Daily Archive: Tuesday, February 10, 2009

– steadiness in other sectors crucial as well –  Singh unveils $128.9B budget Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh yesterday unveiled a budget to the tune of $128.9 billion and identified a revival in the sugar industry and steadiness in other traditional sectors as key to the country’s economic stability for the year.

Millions more have been allocated for the construction of new airstrips at Wakenaam and Leguan.

– $20.4B in budget for education $20.4 billion has been allocated for the education sector in this year’s budget with $16.8 billion for operational current expenditure and $3.6 billion for capital projects.

– $13.6B to be spent in security sector The renovation of the Brickdam lockups is among the projects that will benefit from $13.6 billion budgeted for the security sector, which will see funds channelled into crucial infrastructural Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh made the announcement yesterday during the presentation of the 2009 Budget, also disclosing plans to fund modernising and strengthening of the judiciary by improving accountability and the timely dispensation of justice.

– $3.3B earmarked for upgrade The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) aims to reduce its dependence on diesel generation from 32% to 5% by year end while $3.3 billion has been earmarked to upgrade substations and transmission lines.

– Linden/Lethem highway study to be completed Over $7 billion has been allocated in this year’s national budget for roads and bridges with $1.8 billion of this allotted for the New Amsterdam to Moleson Creek road.

Though emphasising “prudence” in the face of an uncertain global economic climate, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh yesterday projected a real growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year of 4.7%.

The rice sector achieved its highest annual production level in five years and the focus this year will be on sustaining cultivation levels, improving seed quality and availability, introducing new and resilient varieties and improving efficiency in the paddy trade.

The first ever Micro-vascular Free Tissue Transfer in Guyana was done on a 29-year-old man whose only other option was amputation, according to a release from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Two persons, including a three-year-old child, have died and another person was injured in two separate road accidents at Essequibo yesterday.

– hands over Promenade Gardens Bandstand Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited yesterday launched its Mashramani Pan-o-rama 2009 steel band competition and also officially handed over to the Mayor and City Council, the newly refurbished Promenade Gardens Bandstand at the Promenade Gardens Georgetown.

Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson yesterday remanded to prison a 59-year-old man who allegedly had carnal knowledge of a 14-year-old girl.

A Pentecostal pastor, who would usually teach songs to prisoners at the Camp Street prison, was himself remanded to prison for allegedly smuggling a quantity of cannabis into the prison, hidden in his underwear and shoes.

Seven men, who were found dressed in female’s clothing, were each ordered to pay a court fine of $7,500 when they appeared yesterday before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

A 36-year-old man, who was allegedly found living with a 13-year-old girl with whom he is accused of having carnal knowledge, was remanded to prison yesterday when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

One of the four police constables who were charged with demanding money by menace from a man last November was remanded to prison yesterday when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

Every teaching institution must first go through an accreditation process with the Ministry of Education to ensure all the applicable standards are met.

Compared with a month ago, there is a vast improvement in the supply of vegetables and a concomitant improvement in prices and quality at city markets, mainly as a result of improved weather conditions Heavy rainfall in January saw farming communities along the East Coast flooded and this had affected the supply of vegetables to the major city markets, causing prices to double for what was described as sub-par produce.

The prisoner who escaped from in front of the Camp Street prison last month was sentenced to an additional two years imprisonment when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

With the establishment of a library at Bush Lot, West Berbice by the Madray Mootoo Foundation (MMF), villagers have a chance to widen their knowledge through reading.

Dear Editor, Recently, I was asked by a policymaker in New York about the population in Guyana and I was embarrassed because I could not answer with any certainty.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon will serve as chairman of the National Insurance Scheme Board until a new Board is appointed.

Dear Editor, I am an ardent reader of ‘Explore Guyana,’ the magazine on local tourism produced by the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) and published and edited by Mr Lokesh Singh of advertising and marketing services (based in St Lucia with offices in Guyana).

Asks Orin Davidson It was as satisfying a Test match result as any in recent times for West Indies cricket.

An inmate of the Camp Street prison who allegedly unlawfully wounded a female prison officer was remanded yesterday when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

Dear Editor, Engineer Malcolm Alli in his most recent letter to SN (January 13) again reiterated that the 7-door sluice was designed to release water to keep the Abary River “alive.” 

Chairman of the Compet-itions Committee of the West Demerara Cricket Association Lalta Digamber says that the New Line Aqua Farm 20/20 competition will be completed soon.

Dear Editor, Police ranks within the Essequibo Magisterial District of Region 2 are derelict in their responsibility to submit returns of service expeditiously in court matters.

By Rawle Toney Known for his dominance on the football pitch as a midfielder, national player Kayode “Magic Man” McKinnon will attempt the impossible on Saturday when he participates in a run from the Linden/Soesdyke Highway junction to the Minibus Park in Linden, a distance of approximately 40 miles.

Dear Editor, I will take a different angle in relation to Dr Steve Surajbally’s letter in the SN titled, ‘Crawford  kept the torch of true Olympism burning bright’ (February 6).

Dear Editor, If the PNCR does not rebuild the party and go on to win elections all members and supporters will walk through the door and never return.

West Indies Sevens rugby selectee Claudius Butts has stopped short of predicting upset wins for the team at the International Rugby Board’s (iRB) Sevens tournament in Hong Kong next month but wants the team to play decent rugby and produce some “stunning results.”

A 28-year-old carpenter pleaded guilty to the charge of simple larceny when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson on Wednesday last.

What should the public expect from the Oversight Committee on the Security Sector that is to be established in the National Assembly?

The Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) has slapped an indefinite suspension on the Kashif and Shanghai (K&S) Kings basketball club.

Joseph E. Stiglitz, professor of economics at Columbia University, and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, is co-author, with Linda Bilmes, of The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Costs of the Iraq Conflict.

The case against a woman charged with cocaine trafficking was dismissed at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court on Friday after police witnesses gave conflicting evidence.

Dear Editor, I refer to Mr Christopher Ram’s letter of February 8, in the Sunday Stabroek.