Daily Archive: Wednesday, December 16, 2015

The Critchlow Labour College (CLC) yesterday held its 40th convocation in the auditorium of the college.

The United Nations (UN), Human Development Report 2014 ranked Guyana as a medium human development country, with a human development Index of 0.636, and a position of 124 out of 188 countries and territories, GINA said today.

In keeping with the season of giving and sharing, the residents of the Amerindian hostel were today served with lunch, compliments of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs. 

The Ministry of Social Protection today held a staff conference to assess the challenges and successes the Ministry encountered during the year 2015.

The Salvation Army today kicked off the season by distributing food hampers to the elderly.

President David Granger administered the Oath of Office to Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards who was earlier today sworn-in as Chief Justice (Ag), in a ceremony at the Ministry of the Presidency, a release from the Ministry of the Presidency said.

At about 2200h last night, the police say that a mini-bus driven by Jermain Brown, 38 years, of Sparendaam, ECD, was stopped by a man along the Railway Embankment at Liliendaal, ECD.

(Trinidad Guardian) Another person has died after contracting the H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as swine flu.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo is expected to move a motion in the National Assembly to suspend the Standing Orders to allow three bills to be laid, debated, and passed at tomorrow’s sitting of the House in what the PPP/C has branded a flagrant violation of parliamentary democracy.

Banks DIH Limited says its recent sale of shares in Barbados beverage conglomerate Banks Holdings Limited (BHL) was both “financially and commercially advantageous” and will increase shareholder value.

The basis for the selection of the Marriott Hotel builder is unclear with government’s holding company NICIL refusing to provide information on the second-ranked bidder and it had also ruled out at least one reputable firm and given low marks to another, according to the forensic audit into the project.

The University of Guyana (UG) is one of nine winners of an innovation fund grant under US President Barack Obama’s signature education initiative ‘100,000 Strong in the Americas.’

President David Granger says that there needs to be another retreat to discuss the findings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the sugar industry after the first one was not attended by “several important ministers” due to overseas travel.

As the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) continues to tout the positive impact of its campaign to create a ‘Clean and Green City,’ workers contracted to do the cleaning are complaining that they are not seeing the “green” they have worked for.

One of the boats in Saturday’s fatal crash in the Mazaruni River may not have had any lights.

Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Public Service Department Reginald Brotherson says that while he inherited a broken ministry, he intends to create a sector committed to higher standards.

Barnwell North on the East Bank of Demerara is to receive potable water for the first time in 15 years, according to a release yesterday from Guyana Water Inc (GWI).

First Lady Sandra Granger, in collaboration with the ‘Rethink’ Organisation, the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Caribbean Airlines, yesterday, presented over 1500 pairs of shoes to students from the hinterland regions, who are currently studying in Georgetown.

Walter Gobin has once again won first place in the national drawing competition.

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has officially released the conceptual design of the FIFA Goal Project at the Providence Community Centre ground.

President David Granger yesterday announced a contribution of $1 million dollars to the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Fallen Heroes Foundation and another $1 million to the Force’s Scholarship Fund.

The partially decomposed body of a fisherman was found near the base of a mango tree at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara, on Monday afternoon, when a child went to pick fruit from the tree.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC-Cricket legend Michael Holding has blasted the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) as “dysfunctional” and “untrustworthy” and cautioned that the game is in danger of further deterioration if changes are not made.

A man was yesterday fined $10,000 after he admitted to using abusive language to a woman.

The second annual Stag Beer Super XVI knockout football championship will officially kick off today with a doubleheader at the Leonora Sports Facility, West Demerara.

In Saturday’s edition of Stabroek News in the news item under the heading `Charge against Jagdeo over Babu John statements fizzles’ the following quote was incorrectly attributed to Justice Navindra Singh whereas he was referring to the argument of counsel for the applicant, former President Bharrat Jagdeo.

An inspection of the Drop-In Centre on Hadfield Street has contradicted the concerns raised by a volunteer about the conditions of the centre.

Gold miners in and around the district of Mahdia in Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) are pleading with Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman to visit the region as they say they have myriad issues of concern to discuss.

Residents of the Essequibo Coast are relieved that their flooding woes could soon be over now that the construction of a pump station at Lima Village has finally been completed.

SDYNEY, Australia, CMC-West Indies allrounder Andre Russell has defended his status as a T20 gun for hire, saying he should not be denied the right to secure financial gains from the game.

A Better Hope carpenter was yesterday denied bail after making an appearance before a city court for unlawful possession of a pistol and ammunition, which police say he admitted were his.

MIRPUR, Bangladesh, CMC-West Indies all-rounder Kevon Cooper missed a hat trick in a bowling spell that disrupted Comilla Victorians  run chase but did not stop them from pulling-off a tense three wicket win over Barisal Bulls in the finals of the Bangladesh Premier League here yesterday.

Residents of several homes for children and the elderly in Georgetown experienced the joy of Christmas when over 150 Scotiabankers and their families went carolling through the city streets last Friday evening, a release from the bank said.

A boat builder was yesterday charged with stealing $800,000 in parts, which he claimed had been given to him.

MELBOURNE, Australia, CMC-Cricket super star Chris Gayle has been quoted in Australia as saying one of his goals for the New Year is to resume his playing career with the West Indies Test team barring further injury.

A South Road man, charged with fraudulent conversion, was yesterday remanded to prison after an attempt to mislead the court upset his chances of having the matter settled amicably.

Johnathan Foo cracked a breezy century for Upper Corentyne/Canje who hammered West Berbice by 99 runs at the Port Mourant Cricket Club Ground (PMCC) as the CGI/Local Franchise League (LFL) continued yesterday.

Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Technical Director Claude Bolton said he is enthusiastic about the national team’s chances at the impending CFU Futsal Championship following the conclusion of a three-day trial staged at the National Gymnasium.

The management of Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL) has agreed to immediately rectify several breaches of the labour laws that were exposed during an on-site visit to its Mabura operations by a team from the Labour Department last Thursday.

Dear Editor, What logic informed the one-off payment to only currently serving public servants?

Dear Editor, Ralph Ramkarran’s column, based on a longer article by Kamal Ramkarran, on the “long-lost swizzle” brought back vivid memories of my own experiences of that remarkable and potent concoction.

The Guyana Foundation, as part of its ongoing programme to tackle the issues of mental health stigma, domestic violence and suicide prevention, recently hosted a series of workshops, training sessions and community outreaches on the Essequibo Coast and Georgetown.

A New York jury has convicted a Brooklyn woman in the death and dismemberment of a Guyanese woman whose body parts were found on Long Island, New York.

Spinner Raj Nannan ripped through a hapless East Bank side yesterday as Georgetown romped to an easy eight-wicket win at the Wales Community Center Ground when the CGI/Local Franchise League (LFL) continued yesterday.

Dear Editor, With the embarrassing defeat at Hobart Oval last week in the first Test (in two and a half days) and the disastrous performance in the warm-up match that preceded it, is it not time for the selectors of that squad to be questioned about their experiment of choosing youth over experience ‒ the so called Clive Lloyd model?

During Friday, the police say that a female Detective Constable was in a mini-bus on the Corentyne, Berbice, during which she got the scent of cannabis sativa (marijuana) in the vehicle.

A Guyana Under-19 side yesterday produced a sterling all-round performance to beat the touring Trinidad & Tobago Academy U19 team by 41 runs at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Ground, Bourda.

Dear Editor, May I take this opportunity to congratulate and welcome Madame Justice Cummings-Edwards on her recent appointment as Chief Justice (ag).

Kevin Harris was yesterday sentenced to two years in jail after he admitted to stealing a phone in a violent attack on a man, whom he claimed owed him money.

Chesney, Sunday, defeated Kendall’s Union B to emerge winners of Zone One of the 2015 New Building Society (NBS) Second Division cricket competition in Berbice.

As the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) works to finalise a coastal engineering design manual in collaboration with the European Union (EU); it recently hosted a two-day workshop to train MPI staff across different agencies.

Some 16 participants drawn from Georgetown, Essequibo, Linden, Berbice, East Coast and East Bank Demerara successfully participated in a one-day Table tennis umpiring workshop held at the National Gymnasium last Saturday.

Dear Editor,   The change is Georgetown seems to have had little effect in several areas.

WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors are preparing to unveil drug trafficking charges against the head of Venezuela’s National Guard, according to people familiar with the case, as the United States investigates the suspected involvement of senior Venezuelan officials in the cocaine trade.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Los Angeles shut more than 1,000 public schools yesterday over a threatened attack with bombs and assault rifles, sending hundreds of thousands of students home as city leaders were criticized for overreacting to what authorities later said was apparently a hoax.

A match-winning innings of 49 from Keon Sinclair enabled defending champions Courtland All Stars defeat Big Star of Ulverston to reach the semi-finals of the 2015 Raffik & Sons Construction Service Second Division T20 cricket competition for teams in the Lower and Central Corentyne area.

(Trinidad Express) Liquid cocaine has again been found in orange juice containers shipped from Trinidad and Tobago, and headed to a destination in North America.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s ruling Socialists inaugurated a grassroots assembly yesterday in the same building as the national legislature in a further effort to minimize impact of an opposition election win that has shaken the government.

Dear Editor,   The current administration’s decision to move ahead with the construction of the Specialty Hospital at Turkeyen has attracted much criticism, most notably from the political opposition.

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazilian police searched the home of lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha yesterday as part of a series of anti-graft raids against senior political figures, dealing a blow to the man who opened President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment proceedings.

Street football team Sparta Boss was yesterday officially presented with the prize for winning the Guinness of the Streets Georgetown Championship at a simple presentation ceremony in the Banks DIH Limited boardroom, Thirst Park.

(Trinidad Express) The burnt bodies of a man and woman were discovered inside a vehicle parked roadside near Woodford Lodge, Chaguanas, on Monday night.

Politikles

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) which concluded last Saturday 12th December in Paris succeeded in delivering a universal framework agreement that concretises the direction of the climate change discourse and more importantly affirms the scope of the problem and the directions in which solutions should be sought.

Dear Editor, Since a month has not elapsed following Team Integrity’s victory at the GFF’s electoral congress, it may be a bit harsh to judge the Guyana Football Federation’s President.

As has been widely reported, on last Wednesday, December 9, the electorate in St Vincent & the Grenadines made the identical choice to that which they made five years ago, and indeed since 2001, as they returned Dr Ralph Gonsalves and his Unity Labour Party (ULP) to office with eight of the fifteen electoral seats in the House of Assembly.

First Lady, Sandra Granger, in collaboration with the ‘Rethink’ Organisation, the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Caribbean Airlines, yesterday presented over 1500 pairs of shoes to students from the hinterland regions, who are currently studying in Georgetown, a release from the Ministry of the Presidency said.

Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman (second from left) pays keen attention as the Captain of the Fugro Americas explains the vessel’s capabilities.