Daily Archive: Friday, November 23, 2007

An unfamiliar country keeps popping up in press reports about drug trafficking: Guinea Bissau.

From the routine deception of commercial “giveaways” and the numerous promotions to increase sales, to the occasional real offers of gifts; from the varied forms of exploitation of labour by greedy unscrupulous employers to the threat by under-performing public abilities to deprive the poor of their services, you just know that the “Season” is upon us.

Magistrate Geeta Chandan, sitting at the Weldaad Court, yesterday again refused bail for the man who was accused of beheading another.

A 45-year-old teacher will have to spend the holiday season in prison after Magistrate Allan Wilson remanded him yesterday on an indecent assault charge.

Nothing quite characterises the contradictions in the current ‘Operation Safeway’ as the success in arresting hundreds of petty offenders on the one hand, and the comparative failure to arrest the spiralling toll of road fatalities, on the other.

Bosia Minerals is to spend more than US$10m in gearing the company for what the company’s Personnel and Industrial Superintendent Peter Benny says is “a determined push” to significantly increase production next year.

TCL Guyana Inc., (TGI) a subsidiary of the TCL Group of Trinidad and Tobago, the leading supplier of cement in the region, is adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ position in relation to the Government of Guyana’s continued waiver of the 15 per cent Common External Tariff (CET) on cement imported from outside the region.

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Earlier this week the Venezuelan Embassy in Georgetown issued a statement giving itself a huge pat on the back over the delivery by Caracas of 16,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel in response to an appeal by the Government of Guyana.

My week started on Sunday evening with a 9pm skype conference call with one of my vendors in China.

I recently served as Chairman of the Guyana Fire Advisory Board and on many occasions issues and topics were debated and decisions made by members of the Board.

The Chinese company Bosia Minerals has disclosed that it is currently engaged in studies at Linden that will lead to the installation of an efficient dust collection system at the company’s Linden bauxite-mining operations.

The Demerara Bank Limited achieved a profit of $560 million after tax for the year ended September 30, 2007 compared to $283 million in the preceding year, an increase of 98%.

Several major projects by the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) are planned for implementation during next year, some of which are part of Phase II of the MMA scheme, said General Manager of the MMA/ADA Aubrey Charles, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported .

The Guyana Police Consumers Cooperative Society says it expects to exceed its 2006 sales turnover of $11m this year.

As the end of the sixth year without an investor draws to a close, the 6,000 to 7,000 depositors of Globe Trust and Investment Company Limited (GTICL) will yet again have to wonder if and when the court ordered restructuring of the entity will be completed.

Demerara, led by another responsible innings from captain Travis Dowlin, ended the first day of their final-round Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Senior Inter-County four-day match against Berbice at the Police Sports Club ground on 296-5.

Berbice Police defeated Rose Hall Community Centre by 100 runs in their rescheduled first round game in the Berbice Cricket Board zone of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Carib Beer/Pepsi sponsored national Twenty20 first-division cricket competition played at the Rose Hall Canje ground yesterday.

Caribbean Airlines yesterday made a donation of four airline tickets to the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) to help its players participate in an upcoming training camp in Trinidad and Tobago.

Two matches will kick off the Namilco knockout football festival organised by the Fruta Conquerors Football Club this evening at the Tucville playfield.

The Kashif and Shanghai organization yesterday began receiving sponsorship for their year-end football extravaganza with F&T Design and Cell Phone Shack being two of the first sponsors to come on board.

Dear Editor, A few weeks ago a number of us were privileged to share a moment in history.

Dear Editor, My heart bleeds when I see young children making their way to school alone.

Dear Editor, I read your report on the shooting incident involving the minister of government.

Dear Editor, Under a dictatorship the king does whatever he wants, and so, many of those ministers, advisers and other paid officials become mere rubber stamps.

Dear Editor, I wish to refer to the letter by Kassa Barnett captioned “Eric Williams did not get the idea for capitalism and slavery from CLR James” (07.11.16) which was in response to that by Abu Bakr on November 7, 2007.

Dear Editor, “A girl child ain’t safe in a family of men,” says Sophia in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple.

Dear Editor, A widespread problem facing students in our classrooms across Guyana is the absence of teachers to deliver the curriculum.

Dear Editor, I have been following the news on child abuse in Guyana.

Dear Editor, In March of 2005, when the residents of Kwakwani protested because of the poor state of the roads in the community, the management of the bauxite company offered the community $100,000 per month to assist with development.

Dear Editor, In March 2007, Red Thread launched its “Fostering Good Governance” campaign, with four priorities: A living income for all grassroots women, across all divides.

Dear Editor, I had no problem getting my turkey dinner this past Thanksgiving thanks to Thanksgiving dinners being offered (quite publicly advertised in the local newspapers) by restaurants like Buddy’s, Oasis Caf

Dear Editor, After 28 years of authoritarian rule, the US and the West pressured the PNC government into holding free and fair elections under international supervision.

Dear Editor, From international reports, it would seem that the powers that be are now awakening to the fact that global warming is a threat to every person in every country.

Dear Editor, I bought a bag of starter from the feed shop in Barr Street.

Dear Editor, I am asking Minister Benn if he can please send in the crew that cleans the drains.

A Venezuelan publication is calling on that country’s government to admit it made a mistake, offer apologies and pay compensation for the two dredges its military destroyed in the Cuyuni on November 15.

Instead of maximizing profits in the run up to the Christmas season, two Regent Street businesses might be head-to-head in court over a property dispute.

On the morning of Thursday, November 15, 36 Venezuelan soldiers, including members of an engineering corps under the command of a general, invaded Guyana’s territory in the Cuyuni River.

A ten-year-old girl was killed yesterday around 2 pm when she was struck down by a car on the Public Road at Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara.

By next year, the capacity to conduct HIV tests on babies within the first 12 weeks of their birth should be a reality as Guyana continues to record success in executing its HIV, malaria, tuberculosis programmes.

Members of the House of Lords in the British Parliament said on Wednesday that Guyana can solicit support in a number of areas to further strengthen bilateral relations with Britain.

A Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice man was last evening killed when a Dipcon truck crashed into the back of the truck he was on, pitching him off and crushing parts of his body.

Five students of the University of Guyana (UG) who were tasked with erasing the stigma attached to students with special needs, recently presented stationery worth $150,000 and monetary assistance to the New Amsterdam Special Needs School (NASNS).

Two Stabroek News reporters have claimed top honours in the 2007 Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Media Awards for Excellence in Health Journalism.

Residents of Mocha Arcadia, including the parents and peers of raped and murdered primary school pupil Sade Stoby, protested outside the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security yesterday on the eve of the preliminary inquiry into her killing.

Belgian firm Explorer Trade and Commerce, Ltd yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), claiming US$170,000 for profits lost owing to the continued detention of its diamonds.

Acting General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) Norris Witter yesterday condemned what he said was government’s continued violation of the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) by imposing pay increases on public servants.

Two persons are now patients of the Georgetown Public Hospital after being involved in separate accidents on Wednesday night.

The PNCR is calling for an independent enquiry into the operations of the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) in the wake of numerous blackouts in recent weeks and its inability to access fuel in a timely manner.

The Georgetown City Council is to launch a public awareness and enforcement campaign on December 3 to deal with the worrying problem of accumulation of refuse in different sections of the city.

Two bandits robbed employees of Caesar’s Palace at D’Urban and Hardina streets location just after lunch yesterday, after placing them to lie on the ground.

Six armed bandits on Wednesday barged into a West Demerara church and relieved the pastor and congregation of more than $2 million during worship service.

A man accused of obtaining items by fraud was granted bail when he appeared at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

A pastor caught speeding, who said that he was rushing to start his service on time, was fined $15,000 when he appeared at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court to answer to that charge yesterday.

Construction on the National Archives building on Homestretch Avenue is in its final stages and it should be open before the end of the year, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony said on Tuesday.

A 17-year-old boy is hospitalized at the Georgetown Public Hospital after he was stabbed several times about the body by a man with whom he had an old grievance.

Twelve men, including a suspect in last week’s murder and robbery of a Demerara Oxygen Company (DOCOL) employee, were arrested early Wednesday morning when police searched some 14 homes during raids in La Penitence, Albouystown, Albertown, and Diamond, East Bank Demarara.

A Berbice man is currently a patient of the Burns Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital after he set himself alight following a misunderstanding with his wife.

Police last night captured 19-year-old Linden Roberts called ‘Travis’, who had been on the run since the killing his 14-year-old lover back in March at Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara.

Armed bandits last evening shot a Campbellville teen and robbed him of a quantity of cash and jewellery during a ten-minute robbery spree on a Sheriff Street business place last night.