Daily Archive: Friday, November 16, 2007

WASHINGTON DC – After eight years on the job, Carla del Ponte is about to step down as the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.

A few weeks ago, I had conceded that I, and quite a few thousands of other adult Guyanese, I suspect, paid little attention to issues related to one of our “most huge” natural resources – our vast forests.

Former Guyana Defence Force soldier Mark Fraser was found guilty of manslaughter in the High Court yesterday over the killing of another soldier at an East Coast camp five years ago.

Last week’s 17th Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, attended by the Heads of State and Government of twenty-two countries from Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, was supposed to have been all about social cohesion.

The “elaborate telecommunications” buildout undertaken by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) since the signing in 1991 of an agreement with the Government of Guyana and Atlantic Tele Network (ATN) has completely revolutionized several critical sectors of the Guyanese economy and improved the quality of life in Guyana as a whole, according to the company’s Deputy General Manager, Public Communications, Terry Holder.

Two local private sector businessmen have joined the debate on crime, security and the economy sparked by public comments made by former Guyana Defence Force Commander Brigadier (retd) David Granger and Cabinet Secretary Dr.

The disclosure by the Government Analyst Food and Drugs Department that retailers are mixing flour with powdered milk and offering the mixture for sale as pure powdered milk is one of those shameful and infuriating manifestations of a thoroughly corrupt commercial culture that has long been an occupational hazard of shopping in Guyana.

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The edifice of the commercial banking system is built around an efficient and effective payments system.

Which place in Guyana do you enjoy doing business with, because it offers you the service that you, as a customer, expect and which you would like to see publicly recognized and honoured for its commitment to customer service?

Stabroek Friday Business supplement is the only such publication in Guyana.

Consumer complaints that unpackaged powdered milk being offered for sale to consumers in shops and markets is being ‘mixed’ with flour to ‘push up’ the profit margins of shopkeepers and vendors have led to calls from the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department for the milk to be “bagged and labelled” before being sold to consumers.

Guyana ranks 141 in shipping and logistics out of 150 countries surveyed in a World Bank study which shows that being competitive means having the capabilities to connect to international markets to ship goods.

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) is moving to put new measures in place in an effort to reduce the number of land-line telephone services being surrendered by low-income persons who find it difficult to afford retention of the service, according to the Company’s Director of Consumer Affairs, Pamela Briggs.

The IMF’s 2007 Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere says the erosion of European Union (EU) trade preferences will cause Guyana to have a cumulative output decline of up to 6.5% by 2010 as the preferential sugar trade is phased out.

Notes 1 – Interim results 2 – Prospective EPS: earnings per share for 12 months period to the date the latest financials have been prepared.

Carlon Halley of Corentyne/ District Six, stunned crowd favourite Dennis Horatio in the final of the male U-20 1500m metres yesterday at the National Schools Track and Field championships in what was the most exhilarating day of competition in this year’s event.

Local golfers are preparing for a massive foreign invasion as more than 65 golfers will tee off this weekend in the Smirnoff Guyana Open Golf tournament at the Lusignan Golf Club (LGC) on the East Coast of Demerara.

Berbice begin their campaign in the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) senior four-day Inter-County cricket competition today when they take on the hapless Essequibo team at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground under the captaincy of fast bowler Esaun Crandon.

The Berbice zone of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) nationwide Carib Beer/Pepsi Twenty/20 cricket competition will continue today with six third round matches divided between zones ‘A’ and ‘B’.

The Caribbean island of St Lucia has latched on to an idea which, if successful, could change the very future of Caribbean sports.

With the continued promise of sponsorship for the Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB) Under-17 Inter-County competitions for 2008 and beyond, insurance giants CLICO (Guyana) Limited handed over jerseys to the Guyana/CLICO under -17 team at the GCB office on Tuesday afternoon.

Dear Editor, I write to publicly express my dismay and apprehension concerning what went on in Parliament last week when the Citizens Petition on the Draft Forestry Bill 2007 was circulated to members for consideration.

Dear Editor, I am ineluctably constrained to respond to a letter from Mr Narinedat Harripersaud headlined “Minister Persaud’s Power Point presentation was a rehash of a booklet given to the attendees” (07.11.14).

Dear Editor, The more Abu Bakr writes the more he exposes his prejudices.

Dear Editor, I wish to respond to a letter by Narinedatt Harripersaud captioned “Mr Persaud’s Power Point presentation was a rehash of booklet given to those present” (07.11.14).

Dear Editor, I refer to Abu Bakr’s letter captioned “Naipaul reinvented himself as an upper class Englishman” (07/11/02).

Dear Editor, Two of the world’s economic powerhouses will shortly ask the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to determine the legality of US agricultural subsidies in a move that can have a lasting impact on the world’s agricultural sector.

Dear Editor, So the Chronicle, along with its pseudonym letter writers are on a shock and awe campaign against Stabroek News and Brigadier Colonel David Granger, in relation to money laundering, narcotics and criminal activities in Guyana.

Dear Editor, Friday, November 16, 2007, is designated International Day of Tolerance by the United Nations.

Dear Editor, I have noted your apology to the Police Commissioner on the question of torture but cannot stop wondering how your reporter could have made such a mistake.

Dear Editor, Is Guyana becoming like Thailand and Costa Rica where paedophiles can lure poor children with money and cheap gifts so they can have sex with them?

Dear Editor, With the International Duck Curry competition approaching in Guyana, I would like to mention some aspects of the New York event.

A chef who allegedly chopped another in his head with a hatchet during a confrontation in City Mall on Regent Street was on Wednesday charged with attempted murder.

A Bagotstown man was shot dead and then robbed of cash shortly after eight o’clock last night by at least two bandits, while he was delivering cooking gas at Stevedore Housing Scheme in south Georgetown.

A gun-toting bandit yesterday snatched a bag containing the day’s sales from a Kissoon Furniture Store employee, as he was about to do a safety deposit at a city bank.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon announced yesterday that consistent electricity supply would return in a day or two.

Seventeen Latin American and Caribbean countries have pledged to improve basic water and sanitation services by placing these issues high on their political agendas.

A 35-year-old father of six of Friendship, Corentyne had to be rushed to the New Amsterdam on Tuesday afternoon after four persons in the area beat him about his head and body pieces of wood and a steel rod in apparent revenge over a previous matter involving the police.

The defence and prosecution in the case involving a man accused of stuffing over 13 kilos of cocaine in corilla for shipping made closing arguments at the Providence Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, but the matter was later adjourned to allow the defence counsel to make further submissions.

A new four-year Collective Labour Agreement (CLA)was signed Wednesday by the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) and the Management of Bosai Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc at Watooka House in Linden.

For a second year HIV testing will be done countrywide today and efforts have been scaled up to reach the target of 2,500 persons before sites close at 5 pm.

The Guyana HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Project on Wednesday launched the new HIV/AIDS subprojects civil society programme, inking 20 pacts for subprojects to be implemented countrywide.

The delay in taking prisoners to the Blairmont Court on time on Wednesday has led to the preliminary inquiry of murder, trafficking in narcotics and other cases being postponed.

The Food for the Poor (FFTP) organization recently presented 50 combination chairs and other items to the Lachmansingh Primary School at Bush Lot, West Berbice, as part of its drive to assist in the education sector.

A group of senior tourism students from the University of Guyana (UG) recently handed over a number of items to Youth Challenge Guyana’s (YCG) Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programme.

Regional banks risk losing customer base if they do not adopt innovative services, like mobile phone banking and investment advice, in the changing customer demographic bankers heard at the CAIB Conference on Wednesday.

One of the judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has been explaining to law students of the Nova South Eastern University in Florida, Caribbean lawyers and members of the St Vincent Association of South Florida, the structure of the CCJ and its role in the region.

A simulated aircraft crash emergency exercise was conducted at the Timehri airport on Wednesday to ensure that its operations and capabilities remain in accordance with the standards and requirements of an international aviation establishment.

The continuation of the trial into the 2004 US$2M insurance scam was on Wednesday adjourned after two lawyers announced that they have applied to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to represent the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, on which the scam was allegedly committed.

Gavin Waaldijk, the 23-year-old Guyanese from Linden held in the US in August, allegedly with 35 kilos of cocaine, is considering a plea bargain, according to documents seen by this newspaper.

The National Assembly yesterday passed the Supplemen-tary Appropriation Bill (No. 1 for 2007) approving $8.679 billion for current and capital expenditure.

hree days after 22 fishing boats were attacked by pirates close to the shores of Suriname the captain and crew from another boat arrived at the Number 66 Fish Port Complex on the Corentyne early Wednesday morning.

Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud on Wednesday met Mahaicony and Mahaica farmers to inform them about the drainage works planned to mitigate flooding during the imminent rainy season.

Relatives yesterday witnessed the exhumations of the bodies of three fishermen, which had washed up on the Corentyne shores, and arranged to take them to the East Coast Demerara to perform the “last rites.”

More than 50% of Regent Street businesses said there was need for more bins need to be placed in the area and have called for greater consultations between them and the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).

Shane Phillips, who is currently serving an eight-year sentence for using forged Office of the President (OP) cash payment vouchers to obtain millions of dollars in items from various city stores, was on Wednesday slapped with four additional charges.