Guyana News

A resident of Buxton was yesterday denied bail after he was accused of robbing a man of $3,320,000 in cash and items.

United States Ambassador Perry Holloway and the Canadian High Com-missioner Lilian Chatterjee have declined to comment on President David Granger’s recent appointment of retired judge James Patterson as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom).

A New Amsterdam prisoner who escaped lawful custody in 2011 and was recently recaptured in Suriname was yesterday charged and remanded for murder at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court.

A West Demerara farmer, who was charged in July with fraudulently converting his friend’s money to his own use and benefit, was yesterday found guilty of the crime and sentenced in his absence to four years and six months in jail.

  Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has announced that he has advised the Governor General, Sir Rodney Williams to revoke immediately the appointment from the Cabinet, of Tourism and Investment Minister, Asot Michael pending the outcome of his arrest this morning by the Metropolitan Police in London.

  The Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce today called on President David Granger to rescind the unilateral appointment of retired Justice James Patterson as Chairman of GECOM and it also blistered the Alliance For Change (AFC) for its stance on the matter.

An accident yesterday on the Vreed-en-Hoop Public Road, West Coast Demerara (WCD)  has claimed the lives of three persons including a student from the Diamond Secondary School.

Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo will today ask the High Court to quash President David Granger’s unilateral appointment of retired justice James Patterson as Chairman of Gecom on the grounds of unconstitutionality.

People’s Progressive Party Executive Anil Nandall has questioned the Curriculum Vitae that President David Granger submitted for handpicked Gecom Commis-sioner James Patterson saying that Patterson fails to meet even requirements set by Granger himself.

Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran says that President David Granger’s appointment of James Patterson as Chairman of GECOM is void as the condition required for the constitutional proviso that permits unilateral action was not met.

Former magistrate and attorney at law, Chandra Sohan was yesterday held for questioning by investigators from the Major Crimes Unit following allegations of witness tampering, a police source said.

For months, PPP/C leaders and supporters have accused the APNU+AFC government of plotting to rig the 2020 general elections and those concerns have now burst into the open with President David Granger’s decision to unilaterally name 84-year-old retired justice James Patterson as the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon has said that negotiations with the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) for a new multi-year pay agreement will take just a little longer than the nearly two years it has already taken.

RISE Guyana, which was formed earlier this year to push for constitutional reform, says it believes that President David Granger dismissed 18 nominees for the post of GECOM Chairman because he knew they would act independently and impartially.

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has up to press time remained silent on the APNU+AFC government’s unilateral imposition of a hike in public service wages and salaries but the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has condemned the action as “clear disrespect to [the] Constitution, laws and relevant ILO conventions which have long been ratified by [the] country.”

With thousands turning up for GTT’s inaugural `Pinktober’ 5k/10k run/walk held on Saturday at least $1.5m has been raised for the Guyana Cancer Foundation (GCF).

“I come for you, come out this car or I gon shoot you,” a gun-toting bandit told his victim on Saturday midday before he robbed him of his cash in Stewartville, West Bank Demerara.

The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) has begun working with a sixth community this year to regularise land usage.

Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman says he will not be speaking on any matters pertaining to contractual arrangements on  oil and gas matters and will let Cabinet guide what should be made public.

The Police say they are investigating a fatal accident which occurred about 4 this afternoon on New Road Public Road, Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara which resulted in the deaths of the driver Deodat Mohan, 24, of Vreed-en-Hoop, WBD and its occupants Reaz Barakat, 18, Rumzight Gardens, West Coast Demerara and Telisha (only name given), 17, of Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara.