Daily Archive: Friday, October 23, 2015

Guyana, through Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, on 20th October, attended a Meeting of the International Country Risk Group (ICRG) at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Conference Centre in Paris, France for the presentation of the report on the enactment of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Act 2015, GINA said.

The Ministry of Communities is now awaiting word from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), for the holding of Local Government Elections (LGE) now that all the administrative orders are in place.

Works have commenced on the widening of the West Coast Demerara road from Vreed-en-Hoop to Hydronie which is a project between the Government and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) valued at US$46.8M, GINA said.

Beverley Drake of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board spoke on the role of aircraft accident and incident investigations in enhancing aviation safety at the recently concluded aviation conference held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, a release from the US Embassy said today.

The Director and members of the Transparency Institute of Guyana Incorporated, met with the President David Granger today and discussed means of collaboration, to tackle any incidence of corruption, within state agencies.

First Lady Sandra Granger, has issued a call for those responsible for statutory rape to be pursued and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The Guyana Elections Commission today said that it was in full election mode following the issuing of required orders by the Ministry of Communities.

The Guyana Police Force is notifying the General Public of the circulation of a number of forged firearm approvals.

Samuel Hinds Jr. was today placed on $50,000 bail pending the appeal of the two-month sentence handed down by Magistrate Annette Singh for the charge of wounding his sister-in-law.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Had you seen Bob Dylan reinventing popular music on the stage of London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1966, you would never have believed that nearly 50 years later he would be treading the same boards and crooning the songs of Frank Sinatra.

At approximately 2030h yesterday, the police say that five men, one of whom was armed with a handgun and the others with cutlasses entered the home of Andy Sookram, 54 years of 82 Samaroo Dam, Pouderoyen, EBD, and tied up himself and occupants Andrew Sookram, 18 years and Esardai Sookram, 47 years.

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico, (Reuters) – Hurricane Patricia strengthened into a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm as it churned toward Mexico’s Pacific coast, having grown at an “incredible rate” in the past 12 hours, the World Meteorological Organization said today.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Fast bowler Dhammika Prasad picked up four wickets as hosts Sri Lanka bundled out West Indies for 163 to take a first-innings lead on the second day of the second and final test at the P Sara Oval today.

The much anticipated report by the Commission of Inquiry into the sugar industry advocates privatisation and bringing the estates into good working order and no recommendation was made to close any of the estates, sources with knowledge of it say.

The former PPP/C government spent $45.3 million for medical treatment for seven government officials last year, according to the 2014 Auditor-General’s report which was laid in the National Assembly yesterday.

Audits into the finances of the Transport and Habours Department (T&HD) for the period 2003 to 2007 have revealed that more than $1B cannot be accounted for and according to Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson he has been receiving different explanations.

Venezuela recently objected to the operation of Guyana Goldfields Inc’s Aurora Gold Mine, which President David Granger yesterday characterised as part of Caracas’ continuing efforts to hinder the development of Essequibo.

-NGPC provided $233m worth without required shelf life Non-delivery of supplies continues to be a major problem in government procurement with almost a billion dollars of mainly drugs not being delivered even though the suppliers were paid, according to the Auditor-General’s (AG) report for 2014.

Prominent citizen Yesu Persaud has written Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan saying that the date for the Hindu festival of Diwali should be November 11th and not the day earlier which has already been announced as a public holiday.

A man was yesterday found guilty of raping an 11-year-old girl but his sentencing has been deferred to facilitate the presentation of a probation report.

The National Gallery of Art was yesterday the recipient of a renewed commitment of sponsorship, for the National Biannual Drawing Competition,

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday vowed that the PPP/C will continue to challenge the contentious ministerial salary hikes, after its attempt to table a parliamentary motion for a reversal of the increases hit a snag.

A Haslington handyman, said to be a drug user, was yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with attempted murder and armed robbery.

The Attorney General’s Chambers has been ordered to file an affidavit in answer to the challenge to the sales of plots at Pradoville 1 and Pradoville 2.

Concerned citizens yesterday continued to protest against the recent salary increases for government ministers, which they say send the wrong message to the country’s poor.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC – Debutant left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican says words of advice from legendary former all-rounder Sir Garry Sobers inspired him on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka yesterday.

Despite questions by the opposition PPP/C in parliament yesterday, the government provided no information on spending for the inauguration of President David Granger on May 26 at the Guyana National Stadium.

After completing their final year internships in Guyana and graduating in August, 92 Cuba-trained doctors are still waiting on their jobs.

Lloyd Sadloo and Howard Rambharose, the two men who were intercepted on Tuesday after a car chase with almost 1.5 kg of cannabis, were yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with drug possession.

Employees have lodged complaints with the Department of Labour against the Princess Hotel.

Apart from the $5.4 billion paid to farmers and millers to cover the costs for white rice and paddy shipped to Venezuela, government has not provided any additional support to the industry, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan has told the National Assembly.

A fire yesterday ravaged a two-storey building at Castello Housing Scheme, leaving millions in damage and displacing a family of four in its wake.

League leaders Pele FC handed Alpha United their first defeat in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League, crushing their fierce rivals by a 3-0 score line on Wednesday at the Camp Ayanganna ground.

A fire at the United Nations (UN) offices on Brickdam, suspected to have been of electrical origin, was quickly contained by employees yesterday.

Following a Management Committee meeting yesterday, it was confirmed that the National Schools’ Championships will be staged from November 23-27 at the National Stadium and the National Aquatic Centre.

The Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE) Development and Building Alternative Livelihoods for Vulnerable Groups project, the first to be administered under the institutional framework created by the Small Business Act of 2004 has had to significantly reduce its originally set job-creation targets under its Credit Guarantee and Interest Payment Support Facility as well as its Low Carbon Grant Scheme designed to assist beneficiaries with seed capital to start up or expand their businesses.

The boxers competing in tomorrow’s Next Generation Boxing: The Giftland Showcase card have been putting in work in and out the gym.

Minister of Finance Winston Jordan yesterday said that the $3.8 billion provided to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) prior to the passage of Budget 2015 came from the Consolidated Fund.

When the GTM Health and Fitness Expo is staged this weekend at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Courts Guyana Inc.

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, Dr Steve Surujbally will head the Caricom Election Observation Mission to Haiti’s October 25th presidential and legislative elections.

Plaisance Guardians secured the biggest upset to date in the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) League Championship, downing number one seed Ravens 51-45  in their Open Divisional fixture on Wednesday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The jury still appears to be out on last week’s official announcement that as of January 1 next year the Government of Guyana will bring into effect a full-fledged ban on the importation of Styrofoam.

The announcement by the Government Analyst Food & Drugs Department earlier this week about a particular brand of milk that the information on the label does not accurately communicate to the consumer the contents of the product and some possible health issues may well have passed unnoticed amongst a sizeable section of the consuming public.

A blistering 133 from Javid Karim saw Rosignol Secondary trouncing Belladrum Secondary by 116 runs at the De Edward ground in the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) inaugural National Secondary School Cricket League (NSSCL) sponsored by Banks DIH’s Coco Cola and Rainforest Water, along with Digicel.

Slingerz FC got their Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League back on the right track, dismantling Georgetown Football Club (GFC) by a 5-0 score line on Wednesday at the Camp Ayanganna ground.

Even as Georgetown begins to assume a greater sense of tidiness under an aggressive, state-supported cleanup campaign, City Hall is reporting challenges associated with citizens who are evincing a resistance to attempts to restore the capital to its former glory.

Labour violations in the country’s mining sector will come increasingly under the scrutiny of the Ministry of Social Protection as a release issued by the ministry earlier this week puts employers “on notice” that government intends to ensure that labour laws are enforced and workers’ rights respected.

Dear Editor, The recently launched ‘name and shame’ anti-littering campaign by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has been praised by some and condemned by some.

Dear Editor, As an advocate for solidarity, I would like to call on the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro not to continue the embargo on rice farmers in Guyana as both countries are supporting a mutual friend in the form of Cuba to end the US embargo that has promoted underdevelopment to the citizens and Cuba as a whole.

From the ashes: Just a few weeks ago this Camp and Robb streets construction site was a pile of rubble, the outcome of a devastating conflagration that levelled several businesses.

Adhering, it seems, to the principle that differences between nations ought not to serve as a hindrance to the consolidation of bilateral relations in areas where such progress is manifestly possible, parliamentary delegation from Guyana and Suriname last week issued a statement indicating that they had met and covered a considerable amount of ground in the areas of health, the environment, piracy at sea, trafficking in persons and the strengthening of bilateral contacts at the level of the National Assembly.

As several vendors trading on the municipal wharf aback of the Stabroek Market continue to do so in the shadow of imminent danger, City Hall still has no clear idea as to when promised rehabilitation work will be done to restore the area rendered unsafe by two separate structural collapses in September last year and again in March this year.

(Reuters) – Virat Kohli struck his first one-day international century since the World Cup in February to lead India to a series-levelling 35-run victory over South Africa in Chennai yesterday.

At the Secondary Schools Home Economics Competition: Judges cast an eye over the dishes prepared by these schoolgirls.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – China’s ruling Communist Party has listed golf and gluttony as violations for the first time as it tightens its rules to stop officials from engaging in corrupt practices, while also turning an even sterner eye on sexual impropriety.

Dear Editor, The Chinese Commu-nist Party, in their ongoing efforts to stamp out corruption, has taken a decision to ban its members from membership of golf clubs or from playing golf.

No going back Stabroek Business has learnt that such hopes as might have been harboured by vendors who once traded in the shadow of the collapsing and now demolished Bedford Methodist School that they might be returned to their original places have now been dashed by news that – perhaps not surprisingly – the spot has been snapped up by a private investor who is planning on the establishment of a fast food facility there.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton passed a tough political test yesterday, calmly deflecting harsh Republican criticism of her handling of the deadly 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, during a testy 11-hour hearing in Congress.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC – Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican snatched four wickets on debut to help inspire a Sri Lanka collapse but West Indies then lost opener Shai Hope to stumble to the close on a sluggish opening day of the pivotal second Test, when 12 wickets tumbled.

Dear Editor, Of all the unfortunate comments I have heard or read about W.I.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Fearing her husband would die waiting for a heart transplant in Miami, Carmen Concepcion started looking for a faster way to save his life, and found the answer in her native Puerto Rico.

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – The speaker of the lower house of Brazil’s Congress said yesterday that manipulating government accounts, the main opposition case for ousting President Dilma Rousseff, was not sufficient grounds to impeach her.

DUBAI, (Reuters) – Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq made an unbeaten century as the resurgent hosts reached 282-4 at close of the opening day of the second test against England in Dubai yesterday.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – The fatal shooting of a Guyana-born New York City police officer on Tuesday has turned a spotlight on a court-mandated drug treatment program that kept the accused killer out of jail as part of a national effort to find alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 638’s trading results showed consideration of $7,791,483 from 296,103 shares traded in 10 transactions as compared to session 637’s trading results, which showed consideration of $1,818,026 from 49,058 shares traded in 13 transactions.

Dear Editor, President Granger is fundamentally wrong on the salary increase.

Sixteen years ago I “approached” a young lady living in a section of West Ruimveldt in the Georgetown Capital.

On October 15, former Venezuelan presidential candidate Manuel Rosales returned home after six years’ exile in Peru and was promptly arrested at the airport.

New look: With the old Bedford Building now demolished,  a fast food structure is to take its place.

Recently disclosed official concerns over possible health implications of use by Guyanese consumers of the product Grace Filled Evaporated Milk may very well extend to several other brands of milk being imported into Guyana, Stabroek Business has been reliably notified.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A former U.N. General Assembly president, a billionaire Macau real estate developer and three others accused by U.S.

SAN SALVADOR, (Reuters) – The United States tried and failed to convince El Salvador to set up an international commission to fight corruption like the one that helped bring down the president of neighboring Guatemala, a Salvadoran government official said.

Kitco is a Canadian company that buys and sells precious metals such as gold, copper and silver.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Australian coach Michael Cheika and his star players have been getting all the attention during the Rugby World Cup but the Wallabies know their chances of winning the tournament are dependent on the depth of their squad and the backroom staff.

Dear Editor, Once again, it has become imperative that I respond to content in the media about myself, having read, the front page headline of the Guyana Chronicle (October 21st) captioned `NCN CEO gets higher pay than ministers –New Board uneasy about performance’.