Daily Archive: Friday, May 29, 2015

During a visit to the Enmore Sugar Estate, East Coast Demerara today, by Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection Simona Broomes, serious health and safety concerns for the workers were raised, GINA said.

President David Granger today announced that he would be re-introducing the National Cadet Corps, GINA said.

Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Venkatachalam Mahalingam today paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.

 Officers currently participating in the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Standard Officers’ Course #48 were today, encouraged to maintain the maxims of loyalty, honesty, trust, honour, courage and discipline, and remain true to the core values of the Force.

The Mexican Embassy today said that it joined the clean-up campaign by tidying up the surroundings of its Brickdam Road building.

The police say that investigations are being conducted into the death of diver Thomas Anton, 64 years, of Kamarang, that occurred at about 1145h.

Former Speaker, Raphael Trotman recently sworn in as the Minister of Governance within the Ministry of the Presidency took up his appointment earlier in the week.

US President Barack Obama today issued a proclamation for National Caribbean-American Heritage Month.

ZURICH, (Reuters) – Sepp Blatter was re-elected president of FIFA for a fifth term on Friday after the only other candidate conceded defeat after a first round of voting in an election overshadowed by allegations of corruption in world soccer.

HAVANA/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States formally dropped Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism today, an important step toward restoring diplomatic ties but one that will have limited effect on removing U.S.

At about 0330h. today, the police say that its ranks responded to a report of a breakage on a city store at Regent Street, Bourda.

GENEVA, (Reuters) – It will probably be a matter of just months before seven senior FIFA officials arrested in Switzerland can be extradited to the United States to face corruption charges, Swiss legal experts said on Friday.

The Guyana Defence Force Flagship, the GDFS Essequibo, has departed with a team for St.

(Trinidad Express) Declaring that the “gloves are off”, Jack Warner said last night he that intends to go after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and reveal all through a tape which he will give to four lawyers.

The Guyana Sugar Cor-poration is requesting a whopping $16b to stay afloat otherwise the state-owned corporation is facing an industry-wide shutdown come Sunday.

A long-serving police officer was yesterday charged with conspiracy to murder businessman Mohamed Khan, whose decapitated corpse was found at Cummings Lodge last year.

In a detailed preliminary statement on the May 11th general elections, the US-based Carter Center said that PPP/C agents failed to produce their copies of Statements of Poll (SoPs) from 21 stations that they were challenging.

Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Zhang Limin met with President David Granger yesterday at the Ministry of the Presidency, following which he said the meeting focused on how bilateral ties between the two countries could be improved.

The PPP is confident that it has enough evidence to successfully put together an elections petition, according to executive member Anil Nandlall, who said yesterday that the failure of the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) to release information that was requested will not deter the party from moving to the courts.

Former Commonwealth Secretary General, Sir Shridath Ramphal offered his assistance to the Guyana Government when he paid a courtesy visit to President David Granger, yesterday at the Office of the Presidency, GINA reported.

ZURICH, (Reuters) – The corruption charges engulfing world soccer’s governing body have heaped shame and humiliation on the game, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said yesterday, although he flatly rejected calls to resign over the widening scandal.

PORT OF SPAIN, (Reuters) – Former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner, who has been accused of soliciting bribes as part of a vast corruption case against senior soccer officials, left jail in Trinidad and Tobago via ambulance yesterday after he was granted bail, according to local media.

A former policewoman will be spending the next year and a half behind bars after she was found guilty of attempting to obtain almost $500,000 by forging the signature of acting Chief Justice Ian Chang.

The third annual Stag Beer-sponsored Slingerz FC West Demerara Independence Cup was officially launched yesterday at the ANSA McAl Boardroom in Beterverwagting on the East Coast of Demerara.

The new APNU+AFC administration is keen on opening a consulate in French Guiana.

A maid was yesterday accused of stealing $5M in cash and jewellery from her employer.

Dear Editor, Congratulations are in order for President David Granger on his election as Guyana’s 8th executive President.

Shomari Wiltshire, Makeda Harding and Lucas Jonas were amongst the winners when the Guyana Squash Association (GSA) Junior National Championships commenced on Wednesday at the Georgetown Club Facility on Camp Street.

Despite the indictments of several high-profile FIFA members at the 65th Congress in Zurich, Switzerland, Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Normalization Committee (NC) Chief Clinton Urling says that elections should go-ahead today and that the entity will be supporting Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan.

Dear Editor, I was horrified when I saw a photograph reprinted from the front page of the Guyana Times of May 27.

Two youths were yesterday remanded to prison after they were charged with robbing two women of cash and valuables as they disembarked the bus in which they were all passengers.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Two brothers who pleaded guilty in the FIFA soccer bribery scandal deposited large sums of cash in a frenzied series of visits to U.S.

Dear Editor, I wish my friend Barrington Braithwaite had found the wisdom of consulting me before he wrote the letter (‘“Culture” should be a separate department…’ SN, May 27).

Head of Delegation of the European Union (EU), Ambassador Robert Kopecký, yesterday met with Guyana’s new Foreign Affairs Minister, Vice President, Carl Greenidge at his office where the two discussed a number of areas of mutual interest.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Australian police may investigate a payment of $500,000 by Football Federation Australia to Jack Warner after the former soccer powerbroker was arrested in a sweeping corruption probe launched by U.S.

Approximately $6M in foreign liquor was stolen from a Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) warehouse and the agency yesterday said surveillance footage implicates members of the security firm guarding the facility.

Dear Editor, The future for sugar can only be determined by the industry itself and not by professional economists or politicians from either side of the spectrum.

(Trinidad Express) The president and the executive of the West Indies Players’ Association on Wednesday responded to the dropping of veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul, expressing its “immense disappointment .”

The trial of Rayon Paddy and Orin Arthur, who were allegedly found with narcotics and arms and ammunition after a raid in Diamond, is set to begin next month.

Dear Editor, I am opposed to any wholesale dismissal of members and supporters of the PPP from the public service.

Dear Editor, I was rescued from human trafficking by the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) in the year 2013.

(Reuters) – Elton Chigumbura’s Pakistan tour came to an abrupt end after the Zimbabwe captain was slapped with a two-match suspension for his team’s slow over-rate in Tuesday’s first One-Day International in Lahore.

Dear Editor, The stalwart contributions of a great man recognized and given the prominence they deserve prompt the writing of this letter as I reminisce on the life and times of the late Burnell ‘Acku’ Thomas, MS.

Minister of Education with responsibility for Sport, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine has described the ‘sacking’ of veteran Guyanese batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul from the West Indies cricket team as ‘distressing’.

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Bermuda national team cricketer Fiqre Crockwell has been fined US$800 after being caught red-handed while trying to throw six wraps of heroin out of a window as police raided his home.

Dear Editor, Please permit me the privilege of offering my congratulations to all of the people who were recipients of National Honours on the 49th commemoration of our status as an independent nation.

CHICAGO, (Reuters) – Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert was indicted yesterday on federal charges, including for lying to the FBI, relating to an alleged effort to hide $3.5 million in payments he was making to a person to conceal past misconduct.

Even as Jamaica prepares for its June 2015 6th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference under the theme ‘Jamaica and the Diaspora: Linking for Growth and Prosperity,’ one of Guyana’s prominent hoteliers and businessmen believes that more closely embracing Guyanese in the diaspora as investors in the country’s economy is a direction which the new Granger administration is likely to take.

LEEDS, England, (Reuters) – Captain Alistair Cook wants his England team to mark the appointment of new coach Trevor Bayliss by completing a series win against New Zealand with victory in the second test starting at Headingley today.

Dear Editor, Before I get to the real substance of this letter, I would like to just let the public understand that with the demise of the PPP leadership, quite a few people have told me about the opportunities I could have if that leadership is challenged.

A Guyanese woman was busted with a quantity of cocaine in handbags concealed in a false compartment of her luggage on Monday at the OR Tambo International Airport, South African Revenue Service (SARS) officials announced in a statement to the media yesterday.

HAVANA, (Reuters) – Brazilian football great Pele will join his former club the New York Cosmos on a goodwill mission to Cuba that will include an exhibition match Tuesday between the Cosmos and the Cuban national team, Cuban officials said.

WASHINGTON, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Corruption is a leading indicator for political instability and 64 countries where fraud and bribery are widespread risk falling into violent upheaval, a global think tank said in a new report.

Dear Editor, Three letters on the presidential inauguration in Stabroek News, Thursday May 27, 2015 piqued my interest.

At a time when the Caribbean’s fashion and creative industries are jousting for position to present their products to what has become a multi-billion dollar international market, Guyanese fashion designer Carol Fraser wants Guyana to focus more attention and investment on the quality of trade fairs and exhibitions by placing a greater measure of human and material resources at the disposal of such events.

Relatives of recent victims have expressed faith in Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton, who has promised to do his utmost to lower Guyana’s rate of maternal deaths and to give timely answers to those families who have lost loved ones via this route or through infant mortality.

A farmer was yesterday remanded to prison after police allegedly found a shotgun along with a live matching round at his home.

PARIS, (Reuters) – The pre-tournament shortlist of favourites for the French Open women’s crown continues to shrink and for a while it looked as though the top name, Serena Williams, would also vanish yesterday.

Dear Editor, The Guyana Times in its Tuesday, May 26, edition in an article captioned ‘APNU/AFC backers Rap Granger’s high handedness’ sought to give readers the impression that I had criticized the new APNU+AFC administration, in comments I made in a letter which was carried in Kaieteur News and Stabroek News on May 23.

Introduction The recent tragic deaths of ten workers resulting from a mine accident in Pepper Creek, Konawaruk has brought to light the intrinsic issues with mining at depths below grade (exceeding 15m).

BANGKOK, (Reuters) – The United States said last night the thousands of migrants adrift in Southeast Asian seas needed urgent rescue, as countries gathered in Bangkok to discuss the regional crisis.

A Brazilian national was yesterday remanded to prison on an attempted murder charge.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Sri Lanka will appoint a panel of public officials to consider whether work should resume on China’s biggest Sri Lankan real estate project, which was suspended nearly three months ago, a cabinet spokesman said yesterday.

(Reuters) – The Chicago Bulls fired Tom Thibodeau as head coach of the National Basketball Association team yesterday, ending a five-year tenure marked by a deteriorating relationship with the front office.

Dear Editor, President Granger has seized major moments to articulate and reiterate his vision of, and commitment to, national unity and inclusionary democracy.

By Michael Spence  MILAN – When World War II ended 70 years ago, much of the world – including industrialized Europe, Japan, and other countries that had been occupied – was left geopolitically riven and burdened by heavy sovereign debt, with many major economies in ruins.

Knights dismissed West Side Warriors 59-41 in a rescheduled Open Divisional affair when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) ‘King of the Hard Court’ Championship continued on Wednesday.

LA PAZ/LIMA, (Reuters) – Bolivia captured a fugitive former adviser to Peru’s president yesterday when he was spotted eating in a public market four days after escaping house arrest.

A fundamental question of any business is where? Where to locate?

Dear Editor, I have just come off the Caribbean Airlines flight BW600 between Timehri and Toronto during which I read the airline’s current magazine titled Caribbean Beat in which there was an inspiring article featuring a speech given by the all-time great visionary, Rev Dr Martin Luther King, some 50 years ago in Jamaica focusing on the Jamaican motto: “Out of many, One people.”

Business Cartoon

Garbage truck stuck

Up until a few years ago Indira Phyneandy might never have imagined that the current focus of her professional life would have been on restoring the fortunes of what was once considered to be one of the city’s most tasteful hotels.

PARIS, (Reuters) – Alberto Contador extended his overall Giro d’Italia lead to over five minutes after a bold attack in the 18th stage, a 170-km trek from Melide, Switzerland, to Verbania won by former world champion Philippe Gilbert yesterday.

During their almost 23 years in office, it was a perennial gripe of the PPP/C administration that they were being criticised for things that had passed without comment during the ‘dark days’ of the PNC, under both Mr Forbes Burnham and Mr Desmond Hoyte.

VALLE DE BRAVO, Mexico, (Reuters) – Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto misrepresented to authorities the circumstances under which he acquired one of his properties, public documents reviewed by Reuters show, a discrepancy that could add to the controversy surrounding his personal finances.

Gold Prices for the three day period ending Thursday May 28, 2015

What should a citizen – young, or matured and experienced – understand about (the concept of) patriotism?

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Fifteen Chinese nationals have been charged with developing a fraud scheme in which they paid imposters to take entrance exams, including the SAT, and gained acceptance to elite American colleges and universities, the U.S.

The goodwill that has been extended to the new political administration by nationals in the diaspora is a corollary to the high level of interest that had been evinced in the elections campaign by Guyanese residing abroad.

Dear Editor, I was astonished to read in an article authored by Henry Jeffery and published in Stabroek News dated May 27, 2015, the following sentence: “Even African vagrants, not usually too concerned about election, were showing off their inked fingers!”

Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin (fourth from right) and Minister of Tourism, Cathy Hughes (second from right) listen as a staffer of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards explained the use of the equipment at the entity yesterday.

Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton (centre) Dr. Celeste Hinds and Representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Elder Kimball Poulson among other members at the handing over of ophthalmology equipment at the Health Ministry’s storage bond, Diamond.