Guyana News

Chairman of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Board Rawle Lucas yesterday announced a major shake-up in the management of the tax body, including the removal of the heads of its Customs and Human Resources divisions for unsatisfactory performance and the appointment of a Deputy Commissioner-General.

While urging the swift operationalisation of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), European Union (EU) Representative to Guyana Ambassador Jernej Videtič yesterday handed over a $2 billion cheque to Minister of Finance Winston Jordan to aid in improving the country’s sea and river defences.

With the controversial parking meter contract instigating fractures within the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), President David Granger yesterday reminded city councillors that they are accountable to the citizens who voted them into office.

A Canal Number One businessman is now injured after he was beaten and shot early yesterday morning when armed bandits invaded his home and escaped with a quantity cash and jewellery.

A city councillor has been accused of invading the privacy of Town Clerk Royston King and his family after contacting one of King’s daughters about the controversial trip he made to Mexico with the Mayor and other council members.

A 16-year-old chainsaw operator was yesterday charged with the rape of a child under the age of 16 years old and later released into the custody of his parents.

Guyana’s students yesterday emerged the overall winners in the first Inter-Guianas Spelling Bee Competition.

While there have been no reported cases of pregnant women with the Zika virus, the Ministry of Public Health has decided to classify those who display Zika-like symptoms as being high-risk pregnancies, ensuring that they will be monitored more closely.

Police Constable Tito Benons, who was charged in April with having an unlicensed gun, continued to lead his defence yesterday by calling two witnesses who vouched that he was on his way to lodge the firearm at a police station when he was intercepted by police.

Guyana Water Inc’s (GWI) record of its customers’ accounts is in a poor state with many not verifiable and payments not made by a large number.

Over 400 parcels of cocaine along with other items were yesterday admitted into evidence at the trial of Barry Dataram and three others accused of trafficking 284 pounds of the drug that were found at his Diamond Housing Scheme residence.

A youth is now a remanded prisoner, charged with being one of the two men who tried to kill a Kitty man in April.

Edward Hubert McCollin, the security guard who was charged last year with unlawful possession of a submachine gun that police say he tried to stash in a septic tank, was yesterday sentenced to three years in jail for the crime.

The completion of the Fairview Aerodrome in Region Nine will result in easier access to the Iwokrama Rainforest Project which will be a great boost for the tourism industry in the hinterland, President David Granger has said.

PPP/C Councillor Bisham Kuppen was yesterday disappointed when, for the second time, he was prevented from moving two motions at the statutory meeting of the Mayor and City Council, as they were not listed on the official agenda.

A report in relation to the March 3 Camp Street Prison fatal fire was yesterday sent to the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following the completion of a police investigation into the matter.

A post-mortem examination performed yesterday on the remains of Robin Raymond Elkanah Gordon, whose partially decomposed body was discovered in a canal near his home on Friday at Onderneeming, Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, revealed that he died as a result of drowning.

A 36-year-old man of Charity, Essequibo Coast was yesterday fined $30,000 and sentenced to three years in prison after he was found guilty of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

President David Granger last Friday assured that once evidence has been accumulated against persons fingered in forensic audits as having engaged in corrupt practices, action will be taken.

A truck operator was released on self-bail yesterday after denying the theft of a CD player.