Daily Archive: Friday, December 8, 2017

This year 793 students have graduated from the Government Technical Institute (GTI) certified in several disciplines.

Transparency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI) today said that the government’s deception over the signing bonus from ExxonMobil has come as a shock to anti-corruption advocates.

(Trinidad Guardian) Preliminary investigations into Wednesday’s $5.5 million heist at the Piarco International Airport have revealed employees there may have had support from co-conspirators with military training, police said yesterday.

US oil company ExxonMobil did pay a signing bonus following the new agreement it clinched with the government on June 27, 2016 and why this was kept secret will pile pressure on the Granger administration over its claims to transparency particularly given concerns over accounting for revenue from the petroleum sector.

Permaul grabs 5 for 40 Guyana Jaguars finished the first day of their sixth-round fixture in the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional first-class tournament against the struggling Windwards Islands Volcanoes in a dominant position, after another exceptional bowling performance by left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

HAMILTON, New Zealand, CMC – Assistant coach Roddy Estwick believes Kraigg Brathwaite will acquit himself well, when he takes over as West Indies captain for the second Test against the Black Caps starting here Saturday [tonight Caribbean time] The 25-year-old, the side’s vice-captain for over a year, was forced into the breech after regular skipper Jason Holder was suspended by the International Cricket Council for the upcoming match following an over-rate offence in the just-concluded Wellington Test.

The Guyana Court of Appeal has come in for a reprimand by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for not following instructions given to it more than four years ago to urgently hear motions filed by the Blairmont Rice Investment Inc.

Officials from the Guyana Squash Association (GSA) yesterday, confirmed that the association has organised a ‘playoff’ between national players Nyron Joseph and Jason Ray Khalil to determine who will occupy the final spot on Guyana’s squad to participate in the 2018 Commonwealth Games set for the Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia from April 4 – 15.

“Enmore will suffer. It done. It done deh. It gon’ turn a ghost town,” says Bharrat Ramjit, one of the sugar workers from the Enmore Estate, who will be without a job for the first time in over two decades as GuySuCo has notified 1,100 workers of impending layoffs.

Guyana Jaguars and West Indies ‘A’ fast bowler Keon Joseph has expressed his satisfaction at the manner in which his junior counterparts Keemo Paul and Sherfane Rutherford are progressing.

Dear Editor, The painting or re-painting of State House in green, the colour of APNU, has raised widespread criticism.

A Number 5 Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB) man was yesterday remanded at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court over the murder of Marissa Fraser, 22, a waitress, whose body with multiple stab wounds was discovered in a trench at Number 4 Village (WCB) on Monday morning.

Two police constables were yesterday charged with stealing $500,000 from a gold miner.

Dear Editor, In November 2016 and in January 2017  I wrote about the impending closure of several sugar estates, mentioning that GuySuCo had already stopped the cultivation of canes and maintenance of cane ratoons, not only in Wales, but also at Rose Hall, including Providence, West Canje, Skeldon and Enmore/LBI.

Pacesetters and Half Mile Bulls secured easy victories, when the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) ‘Road to Mecca’ Club Championship, continued on Wednesday, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Homestretch Avenue.

MANCHESTER, England, (Reuters) – England will have a record five teams in the draw for the last-16 of the Champions League but it will take a repeat of their knockout stage dominance from a decade ago for talk of a new era of Premier League success to be justified.

Under criticism for not standing up to its founding principles in the governing coalition or representing its constituencies, the Alliance For Change yesterday expressed deep concern for the welfare of sugar workers.

Dear Editor, The revelations of alleged sexual grooming and abuse by a teacher at one of the nation’s most venerated secondary schools, and possibly other schools spanning the better part of two decades, is a matter of grave concern to the Child Rights Alliance (CRA).

A cane harvester was on Wednesday night fatally struck down along the Anna Catherina Public Road, on the West Coast of Demerara, allegedly by a speeding driver.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – Half-centuries from their captain Shamarh Brooks and rookie left-handed opener Shayne Moseley gave Barbados Pride a strong start in their return match against Leeward Islands Hurricanes in the Regional 4-Day Championship on Thursday.

Dear Editor, As I read the media reports and listen to reactions from various sources on the current budget debates, there is this vast emptiness, this terrible resignation over what is so shamelessly unapologetically exhibited. 

Dear Editor, It has been reported that Guyana’s President David Granger is in Kenya telling people to put people before profits.

Assuring that Guyana’s forest protection deal with the Kingdom of Norway is intact, Minister of State Joseph Harmon announced that government yesterday received approval for US$14,792,277 to be used for a sustainable land development and management project.

KINGSTON, Jamaica,  CMC – John Campbell and Derval Green proved Jamaica Scorpions had little reason for concern at the loss of inspirational captain and champion left-arm spinner Nikita Miller in their return match against Trinidad & Tobago Red Force in the Regional 4-Day Championship on Thursday.

Just a day after new pick-ups were received by ‘B’ Division, a police officer yesterday afternoon crashed one of the vehicles during a bid to overtake a build-up of traffic along the Canefield Public Road.

(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of Wednesday’s National Basketball Association games: Cavaliers 101, Kings 95 LeBron James scored 32 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Sacramento Kings 101-95 on Wednesday to tie a team record for consecutive wins.

Dear Editor, I cannot agree more with the views expressed in your editorial of December 7, 2017 regarding the plight of our pensioners at post offices throughout the country.

The efforts of the Ministry of Natural Resources attended by external support notwithstanding, the Government of Guyana still considers the phenomenon of gold smuggling to be seriously injurious to the country’s economy and in his recent 2018 budget presentation to the National Assembly, Finance Minister Winston Jordan set out the APNU+AFC administration’s proposals for helping to address this problem.

Dear Editor, The Anna Regina office of the Ministry of Social Protection deserves tremendous praise for the  relief that was felt by hundreds of old age pensioners who had turned out at the Amerindian Hostel in Suddie to uplift their books for next year.

aNatural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman has disclosed three key objectives which the Government of Guyana will be pursuing in 2018 to consolidate its capacity to effectively service a modern oil and gas industry including a national oil company which will be charged with responsibility for overseeing the country’s commercial interest in the sector.

LONDON, CMC – Opener Kraigg Brathwaite and seamer Kemar Roach have continued to flourish in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) player rankings, despite West Indies troubles in the recent opening Test against New Zealand.

PPP/C front bencher Priya Manickchand yesterday criticised senior government ministers, saying they have failed to tell the people how the administration will drive a turnaround in an economy that the Finance Minister has said has challenges.

Legitimacy is a word which has been at the centre of many squabbles and legal proceedings in Guyana’s chequered football history.

JERUSALEM/GAZA, (Reuters) – The Islamist group Hamas urged Palestinians yesterday to abandon peace efforts and launch a new uprising against Israel in response to U.S.

PARIS, (Reuters) – Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon d’Or for world player of the year on Thursday for a joint-record fifth time, going level with eternal rival and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi as the player to have won the prize the most times.

Against the backdrop of longstanding concerns over a dire shortage of job opportunities in hinterland communities, government has disclosed plans in the 2018 budgetary proposals for a $200 million investment in the Hinterland Green Enterprise Development Centre at Bina Hill in Region Nine which, according to Finance Minister Winston Jordan, seeks to focus on areas of training “that leverages indigenous and traditional knowledge and drives upstream demand for local products and services.”

A city court yesterday ruled that a prima facie case has been made out against minibus driver Sewkumar Singh, who is charged with causing the death of the 66-year-old cyclist with whom he collided along the Herstelling Public Road in September.

Dear Editor, I refer to Sports Scope: Our Opinion ‘Has the GFF exceeded its mandate?’

Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan yesterday told attempted murder accused Osafo Swain that a prima facie case was made out against him for the crime.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. Democratic Senator Al Franken announced his resignation yesterday after facing a series of sexual misconduct allegations, and Republican Representative Trent Franks also said he was stepping down as he too was hit with ethics charges.

These days, there are unmistakable indications that Mahdia is busying itself preparing to embrace the township status that beckons.

Dear Editor, As I travel across the Essequibo coast, there are so many people living with all sorts of disabilities.

ZURICH/LAS VEGAS, (Reuters) – General Electric Co said yesterday it is axing 12,000 jobs at its global power business, the struggling industrial conglomerate’s latest effort to shrink itself into a more focused company.

HAMILTON, New Zealand, CMC – West Indies head coach Stuart Law has urged his batsmen to convert their solid starts into major scores when they face New Zealand in the second Test match at Seddon Park starting Saturday [tonight Caribbean time].

More than a year after a bill was passed to allow former mayor Hamilton Green to receive pension benefits, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is still funding the security services at his private residence.

(Jamaica Observer) The Jamaica Constabulary Force and its law enforcement counterparts in the United States are now conducting a major investigation following the seizure of more than 100 illegal firearms at the Miami International Airport in Florida.

Five months after the University of Guyana’s School of Entrepreneurship and Business, (SEBI) was launched, Dean of the new institution, Guyanese-born Professor Leyland Lucas has told the Stabroek Business that some of the challenges that repose in ensuring that the institution delivers on its mandate repose in the fact that “it is different.

Dear Editor, The rules prohibiting no balls are designed primarily for the protection or safety, if you will, of batsmen.

Dear Editor, With respect to Rashleigh E Jackson’s letter captioned ‘An appeal to both sides of the National Assembly’ (SN, November 13), it is unreasonable of Mr Jackson to encourage Guyanese to respect President Granger given that he is a strongman politician who abuses his power.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The regulating of political parties and monitoring of their campaign financing activities should start next year.

BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) – A federal judge in Argentina indicted former President Cristina Fernandez for treason and asked for her arrest for allegedly covering up Iran’s possible role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people, a court ruling said.

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Elite League will resume today with a doubleheader at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground, Linden.

Introduction This Column touched earlier on what the Model Petroleum Contract describes as a Stability Clause, the objective of which is to provide assurance to international oil companies that they will be protected from any variation in fiscal or economic policies by governments for a period of as much as thirty years.

Early in 2016, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman raised eyebrows in the country when he declared that the amount of gold being smuggled out of Guyana amounted to around 15,000 ounces weekly.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 750’s trading results showed consideration of $166,994,000 from 4,550,110 shares traded in 5 transactions as compared to session 749’s trading results which showed consideration of $125,617,908 from 3,516,258 shares traded in 10 transactions. 

Dear Editor, I believe my conscience will be disturbed if I do not thank this government for the increase of $500 on my senior  citizen’s  pension.

(Trinidad Guardian) Police are questioning seven people in relation to a multi-million dollar robbery at the Piarco International Airport yesterday morning.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Crisis-stricken Venezuela’s inflation rate reached quadruple digits for the first time, according to figures released by the opposition-led Congress, which show consumer prices rising by 1,369 percent between January and November.

(Prepared by the Guyana Marketing Corporation and published by Stabroek Business as a public service)

The Deaf Association of Guyana (DAG) recently held it second art competition under the theme “Nature Studies-my Green Guyana” showcasing the creative talent of hearing impaired students, a release from the Department of Public Information (DPI) said.

Amidst the continuing distress being felt in the sugar industry, Guyana has still not yet developed any kind of comprehensive agricultural policy and strategy that can see this country making use of its considerable acreage of available arable land suitable for large-scale commercial ventures.

Sexual misconduct: His Excellency is aware With maximum respect to all, I lay claim at being among the first- if not actually the first to describe National Elections 2020 as the Jubilee–Oil Elections.

(Reuters) – Afghanistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad has been banned for 12 months after inadvertently ingesting a prohibited substance, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday.