Daily Archive: Friday, February 27, 2009

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., (Reuters) – President Barack  Obama said yesterday he would pull U.S.

– judicial manager to point way forward Assets of CLICO (Guyana) that escaped the ravages of the collapse of its sister company in the Bahamas are now under the supervision of the High Court, which has appointed Commissioner of Insurance Maria van Beek to manage its affairs as the government here scrambles to protect policyholders.

-says efforts were being made to retrieve Bahamas assets President Bharrat Jagdeo  yesterday strongly defended his government’s handling of the crisis which has seen CLICO (Guyana) placed under judicial management in the backdrop of earlier statements where both he and the CLICO management had said there was nothing to worry about He told members of the media  that the government’s move yesterday (see other story on page 20) to intervene in CLICO (Guyana) was brought about specifically because of the position with CLICO (Bahamas) where that country’s Supreme Court ordered its liquidation on Tuesday, which affected more than half of the assets of CLICO (Guyana).

-was bound and gagged, robbery suspected An elderly man, his hands and feet bound, was found dead in his D’Urban Backlands home yesterday, in an apparent robbery/murder.

Chartered accounting firm Ram & McRae yesterday urged the National Assembly to take immediate action to address systemic deficiencies that it says contributed to Guyana’s exposure to the Duprey-controlled CLICO Group’s financial turmoil, warning that the country faces the worst financial crisis in its history.

Jagdeo: `The Government of Guyana wishes to assure the public that, unlike in some developed countries, steps will be taken to protect the pensions of those who have saved and invested in the institutions affected by these recent events’ The Hand-in-Hand Trust Corporation has a total current exposure  to the Stanford group of $827 million (US$4 million), in addition to $297 million (US $1.5 million) invested on behalf of pension funds, President Bharrat Jagdeo revealed yesterday.

-Persaud tells Parliament Facing intense scrutiny over the location of the proposed $3 billion Hope canal, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud on Wednesday said the government would move ahead with inputs from the best experts.

A motion by PNCR leader, Robert Corbin to have the business of the House adjourned to debate what he described as “the financial crisis in Guyana caused by the distress of CLICO, Hand-in-Hand and other entities” as a matter of urgent public importance was denied by Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran yesterday.

President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said he was unaware of reports that Canada has trimmed Guyana from the list of countries that will receive international bilateral assistance.

-over CLICO fiasco The PNCR and the AFC yesterday demanded the resignations of both the Minister of Finance and the Commissioner of Insurance over the crisis that has engulfed CLICO (Guyana).

The voir dire (trial within a trial) into an alleged oral statement made by David Leander called `Biscuit’ who is accused of the murder of Satyadeow Sawh, two siblings and a security guard, continued yesterday with testimony from a police detective.

– US State Department report Government has demonstrated diminishing tolerance for publicly expressed opposing views, the 2008 US State Department Human Rights report has said.

Following two weeks of debate on the Minister of Finance Ashni Singh’s speech and the consideration of the estimates of expenditure in the Committee of Supply, the National Assembly last evening passed the Appropriation Bill 2009 to pave the way for expenditure.

The Region Ten Administration has commended Kayode McKinnon for undertaking a 40-mile run on St Valentine’s Day to highlight the plight of persons infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS.

President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Chandradat Chintamani has told Stabroek Business that the Chamber is concerned that the 2009 budget does nothing to increase consumer spending power.

Union wants answers Acting General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, Norris Witter has told Stabroek Business that Tuesday’s announcement regarding the liquidation of CLICO (Bahamas) “raises entirely valid questions about the state of health of the CLICO (Guyana) operations” and demands that the local company now make a “full and detailed disclosure” regarding the state of its finances in order to allay the concerns of investors in the company.

Over the years there have been exhaustive discussions on the country’s failure to maximize its returns from the various raw materials including, particularly, timber, fruits and vegetables  on account of its lack of attention to the importance of adding value to those products  The truth is that setting aside a few notable exceptions – Precision Woodworking is perhaps one example that comes easiest to mind – neither the government nor the private sector has paid any really significant attention to adding value to the raw materials that we produce.

(Barbados Nation) After 176 days of fighting for the right to be a father to his child, the effort has paid off for a 31-year-old Guyanese man.

LONDON, (Reuters) – The cost to aid budgets of the  world economic downturn is headed for billions of dollars,  slashing assistance to the world’s poorest people just as it  becomes harder for them to make money for themselves.

FOR four barren hours yesterday, West Indies appeared to have given up something for the Lenten season – taking wickets.

Dear Editor, Influenced no doubt by the irresistible spirit of patriotism, The National Demo-cratic Movement in 1999 engaged the Cubans in discussion on seeking an appropriate way to honour those who perished in the Cubana air disaster in 1976 off the coast of Barbados.

Rawle Lucas is a Guyanese-born Certified Public Accountant and Assistant Vice-President of the Lending Services Division.

More than two years after he hit and killed a pedal cyclist on the Good Hope Public Road, Ameron Julab was yesterday found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison by Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Prime Minister Gordon Brown was  ticked off for breaching rules on expenses yesterday but  cleared of deliberately trying to deceive parliamentary  authorities.

CONAKRY, (Reuters) – The son of Guinea’s late  president said he had been part of a drug smuggling network in a  televised confession filmed after an all-night interrogation.

Dear Editor, We refer to Mr Seegobin’s letter (‘Risk analysis study for conservancy relief absolutely needed,’ SN 24.2.09) on the Hope Canal Project and recommend that he forward his concerns to the Government of Guyana for a risk analysis of the conservancy dikes and flooding which should be carried out.

SO severely tested on the last day of the ARG Test, the West Indies’ resilience was again placed under severe strain at Kensington yesterday.

The Ministry of Housing and Water plans to develop 18 solar water projects to boost access to potable water in several hinterland communities.

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the United States Embassy in Georgetown are collaborating on an initiative aimed at building capacity among local cash crop farmers in order to maximize their overseas earning potential.

The 24th Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police (ACCP) will now be held in Guyana from May 11-15, following last year’s devastating hurricane in The Turks and Caicos, the original host country.

Ravens still undefeated as climax nears By Rawle Toney Dyna’s Ravens remain on course to cop the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) First Division league after scraping past the Beepat Scorpions 78-72 on Wednesday at the Burnham Basketball Court.

Stabroek Business has been reliably informed that several employees of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) who were sent home in the wake of the alleged pension scam have signed documents agreeing to subject themselves to polygraph tests.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – An antibody being developed  by a Dutch drug company chokes off both seasonal flu and the  H5N1 avian flu virus and might offer a way to develop better  treatments and vaccines, researchers reported yesterday.

Dear Editor, Two months ago a lantern post fell down at Better Hope Public Road, resulting in almost one mile without road lights.

Muslim Aid recently donated a number of recreational games and equipment to the Shaheed boys and girls orphanages.

– organizers up prize money By Rawle Toney The top teams from Linden and Georgetown will now have to wait one more week before they can go at each other since the Next Level Entertainment basketball tournament which was proposed to start on  March 1 will now get underway on Friday, March 5 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

BARCELONA, (Reuters) – Everybody at this week’s  Mobile World Congress in Barcelona wanted to be the new best  friend of the social networks.

Dear Editor, It was with interest I read your editorial ‘The cold, cold truth’ (SN 23.2.09).

LONDON, (Reuters) – Britain’s defence minister made  an unusual public apology yesterday, admitting Britain had  taken part in the “rendition” of suspects detained in Iraq after  denying it for years.

Make no mistake, whether the opponent is Lennox `Too Sharp’ Allen, Howard `Battersea Bomber’ Eastman or whoever else, Leon `The Lion’ Gilkes is ready to roar.

Dear Editor, I refer to the letters written by Rajendra Rampersaud and Hamilton Greene about Forbes Burnham and Boysie Ramkarran.

The chairman of the Police Complaints Authority will be meeting with residents of Region Ten to inform them of the agency’s function.

(Jamaica Gleaner) – It was billed as a late-night party at Kingston Harbour, but the boat never left the dock, as a barrage of bullets brought the session to its premature end.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Calling accused swindler  Bernard Madoff a “crook, a thief, a scoundrel,” Holocaust  survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel said yesterday he could never forgive the man he says stole all of  his foundation’s money.   

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – A flagship government food  subsidy scheme is failing and millions in India remain hungry  despite years of economic boom, a U.N.

– court told A 19-year-old mason yesterday pleaded not guilty to the charge of possession of narcotics when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Barack Obama  forecast the biggest US deficit since World War Two in a  budget yesterday that urges a costly overhaul of the  healthcare system and would spend billions to arrest the  economy’s freefall.

Dear Editor, I am suggesting to the Berbice Chamber of Commerce, the RDC of Region Six, the Private Sector Commission and the Government Office For Investment that the land along both sides of the Berbice River Bridge road, from the Palmyra Public Road to the bridge be set aside for commercial purposes for private investors.

Anniversary present: Fifty lucky Digicel customers won Nokia 5000 handsets as part of the company’s second anniversary celebrations.

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

CHICAGO/NEW YORK, (Reuters) – When Hyundai Motor Co  launched a new U.S.

-Seeram hopes his bowlers get it right Coach of the Windward Islands national team Ian Allen is looking for a repeat result  while Guyana’s Rabindranauth Seeram hopes his bowlers get it right when the two teams clash in their eighth round encounter of   the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional four-day competition at the Guyana National Stadium from today.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Minister of Agriculture Dr Christopher Tufton is going after middlemen in the agriculture trade who pay farmers very little.

World Bank Director for the Caribbean Country Management Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Yvonne Tsikata on Wednesday discussed with President Bharrat Jagdeo general issues related to the global financial crisis and how Guyana was responding.

Action continues tonight with double header By Rawle Toney Second round action in the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) Senior Club Championship is set for tonight at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court with a double header which should be interesting.

Dear Editor, With regards to recent letters in SN on the movie Slumdog Millionaire, people talked a lot about the movie during my extensive travel in India earlier this month (in the cities as well as in the remote villages).

PARIS, (Reuters) – Clint Eastwood paid homage to  French cinema after the Cannes Film Festival gave a special  lifetime achievement award to the evergreen Hollywood legend,  who is presenting his latest film at the age of 78.

Call for regional banking regulation The Governor of the Barbados Central Bank has urged that a regional regulatory system for the financial sector be put in place.

Black history? Common suffering! Having been away from the homeland for a month, I might have missed activities to observe – or celebrate – Black History Month (of African Heritage) this February 2009.

Dear Editor, I am grateful to Mayor Hamiliton Green for his response in Stabroek News (‘It is not the case that Boysie Ramkarran had more influence in Parliament than Burnham’) dated 25.2.09, to my letter in Kaieteur News on 23.2.09 (Boysie Ramkarran had more impact on parliamentary proceedings than Burnham did’).

Two `trunkers’ (persons who steal from vehicles) were yesterday caught by public-spirited citizens in the vicinity Orange Walk, Bourda as they tried to escape and were later handed over to the police.

A 28-year-old taxi driver was not required to plead to the charge of robbery under arms when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson yesterday at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

(Trinidad Express) – It was the season for multiple wins as the National Carnival Commission (NCC) announced the winners of Carnival 2009 at the new VIP lounge at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, yesterday.

Former Guyana under-19 player Krishna Deosarran struck 69 yesterday in a losing effort against PowerGen in the round of 16 of the Carib Twenty/20 league.

This article was received from Project Syndicate, an international not-for-profit association of newspapers dedicated to hosting a global debate on the key issues shaping our world.

A couple of weeks ago, in noting that former Foreign Ministers Sir Shridath Ramphal and Rashleigh Jackson had turned 80, we waxed a little nostalgic about the brain power they had at their disposal, the likes of which the foreign service, if not Guyana, appears to have lost.

SANTO DOMINGO,  (Reuters) – At least 14 people were  arrested in the Dominican Republic in a joint investigation by  local and U.S.