Daily Archive: Friday, August 26, 2016

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida,  CMC -Newly appointed captain Carlos Brathwaite leads a powerful West Indies team against India in two T20 Internationals in South Florida this weekend.

(Ministry of Public Telecommunications) A team led by Public Telecommunications Minister, Cathy Hughes, is on the way to China for talks with the principals of Huawei Technologies Co.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon (left), this morning welcomed newly installed United States Deputy Chief of Mission in Guyana, Terry Steers-Gonzalez (centre), during his first official meeting at the Ministry of the Presidency.

Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton (left) facing the media at Parliament today over the controversial contract for a bond to store drugs.

Embattled Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton this morning pleaded with the public to give him another chance to “do better” as he apologised for giving false information to the National Assembly on the controversial Charlestown pharmaceutical bond and promised that he would conduct more “due diligence” in the future.

HARARE, (Reuters) – Zimbabwean police today fired tear gas at opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and former vice president Joice Mujuru as a protest rally against President Robert Mugabe descended into violence, a Reuters witness said.

-Jagdeo says deal must be cancelled   Public Health Minister Dr George Norton has presented Parliament with the contract for the controversial Charlestown drug bond but without signatures and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo last evening said nothing short of a revocation of the deal would suffice.

Terani Goolsarran, the man who is accused of killing 14-year-old Akeem Grimmond, was yesterday charged with the crime and remanded to prison.

The police on the Essequibo Coast are conducting investigations into the death of a Better Success rice farmer, who was reportedly killed by his sister in an act of self defence.

A welder is now dead after a gas tank he was welding next to exploded.

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo has denied a statement in a USAID report that the APNU+AFC coalition government had proposed a unity government that was rejected by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

After the discovery of the body of fisherman Levan Chanderpaul, who was beaten and chopped, a suspect, who had previously threatened him, is among the persons who have been detained by police.

Although she found her 19-year-old son hanging in her house, a woman is not convinced that he killed himself and she wants answers from the police.

The family of Jerome Singh who was fatally struck down on the Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara public road say they are still awaiting for justice to be served.

While the Mayor and City Council has made no apparent effort to implement central government’s recommendations in relation to the contentious parking meter contract, its partner, Smart City Solutions (SCS) has begun recruiting staff.

Workers of the Russian-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) will now have tax exemptions on their overtime, according to Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence.

Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence has urged Indigenous leaders to be more proactive in tackling the social ills that affect their communities and specifically Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and sexual abuse.

Officials of the RUSAL-run Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) were yesterday accused of hiring employees on a contractual basis in order to deny the country of funds usually paid under the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) schemes.

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) is moving to have all its documents on contracts and other business stored in one place and it advertised on Wednesday for bidders to construct a $104M centre.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida,  CMC – The contentious Memorandum of Understanding and Collective Bargaining Agreement, was among the topics thrashed out at a players symposium staged here Wednesday by the West Indies Cricket Board.

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has said that it finds “absurd” that the government’s proposed differentiated wage increases is its “final offer” as allowances and de-bunching are still unaddressed.

Plaisance Guardians secured a controversial walkover win against Bounty Colts after the latter opted not to take the field in their u23 affair of the Turbo Hard-Court Championship on Wednesday at the Plaisance Community Court.

The fortunes of more than 100 nomadic porkknockers may be about to change in the wake of a key decision made earlier this week at a hastily convened meeting at the Brickdam offices of the Ministry of Natural Resources to have pieces of prospecting equipment seized from them by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) restored.

LAUDERHILL, Fort Lauderdale,  CMC – Head coach Phil Simmons says West Indies will be bracing for a backlash from India stemming from their triumph in the Twenty World Cup earlier this year but expects his proven unit of T20 stars to execute when the two-match series bowls off over the weekend here.

Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Konyo Sandiford-Thompson yesterday closed her case against Barry Dataram and three others accused of trafficking 284 pounds of cocaine that were found at his Diamond Housing Scheme residence.

A Kitty woman was yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with possession of cocaine.

(Reuters) – England’s five-week tour of Bangladesh will proceed as planned starting in late September, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced yesterday after conducting a risk assessment.

Two weeks after a chance encounter between President David Granger and Secretary of the Guyana Scrap Metal Recyclers Association (GSMRA)  Michael Benjamin appeared to pave the way for the restoration of the scrap metal trade earlier than the tentative November 30 date given by government, Stabroek Business has learnt that there has, after all, been no change in the road map for the restoration of the trade and that its likely November resumption date remains unchanged.

The behaviour of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) would appear to be drifting from the erratic to the bizarre.

Use of local resources in the extraction of oil was emphasised on Tuesday by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) in a meeting with EEPGL, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil which found a huge hydrocarbon deposit offshore last year.

Guyana has so far secured five silver medals alongside one bronze medal at the 2016 Caribbean Pre-Cadet Table Tennis Championships at the National Arena in Kingston, Jamaica.

Eagles United claimed their second win in the Upper Demerara Football Association’s (UDFA) NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour National u17 league, edging Netrockers 3-2 on Wednesday at the Wisburg Secondary School ground.

Business Cartoon

After being shot several times about her body while she was in the front seat of her friend’s car, Gailann Chacon is currently in a stable condition and recovering.

The prosecution yesterday closed its case in the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the charge against Regan Rodrigues, the man accused of murdering political activist Courtney Crum-Ewing.

BERNE, Switzerland, (Reuters) – Elaine Thompson underlined her new status as the sprint queen of athletics by winning the 100 metres at a Diamond League meeting in Lausanne yesterday.

By Karen Abrams, MBA IT & Small Business Consultant United States agriculture is estimated to be a nearly $400 billion industry.

Dear Editor,   It now comes as no surprise that Guyana’s economy is stagnant or has been experiencing no significant growth.

The pilot of a Roraima Airways aircraft on Wednesday aborted a takeoff from the airstrip at Eteringbang, in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region, due to a storm and the poor condition of the strip.

Last Tuesday, not for the first time, a group of women from parts of Region Ten including Linden and areas of the Berbice River, sought to bring air their grievances through this newspaper.

Dear Editor, Sydney Allicock should resign or be replaced as the Minister responsible for Indigenous peoples.

LONDON, CMC – English County Worcestershire has snapped up West Indies fast bowler Miguel Cummins for the remainder of their campaign.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates,  CMC – West Indies can clinch second spot in the International Cricket Council’s official Twenty20 rankings, once they can make a clean sweep of their two-match series against India starting tomorrow.

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) yesterday announced that as one of the measures to protect the State’s revenue, all importers of steel and steel products will now be required to submit Mill Test certificates from the manufacturer of the product along with their customs declarations.

(Jamaica Observer) – GraceKennedy group whose subsidiary GraceKennedy Money Services (GKMS) operates branches of Western Union in the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands is seeking an individual familiar with Cayman law to fill the role of Money Laundering reporting officer.

Dear Editor, Reference is made to an article published on Friday August 19, 2016 on the online media site, Citizens Report Guyana, under the headline, ‘Region One residents claim PNC’s political gains behind delayed operation of MV Northcote’.

(Jamaica Gleaner) – Jammin Java Corp will seek to sell the coffee company if its countersuit against former chairman Rohan Marley and push to regain licensing control of the Marley Coffee name fail.

Dear Editor, I have been trying for the past month to get in touch with the Guyana Student Loan office but to this day I have not succeeded. 

(Jamaica Gleaner) KINGSTON, Jamaica – Digicel yesterday announced a lifetime partnership with Usain Bolt while declaring the sprint legend its Chief Speed Officer (CSO).

As Guyana’s gold mining industry assumes an increasingly prominent role in the growth and development of the country’s economy, government continues to seek ways of accessing knowledge and technology available through participation in international fora.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC- Frustrated West Indies head coach Phil Simmons says he has not been successful in getting a number of new measures implemented to help improve the performance of the regional squad.

Dear Editor,   I think the Hindu public needs to be informed of the reasons for the differences in dates on the Hindu calendar, more especially, why the dates on Dharmic Sabha’s calendar are exactly one day after the dates on the calendars of all other Hindu organizations.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan will quit international cricket after the ongoing limited overs series against Australia, the swashbuckling opener announced yesterday.

Just how high a price Caribbean manufacturers and distributors can pay for being either unmindful or indifferent to United States food safety regulations affecting imports into the country is currently being felt by the world-famous Jamaican food distributor Grace products, among others, after several brands of curry powder including Blue Mountain, Jamaica Choice, Ocho Rios, Oriental and Grace Brand were removed from supermarket shelves in the wake of a turmeric recall issued by the New York State Health Department for possible lead contamination.

Dear Editor, Former President Bharrat Jagdeo, now Opposition Leader will be the guest speaker next month at the Eric Williams Memorial Lecture.

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil’s Senate began the trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff yesterday after a lengthy impeachment process that has paralyzed the politics of Latin America’s largest nation and is expected to culminate in her removal from office next week.

At the ready: Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Services, President David Granger yesterday morning congratulated the troops of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) who participated in the week-long Field Tactical Exercise ‘HOMEGUARD’.

PORT-AU-PRINCE,  (Reuters) – Haiti’s long-delayed presidential vote must take place on Oct.

Stock market updates                      GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone

Dear Editor,   I refer to the caption ‘Magistrate adjourns matter without allowing witness to sign deposition’ on the front page of the Kaieteur News of Saturday, August 20 and also at page 3 of that date’s issue.

NAIROBI,  (Reuters) – Kenya has disbanded its National Olympics Committee (NOC-K) because of the poor handling of the east African country’s team during the Rio Olympics, sports minister Hassan Wario said yesterday.

(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says the Government is doing all in its power to curb crime.

Dear Editor, We are still in our Jubilee year, so how belated could I be in adding my two-bits?

(Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera has been fined 15 percent of his match fee and Australian Mitchell Starc was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for their behaviour during the second one-day international in Colombo.

(Prepared by the Guyana Marketing Corporation and published by Stabroek Business as a public service)                              *Prices only represent the average Wholesale Farmgate and Retail Prices at the above mentioned markets and are NOT prices set by the Guyana Marketing Corporation or Ministry of Agriculture.

LA PAZ,  (Reuters) – Bolivian Deputy Interior Minister Rodolfo Illanes was beaten to death by striking mineworkers after being kidnapped, local media reported yesterday, citing a radio station director who said he saw his body.

 (Trinidad Express) There have been at least 420 homicides since the Peoples National Move-ment (PNM) won the general election eleven months ago.

Two weeks ago, Doris Lewis came out of retirement briefly to keep a promise she had made to talk with the Stabroek Business about 25 years of the family’s proprietorship of the Gift Centre, a store that has been the backbone of a broader reputation which the family has for entrepreneurship.

‘Vigilante justice’ is defined as the ‘extrajudicial punishment’ of an individual and is usually driven by the absence of functioning system of law and order, or general dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the justice system by the populace.

Dear Editor, The continuing and increasing incidence of human resource management practitioners including at the bottom of their vacancy advertisements statements like, “only short-listed applicants will be acknowledged” or words to that effect, risk undermining the very purpose of advertising vacancies.

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – A ban on Russia’s Paralympic team competing in Rio next month is cynical and immoral, President Vladimir Putin said yesterday, but he said that Moscow acknowledged mistakes it had made in tackling sports doping.

Politikles

WELLINGTON/SYDNEY,  (Reuters) – A New Zealand pizza chain aims to become the world’s first company to offer a commercial drone delivery service, a milestone in the once-unthinkable quest to save time and money with an air-borne supply chain dispensing with people.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – A Chinese-Mexican businessman accused of drug trafficking could be handed over by U.S.

A powerfully-worded letter by Mr Clairmonte Lye in this past Sunday Stabroek (Aug 21, 2016) motivated my short lead-piece today.