Guyana News

What appears to be a well-planned and executed break and enter and robbery some time Sunday night or early yesterday morning has left a businessman pondering his next move after losing an estimated $4.5 million less than one month after making an investment.

After a number of setbacks in the Caribbean region the Hydrometeorological Service has finally been able to start work on the radar tower for the long awaited Doppler Radar.

The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) through the Ministry of Agriculture has in the pipeline the purchase of two long-boom excavators at a cost of $60M for work on the main conservancy.

The Kashif and Shanghai (K&S) organisation will not be staging the Linden town week this year after a dispute with the council over the payment of a $2 million fee but the council says it is still moving ahead with plans for the April event.

A businessman is counting his losses after persons unknown stole his car worth $4.5 million and set it alight at Mocha Arcadia.

A teenaged boy who with another person allegedly robbed his employer of a quarter million dollars was yesterday placed on $25,000 bail by Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

Outgoing President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Gerry Gouveia says the private sector is “furious and hurt” over the treatment meted out to it by the Guyana Revenue Authority in the wake of the chaos surrounding the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT).

Two gun-toting bicycle bandits robbed and beat a 55-year-old female shopkeeper at Better Hope, East Coast Demerara around 10 am yesterday.

Members of the public are being urged not to pay any increase in fares when using public transportation services since there has been no increase in gasoline prices or vehicle parts as a result of the newly introduced Value Added Tax (VAT).

A four-member delegation from the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) is here for a seven-day visit.

Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys yesterday remanded to prison a woman and her son who allegedly had 52 grammes of cannabis for trafficking.

Four suicides and ten attempted suicides reportedly fuelled by alcoholism among other issues have rocked the hinterland community of Santa Rosa within recent weeks.

Ranks of the Joint Services on Friday morning combed a few homes in Buxton, East Coast Demerara following information that a suspect was hiding out in the village and might have had one of the stolen army AK-47 rifles in his possession.

Two teenagers drowned yesterday in separate incidents: one after going for a swim in the Lamaha Canal with friends and one as a result of an occasional illness.

Pirates struck again on Saturday afternoon robbing five fishermen of their engines and other items on the Corentyne Coast and then leaving them to drift to shore yesterday morning.

Broiler chickens at poultry farms in Regions Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten have now been inoculated in an attempt to tackle a chicken disease detected last year.

Guyana has been vigilant with the trade of its diamonds long before the advent of the Kimberly Process Certifica-tion Scheme (KP-CS), Acting Commis-sioner of Mines William Woolford has said.

The Ministry of Agriculture has been able to complete some 90% of the work it had intended to do in Regions Four and Five, areas severely hit following the floods of 2005 and 2006.

The Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU) said though the past year was a mix of successes and challenges the most disappointing was the government’s proposed 5% increase to workers and that the trade union movement remains divided.

The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) had recommended that Guyana’s tourism product be VAT zero-rated to assist with the development of the industry, saying that bookings for tour packages were made as long as a year ago and could not be now increased by 16%.