent hacking of individual iCloud accounts.

Left-arm spinner Raj Nannan says that he is thrilled over his selection to represent the Demerara senior team ahead of this week’s Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) 50-overs-a-side Inter-County competition and is bent on producing match-winning performances for his side.

Dear Editor, Can I add my sadness to that of my colleagues and friends Professors Dabydeen and Seecharan on the passing of Victor Ramraj.

VIRGINIA, United States, CMC- Celebrated Trinidad and Tobago athlete Ayanna Alexander has produced the best triple-jump performance of her career to erase her own national record at the 39th annual Potomac Valley Games in Virginia on Sunday.

Accused of stealing body spray that he lifted from a store, Shawn Stewart yesterday told a city court that he was planning to buy it.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, (Reuters) – Islamist Boko Haram insurgents overran most of a northeastern Nigerian town yesterday after hours of fighting that killed scores and displaced thousands of residents, security sources said.

HONG KONG, (Reuters) – A pro-democracy movement that has threatened to blockade Hong Kong’s financial district has said Beijing “brutally strangled” its fight for full democracy and vowed to take action.

Nearly two weeks after waitress Debra Blackman was fatally shot during a botched robbery at the Chinese Delicious Restaurant, the shooter who was filmed by a surveillance camera during the crime is yet to be apprehended.

The site of the proposed Ajeenkya D Y Patil Medical  College at Turkeyen (see sign inset).

Dear Editor, I am compelled to write this piece. I am appalled at the gullibility and ease with which politicians, and in this case government, can influence the views of their followers, followers that are supposed to be intellectually savvy.

“You choose a member, indeed; but when you have chosen him, he is not member of Bristol, but he is a member of Parliament” (Edmund Burke – 1777 – Letter To The Sheriffs Of Bristol).

Quarterfinal action in the Stag Beer ‘West Side’ 5-a-side football tourney commences today at the Vergenoegen Rice Mill Tarmac with four matchups.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela has lashed out at new U.S. television show “Legends” for an episode that mentions Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in connection with the buying of chemical weapons to quell unrest at home.

Part 2 By Tarron Khemraj  Introduction Part 1 of this essay argued that the main motivation driving private investments under the Jagdeo-Ramotar dispensation is the desire to use political power for the purpose of expropriating economic and investment opportunities for associates of the ruling party.

Dear Editor, We are witnesses to this inexorable public march towards a fateful political embrace.

Politikles

We feel almost forced to return to the struggle between the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) powers and Russia over Ukraine, so soon after our last editorial on this issue.

Demerara Coach Garvin Nedd said that his aim in this year’s Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) 50-over Inter-County competition is to use the tournament as a launchpad for players who can get themselves in form and cement spots for the Guyana franchise in this year’s West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional competition.

The opinions ex-pressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

A treat for the eyes: City of Eldorado, a piece by Tammy Walker from the E.R.