News

Sad looking faces are what greet you when you enter the Matero clinic in the capital of Zambia, Lusaka and a feeling of depression hits you with such a powerful force, it is overwhelming.

Commissioner of Forests James Singh is maintaining that a shipment of logs which left Guyana in December on the vessel ‘Rong Cheng’ met all of the regulatory body’s requirements for export and that the body is not under any obligation to provide requested details.

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) says that the businesses that remain errant in relation to the Value Added Tax (VAT) will have their names published in the press so that consumers can shun them.

Now that the Value Added Tax (VAT) is here consumers yesterday faced increased prices in the snack bar, the variety store and the supermarket without being sure that the prices reflected the removal of the consumption tax.

The VAT changeover on Monday has seen a range of improper practices by businesses leading to consumers complaining about an across-the-board 16% hike in the cost of living but the government has hailed the transition as a relatively smooth one.

The corporate community in the country and in the region has until January 14 to buy tickets in bulk under the corporate package, the ICC CWC Local Organising Committee (LOC) Finance Manager Chateram Ramdihal says.

Opposition Leader Robert Corbin says this year must mark a decisive shift towards national unity and warned the government against the notion that it alone can bring progress to what he described as “this troubled country of ours”.

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has launched an investigation into reports by passengers of swaying and a dive by a Travel Span plane during a recent incoming flight.

The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), in its new year’s message, has slammed the 5% wage hike for the public sector and has called on the government to commit itself to “the principle and practice of respect and adherence to the process of free collective bargaining.”

A prominent citizen is calling on members of the Guyana Police Force to look into the number of firearm licences that are handed to the young children of rich businesspeople here who he described as `baby phantoms’.

President Bharrat Jagdeo last night announced that from this year’s budget $100M will be set aside annually for a sports and arts development fund.

The Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI), in which Russian bauxite giant RUSAL has majority shareholding, has completed the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for its new project at Kurubuka which could see the development of two open pit mines.

The year has come to an end, but the police are still to bring closure to a number of sensational murders including those of Talk Show host, Ronald Waddell and building contractor Gazz Sheermohamed.

Two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun, on Friday night robbed Elana Bowman of Strathspey Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara while she was at home with her daughter.

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) says that the reported 5% growth in the economy over the last year indicated by the government has been negated by a 10% rise in the cost of living over the same period.

Traffic Chief Roland Alleyne has acknowledged that there “may have been a breach” of the no parking sign outside of the Celina Atlantic resort on Thursday night and said action will be taken to ensure there is no recurrence.

The owner of R. Bacchus and Sons Trucking Services succumbed early yesterday morning to the injuries he received when he was hit by a speeding ‘army style’ vehicle last Thursday.

The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) is urging Muslims to recommit themselves to Allah and turn away from corruption in observance of Eid-ul-Adha.

A Sophia resident is in a serious condition at the Georgetown Hospital after being stabbed early yesterday morning by the reputed husband of a woman he took to his home.

CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington says the community is determined to complete the framework for the single economy by 2008.