Daily Archive: Monday, January 8, 2007

Zaimoon Ramjohn, fish vendor – `I am a poor woman. Everything in the shops raise.

Having crossed into the new year and VAT land no one was expecting that the experience was going to be smooth.

Azeemul Hannif marked his return to the regional first class scene with an unbeaten half-century while new Guyana skipper Narsingh Deonarine scored another as the four-day Carib Beer Series match against the Windward Islands ended in a no-result at the Tanteen Recreation Sports Club ground in Grenada yesterday.

WATCHING Australia’s utter domination over England in the ultra-hyped Ashes series that ended with their 5-0 whitewash in Sydney on Friday was to replay similar humiliations inflicted by the West Indies on all opponents in the mid-1980s.

Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) beat Gandhi Youth Organization (GYO) by 75 runs in a friendly match played at the GYO ground yesterday in preparation for the upcoming cricket season.

Dear Editor, With all the outrage being expressed by the Guyanese consumers after experiencing the ‘hands on’ effects of VAT, I thought I should voice my opinion on this entire ‘shebang’ that has caused widespread confusion.

Dear Editor, In your newspaper reports, you have Commissioner General Sattaur saying that businesses should not charge the 16% VAT on the old prices that include the Consumption Tax.

Dear Editor, Please refer to a full page advertisement, which was published in your Stabroek News issue of Thursday, December 28, 2006 – Facts Every Citizen Should Know About The Georgetown Municipality – The Sorry State of Affairs, p 14, by Mayor Hamilton Green.

Dear Editor, I refer to your report on the proposed Casino Gambling legislation (07.01.05).

Dear Editor, The global forum in New Delhi where Guyanese are participants has relevance and application for Guyana and an effort should be made by the government to obtain copies of papers presented especially those relating to development.

Dear Editor, President Bharrat Jagdeo proudly refuses to bow to accepted dress codes and rules of grammar and is forging ahead with creating his own rules.

Dear Editor, The Christian Bible warns us that “what we sow is what we will reap eventually”.

Dear Editor, I have passed through a number of large scale logging concessions throughout Guyana and observed some techniques that seem to indicate a wanton waste of logs.

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.

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.

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.

If efforts are to be scaled up to meet Guyana’s national HIV/AIDS challenges more productive use of present resources is needed in addition to a greater mobilisation.

Lawyers for Citizen’s Bank and Willems Timber are arguing whether or not the Commercial Court is within its jurisdiction in adjudicating in the matter of the non-disbursement of a $240M loan.

A 34-year-old gold miner was last Thursday robbed of his gold chains valued over $200,000 by two motorcycle bandits, one of whom was armed with a handgun.

Region Six Regional Chairman Zulfikar Mustapha says Berbicians need to participate fully in development in the new year.

The Mayor and City Council on Friday officially announced that it has privatized garbage collection at Bourda Market, but that workers will not be made redundant.

A draft of a new money laundering bill is being circulated for comment to eventually replace the six-year-old one which is still to be fully activated and money transfer businesses and planned casino gambling would likely come under sharp scrutiny.

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%.

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 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.

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.

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.

Six Guyanese charged in the biggest drug bust in Barbados’ history are still on trial.

The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) says it is taking steps to regularise vending in front of Stabroek Market and added that it is alarmed at the increasing amount of refuse accumulating in different sections of the city.

The bulk of the 5.6 million euros Guyana received last year to cushion the 5% cut in the price of sugar on the European market went towards upgrading the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) packaging plant.

The Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTYSC) said it invested $1.2M to make the season brighter for underprivileged Lower Corentyne residents.

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) says it’s delegation to the Public Services International (PSI) Conference on Racism in Miami consisted of members from its Youth Committee as it believed that they are grappling with racism in the public service.

An armed bandit robbed an elderly man at gunpoint on Friday at Thomas Street, Cummingsburg of a quantity of gold jewellery and cash.

Five men, including one armed with a handgun last week robbed a 17-year-old in Agricola and police subsequently held two suspects.