Daily Archive: Friday, December 29, 2017

With the release of the contract signed with ExxonMobil for works on the Stabroek Block, government today announced that it has written to companies it has contracts with informing them that similar publicity will follow.

JOHANNESBURG,  (Reuters) – South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled today that parliament had failed to hold President Jacob Zuma to account over a scandal related to state-funded upgrades to his home, and must launch proceedings that could remove him from office.

(Trinidad Guardian) Residents of El Carmen, St Helena said they risked their lives to chase an armed bandit after police officers froze in apparent fear after being shot at.

-questions remain More than a year after a new petroleum agreement  was signed with ExxonMobil for works in the offshore Stabroek Block and a US$18M signature bonus received in secret, government yesterday released the contract in a blaze of publicity with both partners saying it was the best in the circumstances.

Although no definite decision has been taken on bringing natural gas on-shore through pipelines, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson says that sometime next month the government will select a site for the proposed pipelines to land.

Part 29  Introduction In keeping with a recent undertaking, the Government of Guyana yesterday released the Petroleum Agreement entered into on its behalf by Mr.

The Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri expansion project is now slated to finish at the end of next year, CEO Ramesh Ghir said yesterday.

An Annandale septuagenarian, who was allegedly burnt by her son on Christmas Day, yesterday succumbed to her injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

The enshrining of the US$18m signing bonus in the 2016 agreement between Guyana and ExxonMobil’s subsidiary was clearly the reason why the government kept the document hidden, according to Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.

The driver allegedly involved in the Bagotstown accident that caused the death of Vincent Scippeo, was yesterday granted $500,000 bail.

The driver who allegedly caused the death of 17-year-old Jhamallie Niles was yesterday placed on $500,000 bail.

A rousing Christmas Eve beach party aback the Marriott Hotel has led the entity to erect signs restricting the use of the area.

As the upheaval in the sugar industry continues, the Skeldon Energy Inc (SEI) has served notice that all existing contracts will be terminated effective December 31, 2017 “in order to consolidate the recruitment of some severed GuySuCo workers and staff”.

The Canawaima Ferry Service, which transports passengers between Guyana and Suriname, will be out of service for nine days in January in order to facilitate extensive repairs, Terminal Manager Deyne Harry announced yesterday.

(ESPN) Dynamic fifties from Colin Munro and Glenn Phillips laid the base, the lower order pitched in, then a sharp New Zealand attack aided by even sharper catching, saw the hosts trounce West Indies for the sixth time on tour last night.

Fruta Conquerors and Grove Hi-Tech will face-off today in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) ‘Super 16 Year-end Classic’ semifinal round, following quarterfinal wins on Wednesday.

A 24-year-old man was yesterday sentenced to two months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing a motor car.

Dear Editor, I have been reading newspaper reports about Kenneth Benjamin being identified to be Chancellor of the Judiciary, and I am bothered about the adverse comments.

Botafogo and Netrockers stormed their way into the semifinal round of the 5th Annual Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA)/GT Beer Football Championship, dismantling Topp XX and Blueberry Hill respectively on Wednesday.    Staged at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground, Linden, Botafogo made light work of home side Topp XX via a 3-0 scoreline.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Communications Network (NCN), Lennox Cornette, who tendered his resignation on Wednesday, has told Stabroek News that he is not aware that the board was dissatisfied with his performance.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand,  CMC – Left-arm spinner Nikita Miller says he is anxious to return to the cut and thrust of the Regional Four-Day Championship, and is hoping his recent international stint with West Indies will serve as personal inspiration for the remaining rounds of the competition.

KABUL,  (Reuters) – Suicide bombers stormed a Shi’ite cultural centre and news agency in the Afghan capital yesterday, killing more than 40 people and wounding scores, many of them students attending a conference.

The Government of Guyana is seeking to hasten the process that will bring into effect a key provision in the Small Business Act of 2004 to enable 20% of state procurement contracts to go to small businesses.

Dear Editor, I have some questions for Mayor Patricia Chase Green for the Year in Review 2017: How many meetings were held by the statutory committees attached to the M&CC?

The Legal Practitioners Committee (LPC) was yesterday reconstituted and persons who feel aggrieved against an Attorney-at-Law may lodge a complaint with the Secretary of the body, Jewel Campbell, at the Court of Appeal in Kingston, Georgetown.

Dear Editor, The year 2017, will be remembered as a year of broken promises and some of the most egregious violations of the Constitution and the rule of law.

(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday he believes Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and Russia in the 2016 U.S.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – West Indies batsman Roston Chase says New Zealand’s strategy of short-pitched bowling in the recent Test series had not been a major issue for him but believes he can still improve significantly in that area of his game.

The Government Analyst-Food & Drugs Department (GA-FDD) of the Ministry of Public Health has taken a major step in the direction of meeting the laboratory testing standards necessary to satisfy the safety requirements of the United States’ Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the 2010 legal standards benchmark for the importation of foods into that country, the Department’s Director, Marlan Cole told Stabroek Business in an interview earlier this week. 

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Twelve people were killed, including an infant, and four were critically injured yesterday in a fire that swept through several floors of an apartment building in the New York City borough of the Bronx, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Dear Editor, Many people go to the Medical Centre and hospitals in Region 2 hoping that medication, some of it basic, would be readily available.

Protecting local consumers from the threats posed by the infiltration of imported foods and drugs which could do great harm to the nation as a whole remains one of the highest priorities of the Government Analyst Food & Drugs Department (GAFDD), and at a time when there are strong elements of criminality in the manufacture and trade in foods and drugs the Department is deserving of the full support of government, the business community and the country as a whole, GAFDD Director Marlan Cole has told the Stabroek Business. 

PORT ELIZABETH, (Reuters) – Zimbabwe might concentrate on the limited overs formats to be more competitive in the wake of a devastating defeat by South Africa in their one-off test at St George’s Park on Wednesday.

The Georgetown  Mayor and City Council (M&CC) says it has restarted an aggressive campaign  which aims at the removal of all derelict vehicles and other encumbrances from roadsides, sidewalks, parapets and reserves belonging to the City.

MONROVIA,  (Reuters) – Former soccer star George Weah has won Liberia’s presidential run-off election and will succeed incumbent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf next month, the country’s first democratic transition in over 70 years.

What is widely felt to have been inexplicable sloth on the part of successive political administrations in taking advantage of the potential for deeper bilateral economic and trade cooperation with neighbouring Brazil could be at an end if the recent pronouncement here in Georgetown of a likely imminent and significant investment-related move here by South America’s largest country materializes.  Last week, Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) Owen Verwey told Stabroek Business that arising out of a visit to Brazil in April this year by a multi-sectoral team of government officials the Government of Guyana is anticipating two separate visits here by Brazilian officials that is expected to yield a formal proposal for a large-scale investment in an agricultural project here.  Verwey provided no details of the likely investment though he said that the visits are expected to take place by the end of next month.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Serena Williams needed just one January fortnight to underline her greatness before Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal then spent the rest of 2017 reminding us of why tennis really is still basking in its age of sporting wonders.

Dear Editor, I refer to the letter penned by Mr Craig Sylvester captioned, ‘The PPP no longer represents the interests of its supporters’ (SN, Dec 28), in which Mr Sylvester boldly offers to provide PPP supporters with a platform upon which they can succeed in making themselves a political force in 2020.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Formula One entered a new era in 2017 and next year promises another first even if Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton keep on winning.

The intervention of residents at` C’ Field Sophia after shouts of help came from their neighbour, halted an attempted robbery and resulted in the apprehension of one of the suspects.

Dear Editor, We are at the end of 2017. It was a very difficult year for most people in Guyana.

(Reuters) – Alabama officials yesterday certified Democrat Doug Jones the winner of the state’s U.S.

Good, old-fashioned Guyanese black cake may be a hot item on the local menu at Christmas time, though it may be well worth the while for business-minded cake-makers to check out the progress that Tortuga International is making with rum-based cakes, whose sales in the region are estimated around US$18 million. 

BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – The head of Brazil’s Supreme Court suspended parts of a Christmas decree from President Michel Temer granting pardons to convicted criminals yesterday, saying Temer’s actions needed further examination by the court.

Dear Editor, International terrorism, nuclear proliferation, territorial disputes, the accelerating threat of climate change, the constant flow of refugees as the well as the ever increasing incidence of non-communicable diseases continue to be the main features of the extant global crises.

(The Sports Xchange) – Five-time All Star forward Blake Griffin will be a game-time decision when the Los Angeles Clippers play the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on Friday.

In light of expected heavy and continuous rainfall across the country, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) is advising the public that there is a high risk of water accumulations and/or flooding in low-lying areas and those with poor drainage.

(Reuters) – Facing lawsuits and consumer outrage after it said it slowed older iPhones with flagging batteries, Apple Inc is slashing prices for battery replacements and will change its software to show users whether their phone battery is good.

SHANGHAI/BEIJING/ HONG KONG,  (Reuters) – In March 2013, retired chemical company employee Anne Xing, her older sister and their husbands visited a China Everbright Bank branch on the outskirts of Shanghai.

(Reuters) – Former world number ones Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are relishing their return to competition after serious injuries cut their last campaigns short, but the overriding aim for both players in the New Year is to stay fit and healthy.

(Barbados nation) Cleviston Haynes has been appointed as Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados.

Demolition of the aged wooden section of St Rose’s High was agreed only after all options for preserving the building were explored and once demolition has occurred the new edifice would take around two years.

Gold Prices for the three-day period ending Thursday December 28, 2017Kitco is a Canadian company that buys and sells precious metals such as gold, copper and silver.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – New York City is on track to record fewer than 300 murders in 2017, marking a steep decline since the early 1990s when the annual death toll exceeded 2,000 people.

Dear Editor, There can only be awe at the marvels of technology developments and the enormous changes brought about for the better in the world lived today. 

The New Guyana Marketing Corporation has agreed to provide us with the above information which we will publish on a weekly basis subject to receipt.

  (Okay, you-all know by now that at this time of year I love that word – “prog-nos-ti-ca-tions”.

MELBOURNE,  (Reuters) – Rain dampened England’s hopes of victory in the fourth Ashes test last night, with Australia 103 for two in their second innings at tea, at the end of a weather-hit session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Dear Editor, An abuse of power was very much evident when a traffic constable (name and number supplied) who is attached to Suddie station in Region 2 instituted 4 charges separately by way of summons against myself and my nephew for offences that were never committed.

The town of Bartica is currently mourning the loss of a resident following a vehicular accident on Wednesday evening.  Dead is 65 year old Mark Dutchin, an overseer at the Works Department of the Region 7 Regional Democratic Council (RDC).  Stabroek News understands that Dutchin, who resides at Bartica Old Housing Scheme was struck down by a motor car PLL 3322 just around 9:30 Wednesday night  in the vicinity of Third Avenue and Fifth Street, Bartica.

GENEVA,  (Reuters) – Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s pardon of his predecessor Alberto Fujimori is an appalling “slap in the face” for his victims and a major setback for the rule of law, a group of U.N.

As the year 2017 winds to a close, the tragic loss of life through violent crime and road accidents continues to cast a spotlight on the Guyana Police Force (GPF), exposing its failure at fulfilling its mandate to protect and to serve the Guyanese populace.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 753’s trading results showed consideration of $3,546,225 from 24,080 shares traded in 6 transactions as compared to session 752’s trading results which showed consideration of $14,440,200 from 17,098 shares traded in 8 transactions. 

A carpenter was yesterday sentenced to three years imprisonment after pleading guilty to possession of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

It would be entirely fair to say that successive political administrations in Guyana have, over time, continually squandered what, unquestionably, have been glaring opportunities to take advantage of the fact that Brazil, by far this continent’s largest country with the biggest economy, shares a border with us.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Hundreds of Venezuelans took to the streets in poor parts of Caracas overnight to protest a shortage of pork for traditional Christmas meals in the latest symptom of social discontent during a brutal economic crisis.

A North Ruimveldt man was yesterday placed on $200,000 bail for a ganja trafficking charge.