Guyana News

BOGOTA, (Reuters) – More than 5,000 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, the country’s national health institute said on Saturday, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas.

  Finance Minister Winston Jordan yesterday rebuffed criticisms of his proposed $230B national budget by the opposition PPP/C, which he accused of deliberately misleading the public to stymie development and derail efforts at building national unity.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday challenged Finance Minister Winston Jordan to disclose the total savings to the economy from the collapse in oil prices, while arguing that the windfall could help finance significant pay hikes for public servants.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo yesterday said government had not properly informed workers of the impending closure of the Wales sugar estate even as he excoriated the PPP/C for peddling falsehoods and “political deception.”

“Come to the table and let’s talk,” Minister of State Joseph Harmon urged the opposition yesterday.

The bus driver, who fled after the accident along the Bengal Public Road, Corentyne, that claimed the life of a 16-year-old student on Thursday night, has surrendered to police.

Chairman Stanley Ming yesterday said the new Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) board would work to “unshackle” the mining sector and he stressed the need for a delineation of responsibilities “I want to say to you today we have to understand our respective responsibilities and not be carried away

The water supply to thousands of residents of the Diamond, Kaneville and Grove housing schemes has been affected by what the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) has diagnosed as a ruptured well casing at the Diamond Well Station.

The long-awaited repairs to the dilapidated Kitty Market have begun and are expected to last for the next three to five months.

A little over three months after Agricola resident Jermaine Simon was murdered, the prime suspect Trevor Anthony Amsterdam was yesterday captured by the police.

Adding its voice to the clamour for the charge of wandering to be scrapped, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has noted that it contributes to discrimination against girls, a high number of whom are left to languish in juvenile detention facilities.

Just days after he was identified as one of the home invaders who robbed and fatally injured Anna Catherina resident Balram Teekaram, murder accused Alvin Semple yesterday said that he knew nothing about the crime.

An older couple, alleged to have been caught with five kilogrammes of cannabis in their Central Rupununi home, were yesterday remanded to prison by a city court.

The Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has advised that a murder charge be laid against the suspect in the murder of Ramkarran Mohanlall, who was stabbed to death last Wednesday evening.

Although there were increases in murders and armed robberies for the first month of the year, the Guyana Police Force says there was an overall drop in serious crime, which it credited in part to improved networking among the Joint Services.

There were seven road fatalities recorded for January, according to the Guyana Police Force, which says speeding caused more than half of the accidents.

The police are currently pursuing three suspects in the murder of a Brazilian national who was found with his throat slit in a mining camp located in the Cuyuni district on Tuesday.

Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) is seen as the “next frontier for development,” according to Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, who says residents can expect major infrastructural works.

A year after the inking of the Cummingsburg Accord which underpinned the successful pre-election alliance between APNU and the AFC, the partnership appears to be going strong and a major criticism that the Prime Minister was not chairing Cabinet in breach of the agreement has been quelled.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – West Indies have been struck by the late withdrawals of leading players Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, dealing yet another blow to the embattled Twenty20 World Cup squad.