Daily Archive: Friday, November 28, 2014

Seventy-three-year-old, Jaswah Ramlall stands on the newly constructed Double Bitumen Surface Treatment (DBST) road at No.64 Village, Berbice, Region Six.

Social activist Mark Benschop in a statement today said that he and and Mark Jacobs visited the relatives of the fisherman, Asif Rahim Khatoon, who was allegedly beaten by police ranks at the Leonora Police Station.

Divisional Commander Senior Superintendent   Ian Amsterdam, today visited the home of Asif Rahim at Meten-Meer-Zorg, WCD, where they met with his reputed wife Sursattie Chandrapaul, children, and other relatives, a statement from the police said.

The Ministry of Agriculture this evening said it is monitoring a weather pattern that if it stays on course will bring significant amounts of rain tonight and into the morning for various coastal communities.

A consolidated shipment of over 2,700 cubic metres of sawn greenheart lumber was being loaded yesterday on a chartered vessel to depart for the United Kingdom at the John Fernandes Wharf, Water Street, Georgetown, GINA said.  

Amid questions about the government’s use of a jet on which the pilot was held last week in Puerto Rico with US$620,000 hidden away, the government today said that the craft was used thrice by President Donald Ramotar and paid for.

483 men and women from the Government Technical Institute (GTI) graduated from the institution yesterday having completed two years of technical training in different areas.

A consolidated shipment of over 2,700 cubic metres of sawn greenheart lumber was being loaded yesterday on a chartered vessel to depart for the United Kingdom at the John Fernandes Wharf, Water Street, Georgetown, GINA said.

(Trinidad Express) A driver was shot dead following an argument over a minor accident on the highway today.

(Trinidad Express) Some of the country’s biggest industrial plants were forced to shut down operations on Wednesday after being alerted that their power supply had to be unplugged as a result of the rupture of the Cross Island Pipeline.

The opposition yesterday called on the government to conduct a thorough investigation into the operations of alleged money smuggler Khamraj Lall who Puerto Rican authorities say failed to declare over US$620,000 that was stashed in his private jet.

Two women were recently nabbed at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York after attempting to smuggle cocaine into the United States from Guyana.

The Police Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the death of Asif Rahim, of Ocean Garden, Meten-Meer-Zorg, WCD, after the dead man’s wife alleged that he was brutally beaten while in police custody over the weekend.

Guyana’s junior and senior chess champions are among the winners after the first round of the FIDE-World Chess Federation/Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) Umada Cup which is being held here at the Sleep in International Hotel.

A businessman of Pou-deroyen, West Bank Demerara was robbed at around 3 am yesterday of his motor car while a US-based couple who are here to conduct charity work lost their suitcases and US$8,000.

By Jeff Trotman   The Region Ten Demo-cratic Council (RDC) continues to be concerned at the manner in which the Linden-Kwakwani Road and internal roads in Kwakwani are being repaired and maintained by Baishanlin and one group led by Phillip Bynoe without the RDC being officially updated on the nature and progress of the works.

Former title holders Leopold Street sealed their spot in the knockout round, edging South Sophia 1-0 in a must-win final group fixture when the Guinness Greatest of the Streets Georgetown leg continued yesterday at the National Cultural Centre Tarmac.

Team Guyana suffered mixed fortunes on the opening day of the female team squash championship when the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games continued yesterday at the Leyes de Reforma Sports Complex.

After admitting that he beats his wife, an Industry man was remanded to prison yesterday.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – The cricket world was in mourning yesterday following the death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes, who died in a Sydney hospital, two days after being hit in the head by a ball.

Guyana’s former Foreign Affairs Minister and the longest serving Secretary General of the Common-wealth, Sir Shridath Ramphal launched his memoir `Glimpses of a Global Life’ on Wednes-day at the Georgetown Club.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC- The 2014 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) pumped a massive US 166 million into the region’s economy, a new independent economic impact study revealed yesterday.

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) yesterday railed against the Donald Ramotar administration for ignoring its obligation to engage in negotiations of wages and salaries for public servants and announced moves to internationalise the situation just two months after threatening industrial action.

Over 70 entrants from various schools around the country and the region will be hoping to come out on top at the finals of the Sagicor Visionaries Challenge competition, which begins today although last year’s winning project still has not gone anywhere.

(Trinidad Guardian) National Security Minister Gary Griffith has denied that he submitted or is involved in a proposal before Cabinet, seeking the approval of US$7 million (TT$42 million) in support of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) for 2015 and 2016.

Prisoner Troy Younge, who is currently serving a three-year sentence for drug trafficking, will now be spending an additional five years behind bars after a court found him guilty of once more trafficking in narcotics and this time within the walls of the George-town Prison.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- A minute of silence will be observed before the start of the third round of the Professional Cricket League (PCL), as a form of tribute to emerging Australian batsman Philip Hughes who died on Thursday, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has announced Hughes, who was in a critical condition in a Sydney hospital, passed away two days after being hit on the head by a short ball from Sean Abbott during South Australia’s Sheffield Shield clash with New South Wales.

Following a rise in the number of road fatalities for the year, Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon recently said that government is considering more laws and the deployment of more police to monitor traffic.

A husband was remanded to prison yesterday after being charged with choking his wife and shoving her to the floor.

A Linden mason was remanded to prison yesterday after he was charged with attempting to commit a felony.

Public Service Minister, Jennifer Westford, has encouraged ten youths to continue participating in the Linden Community Empowerment Programme (LINCEP), which she said could be a stepping stone for them to reach as far as studying for a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Guyana.

Human Services Minister Jennifer Webster on Tuesday said men must recognise the need to treat women with respect and protect them.

The Ministry of Education on Tuesday concluded a two-day Drug Prevention Education Training exercise that was held for teachers and welfare officers from Georgetown.

The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development (MLGRD) on Wednesday announced that investigation has been ordered into Tuesday’s flooding of Albouystown.

While Caribbean beneficiaries of Venezuela’s estimated US$8 billion PetroCaribe oil subsidy remain largely quiet on their energy options in the event that the continually falling oil price compels the Bolivarian Republic to call a halt to the arrangement, international opinion suggest that it is a question of when rather than if the Maduro administration turns off the tap on the deal.

Vincent Alexander, GECOM Commis-sioner, will be the feature speaker when the Linden Community Forum holds its November Public Consultation today at the LEN Building, Republic Avenue, Linden.

On Monday, in the middle of the afternoon, the vendors trading in the Water Street Arcade were mostly sitting around outside their stalls, talking with one another, all the while, alert to the possibility of an isolated ‘sale.’

One of the issues that have arisen in relation to the highly touted US$5 million Micro and Small Enterprise and Building Alternative Livelihoods for Vulnerable Groups (MSE) project, funded by the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF), is what would appear to be the slow pace of the processing and disbursement of grants to beneficiaries.

A Mahdia pork knocker is now on $125,000 bail after denying a robbery charge.

A Kwakwani youth was remanded to prison after he was slapped with two theft charges yesterday.

Dear Editor,   It appeared that the November ’14-January ’15 rainy season commenced on November 19, arriving with a vengeance as it dumped over 5” of rainfall on Georgetown and much of the low-lying coastland during a 24-hour period, causing widespread flooding and extensive damage to properties.

Even at the best of times, that is to say during periods when there is no excessive rainfall and no flooding, the status of Bourda Market (and other municipal markets) as a facility in which the business of conducting trade in items of food, including perishables, is highly questionable.

Dear Editor, We are blessed in Guyana to have so many radio frequencies, and I, like many others, listen to radio.

Barbados Captain Carlos Braithwaite said he anticipates a “tough match” against Guyana although he is optimistic that his team will prevail when the two sides compete today in round three of the WICB Professional Cricket League (PCL) Regional Four-day match at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

Dear Editor, Progressive Guyanese often criticise like-minded political leaders for failing to do enough to fix our racial problem.

Pugnacious Barbados batsman Dwayne Smith said that his current team is one of the best he has seen and played in over the years and he is optimistic about weighing in with big runs today when Barbados and the undefeated Guyana Jaguars clash in round three of the 2014/15 WICB Professional Cricket League (PCL) Regional Four-day tournament.

In the years since the issue of the trade in counterfeit goods has been on the radar of the local Food and Drugs Analyst Department, we have not been able to learn nearly as much as we ought to about the scale of the problem, the dangers that it poses and the extent to which its proliferation hurts both the manufacturers and the distributors of genuine brands.

(Antigua Observer) St John’s, Antigua – Former West Indies fast bowler, Sir Andy Roberts, has added his voice to renewed debate over whether or not the International Cricket Council (ICC) should outlaw short-pitched deliveries or bouncers.

Dear Editor,   How can we solve the political problems which Guyana faces with the gridlock and citizen dissatisfaction with the political process?

A significant and seemingly sustained increase in demand for dried coconuts was the major feature of exports of Guyana’s non-traditional commodities during 2013, according to information provided to this newspaper by the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC).

Employees of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) may just have returned to work with a meagre 8 per cent salary increase following a period of industrial action, but according to information reaching this newspaper sustained high gold prices over several years had seen the entity raking in healthy sums of money.

Melanie Patriots overcame the Georgetown Knights by a 63-59 score line when the Colts/Phillip George Memorial Basketball tournament continued on Wednesday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Dear Editor, It is my belief that the combined opposition missed an opportunity when it rejected the President’s call for dialogue, which causes me to think that the opposition is not serious about the development of our country or the upliftment of its people.

  Defending National and Georgetown champs Queen Street Tiger Bay maintained their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages, edging Tucville 1-0 when the Guinness Greatest of the Streets Georgetown leg continued on Wednesday.

Dear Editor, Chapter II of the Constitution of Guyana deals with the principles and basis of the political and social system.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado yesterday vowed to fight an expected indictment alleging she was involved in a plot to kill President Nicolas Maduro, calling the charges an attempt to silence critics of the socialist government.

NEW DELHI, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Two Indian teenage girls found hanged in May took their own lives and were not raped or murdered, police investigators told media yesterday, fuelling further criticism of their handling of a case that sparked global outrage.

Occupational Safety and Health Consultant Dale Beresford has told Stabroek Business that the sanitization exercise carried out at Bourda Market ought to have been replicated at other municipal markets affected by last week’s flooding.

PARIS, (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande warned African leaders on Thursday against trying to modify constitutions to stay in power and said they should learn from the forced departure of Burkina Faso’s president Blaise Compaore.

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil’s incoming finance minister Joaquim Levy vowed to cut spending and clean up the country’s finances yesterday, aiming to rebuild trust with investors after years of weak growth and erratic economic policies.

The declining fortunes of the gold industry may be a source of concern for Bartica but that is not to say that as far as enterprise is concerned the community is not weighing its options.

Dear Editor, Prolific left-arm leg spinner Veerasammy Permaul would have been the best choice to replace Leon Johnson as the Guyana Jaguars’ captain.

ABIDJAN, (Reuters) – Ivory Coast has seized two Chinese trawlers accused of fishing illegally offshore the West African country, a senior Ivorian navy source said yesterday.

Chairman of the national selection panel Rayon Griffith is confident about Vishaul Singh’s new role as skipper of the Guyana Jaguars, likening his skills to that of ‘a small axe that can cut down big trees.’

Four years after the Stabroek Business reported on the introduction of the Coffee Bean café & Eatery, its proprietrix Narvini Dewnath is full of satisfaction with the strides the facility has made and highly optimistic about its future.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Embattled President Enrique Pena Nieto yesterday proposed simplifying Mexico’s chaotic police structure and a new law to stop collusion between officials and gangs as he tried to defuse anger over the apparent massacre of 43 students in September.

Again, I leave the reasons for and consequences of the Prorogation; the visible manifestations of unprofessional ineptitude with respect to vital infrastructure and the issue of how our young ladies dress to the more knowledgeable, the more “analytical”.

Dear Editor, Having much regard for the efforts of the late David de Caires, a Guyanese lawyer and the founder of Stabroek News in fighting for press freedom and democracy in Guyana, it is a sad day when on November 27, the cowardly editors of Stabroek News, more aware than many of Guyana’s embattled state against efforts to subvert that very democracy, think it appropriate to run a picture on its front page, promoting the fallacy of the PPP’s legitimacy in office.

Online regional news agency Caribbean News Now posted an interesting item on November 26.

Today, 483 men and women from the Government Technical Institute (GTI) graduated from the institution having completed two years of technical training in different areas.