News

Deputy Mayor of Georgetown Robert Williams on Friday called on the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) to commission an audit of the economic, political, cultural, educational, social and other spheres in the city to determine the “realities,” a request which ERC Chairman Bishop Juan Edghill promised to raise with the body’s commissioners.

Five women farmers in Region One Barima/Waini, who have recently taken part in a conference on organic farming, are now ready to put some of what they have learnt to the test and seek certification as organic producers, despite the fact that this would mean breaking ties with centuries old practices such as slash and burn.

The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) is working on a national strategy for road safety which will make it an obligation for all stakeholders to assist in keeping the country’s roadways safe.

The body of a 16-year-old boy who was believed to have drowned was discovered in a section of the Lamaha Canal commonly known as ‘the Blacka’ early yesterday morning.

Several beer garden operators in the Stabroek Market area were arrested yesterday and a substantial quantity of unlicensed liquor seized during a two-hour operation by Customs Officers aided by scores of heavily armed police ranks.

International airlines servicing Guyana are almost fully booked for this season, from December 15 through to the New Year, and at least one is trying to put on extra flights.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Rudy Insanally has dismissed a statement by the President of the Venezuelan Frontiers Studies Institute that the destruction of two Guyanese-owned dredges in the Cuyuni occurred in Venezuelan territory because it was in Venezuela’s “Reclamation Zone.”

Demand for the packaged ‘Demerara’ branded sugar produced by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) has outstripped production, with the 7000 tonnes of packaged sugar this year unable to satisfy the market demand.

The Working People Alliance (WPA) said Venezuela’s recent incursion into Guyana’s territory must be condemned and resisted forcefully by government given that the attack was reckless, irresponsible, unprovoked and destructive.

A man was yesterday sentenced to four years in prison by Magistrate Hazel Octive Hamilton together with a fine of $100,000 after he admitted having had over 200 grammes of cannabis concealed in his travelling bag when he stopped at the Bartica Police Station for a routine check.

A Grade Six primary school pupil accused of committing an act of gross indecency with a six-year-old boy was granted bail when he appeared at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Five persons including a 17-year-old boy appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday charged with robbery under arms and they were all remanded to prison by Magistrate Hazel Octive Hamilton.

Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs yesterday jailed a city businessman for ten years and imposed a whopping $254 million in fines, after she found him guilty of two counts of possession of over $84 million worth of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Roger Luncheon yesterday said Cabinet would only discuss the shooting incident involving a government minister if it were introduced by that minister himself, or by Home Minister Clement Rohee.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon says the recent High Court ruling has highlighted, in some ways, unintended consequences of the constitutional reform process of 2001, pointing out that timely promotions and appointments regarding the police and judicial service commissions may be threatened.

The ongoing Ministry of Human Services’ consultations on sexual violence should be seen as the start of a national conversation, which should continue even after the Act is passed, Minister Priya Manickchand said yesterday.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon said that the power situation is being remedied with efforts to return malfunctioning equipment to serviceability and securing the necessary emergency freighting of fuel from suppliers.

Our culture, which reinforces male dominance and absolves men of childcare, is as much to blame for the continued and escalating violence against women as are historical and social factors, University of Guyana Women and Gender Studies lecturer Evette Burke-Douglas said.

Armed bandits yesterday afternoon attacked and robbed an Eccles, East Bank Demerara man of $500,000 and also hijacked his car which was later found abandoned on the Mocha Arcadia Public Road.

The filing of Value-Added Tax (VAT) returns on the due dates have decreased by 14 per cent to 16 per cent, for the first quarter of the year and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is calling for “prompt” filing of returns to avoid penalties.