Daily Archive: Tuesday, November 20, 2007

PALO ALTO, CALIF. – The fact that America’s economy is slowing is bad news for Europeans, regardless of claims that Europe’s economy has successfully decoupled itself from the United States.

A 16-year-old boy who admitted that he stole items worth over $75,000 was remanded into police custody pending sentence while his alleged accomplice who denied the charge was remanded to prison, when the duo appeared at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Kitty resident Sherwin Bentick was yesterday found guilty of stashing 13 kilos of cocaine in corilla for shipment earlier this year, and was sentenced to five years in prison together with a $30,000 fine by Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

Magistrate Geeta Chandan denied a West Berbice port-knocker his pre-trial freedom when he appeared at the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court on Monday to answer to a charge of felonious wounding.

Magistrate Geeta Chandan remanded to prison a 30-year-old man charged with four counts of carnal knowledge against a 13-year-old girl, when he appeared at the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

When UNICEF celebrates the 18th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child today, it will appoint Ishmael Beah as an Ambassador.

Guyana’s men’s rugby Sevens side retained their North American West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA) Sevens crown after a 7-5 final win over Jamaica on Sunday at the Winton Rugby Pitch, Nassau, The Bahamas NAWIRA website reported.

Tricky winds and overcast conditions forced the shooters on the back foot but defending champion Ransford Goodluck, who had a sizeable lead going into the final day Sunday, held on to win the National Rifle Shooting championships at the Timehri rifle ranges.

Ronald Roberts and Taffim Khan tied for first place when the national junior Chess championship ended on Saturday at the Ocean Spray Hotel.

History will record that Canadian-based Guyanese Jaipaul Suknanan won the men’s category and Christine Sukhram the ladies title in a very exciting showdown when the Smirnoff Open Golf championships climaxed at the Lusignan Golf Course last weekend.

Essequibo, also known as the Cinderella County could not summon her fairy godmother for help yesterday going down to Berbice by an innings and 151 runs in their Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) senior four-day Inter-County cricket match at the Demerara Cricket Club ground, (DCC) Queenstown.

Khemraj Chanderpaul, father of Guyana, West Indies and Durham middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, struck a whirlwind 55 ball 100 on Sunday to guide his team Ghandi Youth Organization (GYO) to a mammoth 210 runs victory in their Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Over-40 cricket match against Everest Cricket Club at the GYO ground.

Minister responsible for Sport Dr. Frank Anthony has promised that a comprehensive football programme is soon to be launched in the schools.

Dear Editor, I had on two previous occasions written to express my profound concern about what I considered to be a “crisis” in the judiciary.

Dear Editor, My job entails having to consult the Gazetteer of Guyana and the latest Georgetown map – which map is more than 28 years old.

Dear Editor, Letters to Stabroek News by Mr Wesley Kirton and Mr Nizam Hassan have defended Minister Robert Persaud’s presentation and the execution of the forum in Florida to promote investment in Guyana’s agricultural sector.

Dear Editor, I was, frankly, amazed to see the Guyana Chronicle carrying the letter from Red Thread last week expressing its concern, anger and frustration at the AFC’s statement on the VAT, in which Raphael Trotman indicated that a letter had been sent out to a number of stakeholders, who turned out to be the usual lineup of political parties and trade unions (with the exception of Eileen Cox, tireless consumer advocate), and which completely bypassed Red Thread and indicated a most worrying tendency to conduct business as usual.

Dear Editor, During my last discussion with Cheddi Jagan around 1990, he said that the PNC government was preparing the Afro community to fail.

Dear Editor, SN’s headline (11.17.07) titled, “Venezuela invades Guyana’s territory – military blows up two dredges” struck with all the sound and force of those explosions.

Dear Editor, I am gravely concerned about the way in which leading political figures use our roadways with little or no regard for the lives of others.

Dear Editor, The disclosures by the head of the Criminal Investigation Department Mr Seelall Persaud are something new.

Dear Editor, Democracy means more than just ‘winning’ elections. However, in Guyana it appears as though democracy ceases to exist immediately after elections have been held – this is done in order to accommodate the new king to the throne.

Dear Editor, Mr Mike Persaud, in his letter captioned “Mr Burke and others fail to understand the need to develop a genuine multi racial democracy” (07.11.14) does not recognize the power of culture in achieving cohesiveness among races in the battle for dominance.

The Venezuelan mission in Guyana has not received the expected report from authorities in that country on the invasion of Guyana’s territory and the destruction of two mining dredges by the Venezuelan military, nor has there been a response to Guyana’s diplomatic note from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry.

A 47-year-old watch repairman was on Sunday morning discovered lying dead on the roadway not far from his Best Village, West Coast Demerara (WCD) home and it is suspected that he was murdered.

Electricity woes continued yesterday, since even as technicians were attempting to power a four-megawatt generating set on Sunday at Garden of Eden, it shut down, the power company said in a press release.

A number of Guyoil-franchised gas stations were out of gasoline or close to the end of their supplies yesterday.

Police are investigating the death of a 24-year-old Linden/Soesdyke Highway man who was knocked from his bicycle on Sunday morning.

The parliamentary opposition parties have decided to meet urgently with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to clarify matters related to the soon to begin house-to-house registration exercise.

President Bharrat Jagdeo is in Uganda attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit, which ends today.

Although vendors at the Mackenzie Waterfront Market have been given a respite until next January before they have to move to the new market on Mackenzie Wharf, one of them has moved to the High Court seeking to have the decision by the town clerk of Linden to relocate them in the first place quashed.

Minister of Education Shaik Baksh said parents need to get involved in their children’s education, show commitment and work in partnership with the ministry to achieve success.

Within and beyond the cricket, racial and political boundaries was the interesting theme of Guyanese born Professor Clem Seecharan’s Walter Rodney Memorial lecture at Warwick University last week.

Justice Jainarayan Singh has ordered the Guyana Elections Commission to show cause why the court should not quash its recent decision refusing proportionate allocation of monies to the combined parliamentary opposition parties for the purpose of offsetting their respective expenses for scrutineering activities in the house-to-house registration.

Presidential Adviser on Empowerment Odinga Lumumba up to yesterday remained in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and not the High Dependency Unit (HDU) as was previously reported, in a stable condition.

A Sophia resident is nursing a stab wound to his chest at the Georgetown Public Hospital after he was accosted and robbed of a cellular phone on Saturday night.

A policeman is now a patient of the Georgetown Public Hospital after accidentally shooting himself in the foot while cleaning his gun.

An ex-policeman was shot last evening as he tried to escape an armed man who approached him and a friend as they were sitting on a bridge in Laing Avenue, West Ruimveldt.

Radio’s Needy Children’s Fund recently gave scholarships to 22 children for the academic year 2007/2008 under its annual scholarship programme.

A 16-year-old who reportedly slapped another boy on Sunday was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital after the same boy sought revenge and stabbed him in his abdomen last evening.