Daily Archive: Friday, August 28, 2020

On the heels of the shock decision by the PPP/C government to send EPA Head Dr Vincent Adams on immediate leave, Transparency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI) today said it had no confidence that the EPA can make key upcoming decisions on ExxonMobil without his presence.

Three new COVID-19 deaths were recorded today. Guyana has now officially recorded 35 deaths as a result of the virus.

 (Reuters) – Two years after a conservative commentator told LeBron James to “shut up and dribble,” the NBA star has become an increasingly influential political force as issues of racial justice and voter suppression move to the forefront in the November presidential election.

TOKYO, (Reuters) – Japan’s Shinzo Abe today said he was resigning because of poor health, ending a tenure as the country’s longest-serving prime minister in which he sought to revive an economy stricken by deflation and push for a stronger military.

(Trinidad Guardian) If there is no meaningful macroeconomic intervention in the T&T economy, the country runs the risk of depleting its foreign exchange (FX) reserves.

As the police probe into the alleged fraud surrounding the March 2nd General and Regional elections widens, Information Technology (IT) officer Enrique Livan who was at the centre of a flash drive controversy at the Ashmins building on march 4th was yesterday arrested by the police.

On the heels of a key decision on approvals for ExxonMobil’s Payara well for which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had outlined a number of critical concerns, the agency’s Director Dr Vincent Adams was yesterday sent on immediate leave by the PPP/C administration.

The two representatives from Accelerated Capital Firm Inc. (ACFI), a company which is alleged to have operated a Ponzi scheme here, were yesterday remanded to prison on conspiracy charges.

President Irfaan Ali yesterday announced a local content panel for the oil and gas sector which includes former APNU+AFC Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge and former Energy Minister of Trini-dad and Tobago, Kevin Ramnarine.

The decision by the PPP/C government to send the Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr Vincent Adams on leave immediately while he was in the midst of important decisions on the operations of ExxonMobil is deeply disturbing and raises serious questions about whether President Ali’s government is truly committed to ensuring the robust protection of the environment.

Dear Editor, Now that the new government is in place, with an efficient Attorney General, it is widely believed that the Constitutional Reform Commission will begin to do real work.

A post-Covid-19 Guyana business community is likely to find itself significantly denuded of many of those micro and small business enterprises which, prior to the outbreak of the virus, had added a new and enterprising dimension to the overall business sector whilst contributing significantly to job-creation and enhancing individual and family incomes.

At 10 this morning, Justice of Appeal Rishi Persaud, who is currently performing the duties of Chief Justice, will hear a habeas corpus application filed by District Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo who is requesting his immediate release from police custody.

Dear Editor, I wish to firstly state that the Governor of the Bank of Guyana’s reply in yesterday’s Stabroek News confirms my view that he looks at the trees but ignores the forest.

The first sitting of the 12th Parliament has been officially scheduled for Tuesday, September 1 at 10:00 am.

Not even the untimely advent of COVID-19 has altered external perception of Guyana as currently the choice Caribbean destination in which to do business, the tantrums of the virus having failed to extinguish the prevailing high hopes for the growth of the country’s economy on the back an emerging oil industry.

Dear Editor, Please permit the Ministry of Public Works to respond to a letter written by Mr.

The Ministry of Health yesterday disclosed that a 32nd person has died as a result of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

A 41-year-old man succumbed at a city hospital yesterday morning, two weeks after he was brutally beaten at his Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home.

(CPL T20) The Trinbago Knight Riders continued their dominance of Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 last night, bowling and fielding superbly to blow away the Guyana Amazon Warriors top order and completing what could have been a tricky chase on a slow pitch with time to spare.

Dear Editor, For many years, a newspaper featured a popular article titled “Believe it or Not” by Ripley.

Our efforts to track the fortunes of micro and small businesses in the COVID-19 environment between May and August have led us to the discovery that small businesses run by women and young business persons are being hit hardest by the fallout from the pandemic.

An Eastern Airlines flight from Guyana was forced to make an emergency landing at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York last Tuesday evening after it developed difficulties.

Dear Editor, I am astonished, though not surprised, that the Housing Minister has declared that he will refund monies to persons who paid the 50 percent downpayment for house lots because there is no infrastructure.

If ever there remained any lingering doubts about the tourism-dependent nature of the global economy those were, this week, completely erased by the stunning revelation from United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres that the coronavirus pandemic had cost the global industry a staggering US$320 billion in exports between January and May this year and continues to put in excess of 120 million jobs at prolonged risk.

Following the conclusion of the extended Guyana Football Federation (GFF) 2020/2021 Pre-Season Transfer Window, emerging force, the Guyana Police Force (GPF), has confirmed the acquisition and services of nine players for the Elite League and B-Team programmes.

Dear Editor, Regarding calls for the renegotiation of the Exxon contract, it was good to finally hear from Exxon on the matter.

Guyana’s COVID-19 cases continue to mount.  Yesterday the country recorded 47 new cases of the novel coronavirus which increased the total number of positive cases here to 1,140.

(Reuters) – The National Basketball Association (NBA) said yesterday it hopes to resume play in a day or two after a boycott by players protesting racial injustice and police brutality, while President Donald Trump denounced the league.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – A defiant President Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for a second term yesterday with a blistering attack on Democratic rival Joe Biden, asserting that a Biden victory in November would only exacerbate the racial strife and coronavirus pandemic besieging the nation.

Can local micro, small businesses survive the covid-19 onslaught The overwhelming majority of our reportage since March this year has focused on the advent of the coronavirus and the ways in which it has impacted on business as a whole in Guyana.

Dear Editor, Rummaging through my Letters to the Editor over the years, I came across one from me entitled `Photograph of the year’ some 19 years ago.

Dear Editor, Tipped-to-be Leader of the Opposition-the soon to be recognized as honourable, by virtue of his pivotal office-has promised to give the government hell, meaning trouble. 

The Guyana Elections Commission  (GECOM) now has a new commissioner while the Public Service Commission (PSC) also has a new member.

LAKE CHARLES, La.,  (Reuters) – Hurricane Laura tore through Louisiana yesterday, killing six people and flattening buildings across a wide swatch of the state before moving into Arkansas with heavy rains.

Following the official draw of the CONCACAF Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, former Golden Jaguars captain Christopher Nurse stated that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, will have a severe impact on the quality of the preparation for the respective nations.

Dear Editor, Some of these businesses in Georgetown are not allowing you entry if you refuse to use their manual sink set-up (which involves customers having to press the soap dispenser, touch the pipe to turn-on, then having to touch the pipe to turn-off after washing of hands, some are even most disrespectful to their customers by leaving a cake of soap ) that is although you have your sanitizer bottle in full view.

The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) yesterday managed to contain a small fire of unknown origin at Banks DIH Limited, Thirst Park, Ruimveldt, Georgetown.

KENOSHA, Wis.,  (Reuters) – About 150 National Guard troops deployed to Kenosha, Wisconsin, yesterday, part of a massive effort to ensure a second night of calm after demonstrations over the police shooting of a Black man that led to the deaths of two people earlier this week.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,  CMC – Kyle Mayers defied the magic of Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Sandeep Lamichhane with a sensational half-century to propel Barbados Tridents to a 36-run victory yesterday over struggling Jamaica Tallawahs and reignite the reigning champions’ ailing title defence.

– Rivers of Red, Seas of Green, Streams in between Once again, readers would be accurate if they discern that the rather rambling thoughts hereunder are born of my own hopes wishes, even expectations as the “new” government begins to manage our national affairs, our resources, our “governance”, our future.

For months, the soft-spoken public sector employee, we will call Donna James, had growing doubts about the incredible business a trusted colleague raved about.

Not so long ago, residents in Region 4 were being lulled into a false sense of security regarding the spread of COVID-19 amongst them.

The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has officially announced the resignation from the party of its chair Tabitha Sarabo-Halley.

It is not too early, we believe, for the Stabroek Business to restate its position that there is everything to be gained from removing the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) from within the ambit of the Ministry of Agriculture and allowing it to function as a semi-autonomous state entity under a management structure that is far more suitable to enhancing its role as an agency responsible for providing critical services to the private sector.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 877’s trading results showed consideration of $17,182,518 from 189,394 shares traded in 13 transactions as compared to session 876’s trading results which showed consideration of $11,902,369 from 109,663 shares traded in 27 transactions.

Gold Prices for the three day period ending Thursday August 27, 2020

SANTIAGO,  (Reuters) – A group of South America presidents agreed yesterday to information sharing and coordination on access to eventual COVID-19 vaccines to counter the virus which has the continent within its grip, Chile’s foreign minister said.

A recent press release from the Attorney General’s Chambers slid past the public without comment, partly because it referred to a matter which had its origins five years ago and partly because given the drama of the last few months and the accession of a new government to office, it got submerged under a welter of more compelling news stories.

MANCHESTER, England,  (Reuters) – England captain Eoin Morgan has urged his players to seize their chance against a dangerous Pakistan side in the three-match Twenty20 international series that provides an early audition for next year’s World Cup.