Daily Archive: Friday, May 7, 2021

Guyana is listed to receive 38,400 AstraZeneca shots on Monday from the COVAX facility.

A $175m (US$832,883)  contract was signed today for the expansion of the North West Secondary School Practical Instruction Department (PID) in Region One.

The Ministry of Health today said that four more persons who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.

Based on its unaudited financial statements for the half year which ended on March 31, 2021, Demerara Bank Limited (DBL) has registered profit after taxation of $1.312b compared to $871m for the corresponding period in the previous year.

Members of Parliament Annette Ferguson and Christopher Jones were among a group of persons who were charged this morning with taking part in an illegal procession.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – British health officials today labelled a coronavirus variant first found in India a “variant of concern” due to evidence it spreads more easily, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the situation needed careful handling.

BENGALURU, (Reuters) – India’s main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi warned today that unless the deadly second COVID-19 wave sweeping the country was brought under control it would decimate India as well as threaten the rest of the world.

Due to incidents of COVID-19, the Management of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) today said that it has made a decision to temporarily close its Head Office located at Brickdam and Winterplace, Georgetown.

(Trinidad Express) Government has moved to close more businesses as the country attempts to slow the movement of people in an effort to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus which is infecting and killing at an unprecedented rate.

(Trinidad Guardian) With a total of 79 police officers testing positive for COVID-19 and 481 others on quarantine, police officers are now saying they are fearful of arresting Venezuelan migrants because of the spread of the virus and the Brazilian variant.

(Trinidad Guardian) A Siparia father and son have both died of COVID-19 as 38-year-old Nigel Ramkalawan and his 66-year-old father Premnath succumbed to the virus just hours apart.

The clearing of mangroves by Tristar Incorporated at Malgre Tout/Versailles, West Bank Demerara, has exceeded the terms under which it was granted permission to begin work to construct a shore base facility, according to Chairman of Guyana’s Sea Defence Board Brigadier (ret’d) Gary Beaton.

A recently concluded regional audit of drugs and medical supplies has uncovered over $1 billion in expired medication and medical supplies, according to Minister of Health, Dr.

With over 150,000 persons receiving their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony yesterday said that Guyana has reached a milestone in its inoculation programme.

A registered nurse was yesterday sentenced to three years behind bars after he appeared at a Linden Court and was charged with a cybercrime.

Two new COVID-19 deaths were recorded yesterday along with 128 new cases.

A 29-year-old woman from Jawalla in Region Seven who tested positive for COVID-19 has died.

Regional Commander of Region Six Jairam Ramlakhan has transferred the station sergeant of the Mibicuri Police Station after charges laid against a regional councillor and a businessman for violating the COVID restrictions were struck out after the police file did not reach the court.

Despite the surging local infection rate of the COVID-19 virus, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), the local governing body, is scheduled to stage its Ordinary Congress on Saturday May 29.

 A farmer and a housewife were yesterday placed on $700,000 bail after being charged with trafficking marijuana.

The Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) and its players will now have full access to the Camptown ground in Campbellville.

The partially decomposed body of a 46-year-old Strathspey, East Coast Demerara (ECD) resident was yesterday morning discovered floating in a trench at Buxton, ECD.

Junior Hercules, the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) National 3×3 Coordinator, has confirmed that U23 Men’s team has been invited to participate in the Junior Pan American Championship, scheduled for Cali, Colombia from September 12-14.

As part of GuySuCo’s efforts to maximise opportunities created out of Guyana’s emerging oil & gas sector, the river channel alongside the Demerara Sugar Terminal (DST) in Ruimveldt, Georgetown is being desilted, according to a release from the company yesterday.

(CMC) – Uncapped Kaysia Schultz is among three new West Indies Women players handed central retainer contracts, as Cricket West Indies yesterday increased the overall number to 18 for the coming year, with all 15 players retained from the previous year.

Region Six Regional Education Officer, Bhagmattie LaCruz yesterday reported to the Regional Democratic Council that four secondary schools were forced to discontinue teaching in person last week after positive COVID-19 cases were reported.

An infraction at the finish line on Wednesday proved costly to Briton John as breakaway mate, Christopher Griffith was awarded his first win of the season in a photo finish with the former.

(Reuters) – Spain’s Rafa Nadal was named the 2021 Laureus Sportsman of the year yesterday, while fellow tennis player Naomi Osaka won the top women’s honour.

Investigations are ongoing into a fire of unknown origin which destroyed a Lusignan, East Coast Demerara (ECD) house on Wednesday night.

A Mahdia man has been remanded to prison following a possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking charge.

(Reuters) – New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is on track to become the first transgender athlete to compete at an Olympics after meeting modified qualifying requirements for the Tokyo Games.

The need to strike a balance trying to keep the COVID-19 pandemic at bay and continuing to maintain links with the rest of the world would appear to be on the minds of the authorities in Guyana. 

A Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) employee is nursing injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital after he was involved in an accident at Pakera Public Road, North West District, Region One.

(Reuters) – The days of 140,000 fans cheering Fernando Alonso to a home victory in Spain are long gone but the double Formula One world champion returns this weekend firm in the belief he can drive better than ever.

The Stabreok Business’ IYFV personality this week is Bourda Market Stall 7981 stallholder Robbiedatt more widely known as ‘Robbie,” currently in his third decade as a fruit Vendor.

Dear Editor, The Gas to Shore pipeline numbers do not add up.

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – At least 25 people were killed in a shootout between suspected drug traffickers and police in Rio de Janeiro yesterday, one of the state’s deadliest police raids, police said.

Hopes that Jamaica’s oil and gas potential might follow the lead provided by those of sister Caribbean Community member countries, Guyana and Suriname, continue to be backed by the confidence which the UK-based company United Oil and Gas Plc (UOG) is demonstrating in the strong likelihood that the beneath the waters offshore the region’s foremost tourist island lie significant deposits of recoverable oil.

(Reuters) – Villarreal held out for a 0-0 draw on a nerve-jangling night at Arsenal yesterday to reach the Europa League final 2-1 on aggregate as visiting manager Unai Emery returned to haunt the London club that sacked him in 2019.

(CMC) – Chief selector Roger Harper has admitted to being concerned about the future of Shimron Hetmyer, after the talented stroke-maker this week lost his Cricket West Indies central retainer contract.

Dear Editor, In response to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill’s urging preparations from us citizens for the influx of foreigners and expatriates that will follow the oil wealth and the building of no less than eight new hotels within the next couple of years, I would like to know just what “preparations” the minister expects from us.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – Hopes that India’s rampaging second wave of COVID-19 is peaking were set back yesterday as record daily infections and deaths were reported and as the virus spread from cities to villages that were poorly equipped to cope.

By Jerry Haar Guyanese highly value education, and that bodes well as the country seeks to capitalise on its oil and gas largesse and finally build the nation that all Guyanese have hoped for since independence in 1970.

(Reuters) – Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt’s induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame will be deferred by a year due to COVID-19 travel restrictions from Australia to the United States, the Hall of Fame said yesterday.

Dwayne Wade’s means of earning a living have come ‘full circle,’ from being in the employ of the majority Russian-owned RUSAL Bauxite Company (now officially known as the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc.

Dear Editor, It was announced on Monday May 03, that the International Press Institute (IPI) had recorded some 635 ‘attacks’ on journalists over ‘the past year’ by what were described as mainly ‘authoritarian governments’ across the world.

Buoyed by the success of its exploits in the plantain chips industry, the highly successful company, Jamaica Producers Group, has announced that it is pushing its investment envelope further by pumping J$100 million into the creation of a 50-hectare plantain farm adjoining its existing banana and pineapple growing operations in the country’s St.

Dear Editor, One of the anomalies of the commemoration of Indentureship in Guyana has been the refusal to acknowledge the role of Africans in the labour system that had been introduced after the Abolition Act of slavery in 1834.

(Reuters) – The Limetree Bay refinery in St. Croix is releasing “light hydrocarbon odors” due to maintenance being conducted on its coker unit, prompting nearby schools to dismiss students, the company and the U.S.

DUBAI,  (Reuters) – Qatar Finance Minister Ali Sherif al-Emadi was arrested over embezzlement allegations and stripped of his duties, officials said yesterday.

The Indiana Pacers suspended assistant coach Greg Foster for one game and fined center Goga Bitadze for their tense in-game argument during Wednesday’s 104-93 home loss to the Sacramento Kings.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday announced that it had reached an agreement with the Government of Suriname to provide the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state with financial support over the next three years through an Extended Facility Fund agreement worth US$690 million.

SAO PAULO,  (Reuters) – LATAM Airlines Group, the region’s largest carrier, said yesterday that it is seeing increased demand from South Americans seeking to travel to the United States to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

(Reuters) – Manchester City will be crowned Premier League champions if they beat Chelsea tomorrow in a game which is now a dress rehearsal for the Champions League final.

Dear Editor, The World Bank in a 2020 report repeatedly bemoaned the fact that years of economic growth in Guyana have had little impact on poverty reduction, social inclusion, and quality of life. 

Gold Prices for the three day period ending Thursday May 6, 2021 Kitco is a Canadian company that buys and sells precious metals such as gold, copper and silver.

(Reuters) – After staging a stunning revival to rein in leaders Atletico Madrid, Barcelona can finally go top of La Liga when they host Diego Simeone’s side on a mouthwatering weekend as the four teams in the title race come face to face.

AMSTERDAM, (Reuters) – Dutch researchers have trained bees, which have an unusually keen sense of smell, to identify samples infected with COVID-19, a finding they said could cut waiting times for test results to just seconds.

Dear Editor, I was reluctant to engage the current controversy over utterances about the mental laziness of the Guyanese masses in politics made by APNU+ AFC Member of Parliament Ms.

– No Guyanese illegals at the Southern Border? Two introductory points upfront: since numerous analysts, commentators and editorial writers will assess the PPP government’s performance after one year at the end of July, I offer cursory comments rights now – after nine months; and secondly, as I frequently do, I concede that I’m not capable of the more scientific “political analyses”.

(Reuters) – Trainer Bob Baffert, who won a record-setting seventh Kentucky Derby with Medina Spirit last week, said the dark bay colt had another light workout yesterday and is currently in peak form ahead of next week’s Preakness Stakes.

Matters connected to race are the trickiest subjects in the country, and ill-considered remarks, whatever their intention, often have a way of boomeranging back to strike the person who uttered them.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 913’s trading results showed consideration of $1,683,338 from 4,550 shares traded in 3 transactions as compared to session 912’s trading results which showed consideration of $9,113,558 from 104,987 shares traded in 13 transactions.

AMSTERDAM/KAMPALA,  (Reuters) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) yesterday sentenced a former Ugandan child soldier who became a commander of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to 25 years in prison for crimes including rape, sexual enslavement, child abduction, torture and murder.

One of our stories in this week’s edition of the Stabroek Business concerns the unfolding progress of the already considerably successful Jamaica Producers’ Group, (JPG) which, based on the contents of its performance profile, would appear to be among the ‘high fliers’ in the country’s agricultural sector and agro-processing sectors.

Dear Editor, As Guyanese we should be very concerned about our political future.

Mental illness, despite the marginal progress we have made, continues to be a persistently troublesome issue within Guyana.

A young medical student was driving home last Sunday, when the frantic siren of a speeding ambulance forced her to pull aside and stop.

At approximately 11:58 am yesterday, the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) experienced a shutdown when an excavator caused an incident with the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) transmission network.