Daily Archive: Wednesday, May 24, 2023

CARICOM Heads of Government have noted the horrific deaths of 19 young people in a fire in a dormitory of the Mahdia Secondary School in Mahdia, Guyana.

Security ‘Smallie’ makes dramatic escape from Mazaruni Prison: Mark Royden Williams called ‘Smallie’ last Friday escaped from the Mazaruni Prison, a maximum security facility, following an exchange of gunfire with prison officers.

(Reuters) – Tina Turner, the American-born singer who left a hardscrabble farming community and abusive relationship to become one of the top recording artists of all time, died on Wednesday at the age of 83.

(Trinidad Guardian) A proposal from an independent multidisciplinary team has presented a strategy for developing a wind industry in T&T covering the period until 2035.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – The director of a top Russian science institute, arrested on suspicion of treason along with two other hypersonic missile technology experts, stands accused of betraying secrets to China, two people familiar with the case told Reuters.

(Trinidad Express) Guyanese nationals living and working in Trinidad have joined their fellow citizens in mourning the deaths of 18 girls and a boy in the alleged arson attack at Mahdia Secondary School in Guyana, late Sunday night.

As efforts are being made to upgrade the fire prevention systems at dormitories and schools across the country, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn yesterday stated that none of the doors at the Mahdia Secondary School’s female dormitory were secured by grills.

An 84-year-old pensioner was yesterday afternoon crushed to death by a Cevons Waste Management garbage truck at Buxton Sideline Dam, East Coast Demerara. 

President Irfaan Ali yesterday announced that samples from 13 of the 19 Mahdia Secondary School dormitory fire victims will be sent to the Mount Sinai laboratory in New York and test results will be back in Guyana by Friday.

An Adelphi Village, East Canje Berbice man yesterday pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the death of his mother when he appeared before Justice Simone Morris Ramlall at the High Court in Berbice.

Of the four teams that made it to the playoffs, Lucknow Super Giants are the least glamorous and talked about.

By Joseph Allen The father of one of the girls who perished in the Mahdia Secondary School dormitory fire on Sunday is insisting that the lost lives “cannot go down for nothing” and that someone has to pay.

Dear Editor, As I reflect on today’s tragedy, I cannot help but raise the question of development and equity in our country.

Dear Editor, The Mahdia students’ heart-wrenching tragedy that made international headlines must jolt all Guyana to be fire-safety conscious, and major reforms must be implemented for fire prevention, firefighting, and building codes.

National heavyweight Eagles dismissed VenGuy 3-0 when the Demerara Volleyball Association (DVA) senior men’s league continued Monday evening at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) last evening said that it will be seeking legal advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in relation to the deadly Mahdia Secondary School dormitory fire, which was maliciously set, GPF’s Corporate Communications Unit Director, Mark Ramotar, said in a statement.

Dear Editor, In a ‘eureka’ moment that must rank up there with the discovery of the new world by Columbus, GHK Lall has declared “ExxonMobil USA is going to come up with some innovative way to stick the cost of that unlimited parent company guarantee right back at Guyana” (SN 21.05.23) while I am happy the light bulb has come on for GHK, my optimism is somewhat tempered as to its brightness by the fact that any schoolchild could tell him that there is no need for ‘Exxon innovation’, the term ‘cost oil’ means the cost to produce oil; costs that are borne directly by Guyana, and insurance falls squarely into that category.

(Reuters) – Four-time Indian Premier League winners Chennai Super Kings qualified for their 10th final with a 15-run win over holders Gujarat Titans in the first qualifier at Chepauk yesterday.

The labourer who struck a West Coast Berbice man with a steel rod in March 2019 leading to his death yesterday pleaded guilty to murder at the High Court in Berbice.

Dear Editor, The Liberty and Justice Party extends its most sincere condolences to the families and friends of the deceased.

The government has taken a decision to tone down the country’s 57th Independence celebrations, which were schedule to take place in Lethem from tomorrow.

By Troy Peters Six players who represented Guyana at the recently held Junior Pan American hockey championships have been named in a 16-man senior squad announced by the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) to participate in the Central American and Caribbean Games scheduled for San Salvador next month.

Dear Editor, My pain is unbearable, and if this be mine, then that of the Indigenous Guyanese community has to be beyond the blood of anguish that I sweat, the convulsions that wrack. 

Nikola Jokic has been as good as anybody in basketball over the past three seasons, and the Denver Nuggets’ big man now will get the NBA Finals stage to show it.

By Andre De Silva (Intern with the Guyana Media and Communication Academy) A thirty-year-old mining consultant/businessman will be contesting as an independent candidate against a 2018 APNU Councillor and a PPP/C candidate  in the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) race for Constituency Seven in Georgetown at the June 12  local government elections. 

By Subhana Shiwmangal In the aftermath of the horrific dormitory fire that claimed the lives of 19 students in Mahdia on Sunday, Stabroek News spoke to a few relatives.

Dear Editor, It is 2 a.m. and I cannot sleep. My heart is full of grief and rage because 19 young souls were not given a chance to experience life as it is their right to do.

KHARTOUM,  (Reuters) – Artillery fire could be heard in parts of Khartoum and warplanes flew overhead yesterday, residents said, though an internationally monitored ceasefire appeared to have brought some respite from heavy fighting in the Sudanese capital.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – West Indies have been drawn alongside the Netherlands, Nepal, United States, and hosts Zimbabwe in Group A of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament.

At approximately 1 pm yesterday, the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) said that service was disrupted to customers along the East Coast and East Bank Demerara after a cement truck came into contact with the company’s primary network at Better Hope, East Coast Demerara.

Dear Editor, 1.  Electric bikes are a controversial means of transportation.

SYLHET, Bangladesh, CMC – Barbados Pride pacer Akeem Jordan and Guyana Harpy Eagles off-spinner Kevin Sinclair shared four wickets to give West Indies “A” an early edge against Bangladesh “A” in the second “Test” yesterday – but adverse weather again cut short play.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – California has asked the Biden administration to approve its plan to require all new vehicles sold in the state by 2035 to be either electric or plug-in electric hybrids, a landmark move that could speed the end of gasoline-powered vehicles, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Police from Regional Division #2 on Sunday recovered an unlicensed firearm (shotgun) at Tapakuma Village, Essequibo Coast.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – Cricket West Indies have been forced to rejig its squad for the three One-day Internationals against the United Arab Emirates next month.

Dear Editor, I am so sorry to hear about the deaths of our young ones at Mahdia.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos, daughter of the country’s former president, faces being dragged into a $400 million London lawsuit brought by Angolan telecoms operator Unitel.

A man and a woman were arrested at Annandale on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) for having in their possession 4.763 kg of marijuana.

Dear Editor, May I convey appreciation of the touching tribute in the Trinidad Express Newspapers of Tuesday 23 May 2023, on the tragic deaths and severe injuries incurred in the fire at the Girls’ Dormitory at Mahdia, Guyana.

(Reuters) – The Russian military said yesterday it had routed militants who attacked a Russian border region with armoured vehicles the previous day, killing more than 70 “Ukrainian nationalists” and pushing the remainder back into Ukraine.

PORT OF SPAIN, CMC – Former world lightweight champion Claude Noel of Trinidad & Tobago died on Sunday at the Mount Hope Hospital after a lengthy battle with diabetes.

The Ethnic Relations Commission, (ERC) issued an urgent notice yesterday inviting representatives of fourteen (14) groups and individuals to contact the Commission regarding their participation in the public signing of the ERC’s “Code of Conduct”.

Dear Editor, As Guyana moves into its 58th year of nationhood on Friday May 26 that English speaking nation has been described as the fastest growing country in the planet.

BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Windward Islands defied an impactful spell from off-spinner Samara Ramnath to clinch a confidence-boosting seven-wicket win against Trinidad & Tobago in their third-round match of the West Indies Women’s T20 Blaze yesterday.

(Reuters) – U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said yesterday that the court is considering steps to “adhere to the highest standards of conduct,” after reports of a conservative justice’s travel and real estate deals prompted congressional scrutiny.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N yesterday sought to shift blame for failing to snuff out sex crimes committed by the late Jeffrey Epstein, accusing the U.S.

Dear Editor, We are mothers, grandmothers, aunts, nieces and cousins, who are deeply saddened and perturbed by the death of so many children who lost their lives in the Mahdia  Secondary School Dormitory fire.

Andy Persaud, called ‘Candy’ and ‘Superman’, a 31-year-old of Lot 27 Hope West Enmore, East Coast Demerara was remanded on Monday to prison on a break and enter charge.

BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – An unbeaten half-century from opener Aaliyah Alleyne propelled Barbados to a nine-wicket win against defending champions Jamaica in another low-scoring contest in the third round of the West Indies Women’s T20 Blaze yesterday.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Countries raised a record $95 billion last year by charging firms for emitting carbon dioxide, but prices are still too low to drive changes needed to meet Paris climate accord targets, the World Bank said in a report on Tuesday.

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Britain yesterday announced new funding for a landmark scientific experiment deep in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest that will measure the impact of rising carbon dioxide levels on trees, the British embassy said.

Sunday night’s fire which razed the girls’ dormitory at the Mahdia Secondary School, taking 19 lives, leaving several injured, traumatising dozens, and spreading a streak of grief and pain across Karisparu, El Paso, Micobie and Chenapau, as well as all over this country was, from all accounts, a disaster waiting to happen.

By Jeffrey Sachs In the year 2000, the US government debt was $3.5 trillion, equal to 35% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).