Oluatoyin Alleyne

Given the debilitating effects the abuse of alcohol has on the country’s economy, health and social services, Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy said there is need for higher taxation on alcohol products and called for a national effort to address the abuse of the substance, which results myriad social ills.

A security guard succumbed to several stab wounds hours after being viciously attacked during a robbery at his South Sophia workplace on Saturday night.

A 55-year-old man was electrocuted last week Wednesday and while the occupants of the Betervewagting (BV) address where his body was discovered said that he fell down in their yard and died, a post-mortem examination performed on his body last Friday revealed that he was electrocuted.

Support poured in yesterday for 11-year-old Dawnetta Mc Lean, whose resilience saw her being awarded a place at Queen’s College amidst major odds, with promises of financial and other forms of assistance and a pledge of a brand new lap top computer has been made.

“I don’t want give the police any statement” It has been over 50 days since Pritipaul Jaigobin has been confined to the Burns Care Unit of the Georgetown Hospital following a brutal acid attack by an unknown individual and while the physical agony pain has been excruciating, the emotional pain of being away from his family this long has tested the father of two even more.

– despite illness and adversity Eleven-year-old Dawnetta McLean endured more hardship than her little shoulders should be allowed to bear leading up to the National Grade Six Assessment, including two bouts of illness, hours of travelling and many late nights, but she was determined to do well and in the end her dream came true when she was awarded a place at Queen’s College (QC).

–mother suspects foul play The body of a seven-year-old boy, who went missing on Wednesday afternoon, was pulled out of a Sophia trench early yesterday morning and his mother believes that her only child was murdered as he was found without his clothes and his neck appeared to be broken.

Weak security measures that have seen drugs slipping through Guyana’s international airport yesterday saw stakeholders involved in the administration and security of that port putting their heads together in an attempt to plug the gaps the drugs have been pouring through.

-but one local group says it rescued 100 Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir says he is unaware of any project in Guyana that removed 984 children from exploitive child labour but one of the groups involved said it saved 100 from such circumstances.

The US State Department yesterday stood firmly behind its 2010 trafficking in persons (TIP) report on Guyana even as the government here has indicated its intention to take its protest against the report to the US Congress in an effort to “correct these misleading reports.”

The Guyana Police Force and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) have launched an investigation into the 40-pound cocaine bust in New York which originated in Guyana and some suspects have been identified but no arrests have been made, sources said yesterday.

… many of the complaints have merit and sometimes I am ashamed, because when I joined the force you had incidents yes but not this blatant corruption by some of the ranks, brutalizing people and behaving as if they are a law unto themselves, the thing I believe has gone out of control Blatant corruption and other illegal activities in the Guy-ana Police Force (GPF) have gotten out of control, according to outgoing Assistant Commissioner, Paul Slowe who said that the force has to be stripped of rogue elements from top to bottom before its image can be repaired.

The notorious era of convicted drug trafficker Roger Khan and his ‘Phantom Squad’ did “terrible damage” to the image of the Guyana Police Force as many former and serving policemen were part of the gang, according to Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Slowe who said, though, that he had no intimate knowledge of the activities of the gang members.

-four workers sacked over last year’s pension fraud Four persons sent home last year from the Pensions Department of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) following an almost million-dollar fraud have been dismissed and the scheme is in court attempting to recoup $191M from delinquent employers and self-employed persons.

PPP/C executive Ralph Ramkarran has called for the government to actively seek out cases of domestic abuse.

-group desperately in need of office Nine years ago Paul Cottom was a 31-year-old who was in the prime of his life with great plans to make life better for his family, including his young daughter, and to make his dream come through he worked two jobs.

‘I don’t know what more to do? Why the police can’t arrest this man?

-woman had suffered years of abuse The mangled body of a young mother of three was discovered a stone’s throw away from the Vigilance Police Station and it is believed that her husband of fourteen years dumped her out of his vehicle and then reversed crushing her head in the process.

Mexican Ambassador Fernando Sandoval yesterday said he was “surprised” at the misunderstanding over scholarships awarded to students for studies in his country, while saying that the information about the programme was released four months ago.

-first conviction under new law A former Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) employee was yesterday found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to seven years in prison by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton, becoming the first person convicted under the new law.