Articles published on Friday, May 25, 2012
NOTTINGHAM, England, CMC – Marlon Samuels stroked a high class, unbeaten century while captain Darren Sammy was on the verge of another in a career-best innings, as West Indies flirted with disaster before staging a brilliant recovery, to make a strong finish to the opening day of the second Test against England here today.
VATICAN CITY, (Reuters) – Pope Benedict’s butler was arrested today in connection with an investigation into leaks of confidential documents, some alleging cronyism and corruption in Vatican contracts, a senior Vatican source said.
(Trinidad Guardian) Corruption has become so pervasive in T&T that citizens appear to be undergoing a process of being desensitised as to what corruption is, says Queen’s Counsel Karl Hudson-Phillips.
Parliament office today said that sittings of the National Assembly scheduled for May 30th and May 31st have been postponed to June 6th and June 7th.
Amid a public outcry, the Ministry of Natural Resources today issued a statement saying that Minister Robert Persaud had apologized to the Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Karen Livan over his statement and tone at a meeting with Brazilian miners on May 16.
(Jamaica Observer) The Government of Canada yesterday donated J$62 million (CAD$705,000) to Jamaica as part of ongoing initiatives to bolster the island’s anti-crime and anticorruption programmes.
(Jamaica Gleaner) Telecoms provider Digicel this week announced what appears to be the first digital merchant payment system which does not require the use of a bank account, credit card, nor a smart phone.
(de Ware Tijd) THE HAGUE – New facts and changed circumstances mean that the European Parliament (EP) is only now making attempts to prevent the upcoming ACP/EU JPA meeting scheduled for this November from being held in Suriname.
BUDAPEST, (Reuters) – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has called on Germany’s World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer and his panel of soccer experts to try to come up with an alternative to penalty shootouts to settle drawn matches.
(Jamaica Gleaner) Finance and Planning Minister Dr Peter Phillips says the country has made substantial progress towards a full re-engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), signalling that the new agreement will extend over three years.
(Barbados Nation) The University of the West Indies (UWI) is looking to develop a closer relationship with the region’s private sector as part of its 2012 to 2017 strategic plan.
(Barbados Nation) Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Charles Leacock has called on companies and other institutions to stop hiding white collar crimes in an attempt to protect the image of their businesses.
KABUL, (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande made an unannounced trip to Afghanistan today to visit some of the French troops he wants to pull out later this year, defending his plan for their early exit after meeting his Afghan counterpart Ham id Karzai.
NOTTINGHAM, England, May 25, CMC – Experienced batsman Marlon Samuels was holding West Indies together after England’s seamers destroyed the top order to leave the Caribbean side reeling at tea on the opening day of the first Test here Friday.
Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang earlier this week ordered the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to show cause why its decision to refuse to accept prescribed fees and/or rental payments from miners for the use of Amerindian lands should not be quashed.
Fed up with the destruction being caused to their community by big ships passing along the Demerara River, Dalliwala, Christianburg and Speightland residents have, at great risk to themselves, begun to enforce speed and proximity limits for the vessels.
By Emmerson Campbell Six Caribbean Street Football teams, including Back Circle from Guyana, will vie for US$4,000, a multi-purpose playing facility and bragging rights when the inaugural Guinness Caribbean Street Football Challenge kicks off at the National Park tarmac on June 21.
A police constable was shot numerous times with arrows, chopped in the head and beaten at Monkey Mountain, Region Eight on Wednesday following the arrest of a suspect with a gun and suspected cannabis.
By Mandy Thompson The two men who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the killing of female taxi driver Seeraji Singh were each sentenced to 40 years imprisonment by Justice Roxane George in the High Court yesterday.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Legendary former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding has once again slammed the West Indies Cricket Board’s management of the sport in the region and says their treatment of current senior players leaves a lot to be desired.
Nine children, four under the age of twelve, left by their mother Valerie Gordon who dropped dead after police allegedly opened fire near her Sophia home, are to receive government assistance until adulthood.
Dear Editor, The women of the S4 Foundation are highly offended at the way one of our highly qualified Guyanese Sisters was treated by a minister of government.
An office assistant at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court yesterday was placed on $75,000 bail by Magistrate Hazel Octave-Hamilton after he was accused of stealing half a million dollars from the Minister of Home Affairs.
Dear Editor, The Guyana Post Office Corporation apologises for and regrets the unfortunate situation of Mr Deonand Kissoon-Geer who complained in the Tuesday May 22, 2012 edition of the Stabroek News that he is not in receipt of books he purchased from reputable companies in other destinations that were sent to him in Guyana via the Post Office (‘Books sent through Post Office don’t arrive’).
Prizes for the recently-concluded President’s/Jefford Track and Field Classic in Linden were presented yesterday by the organizers of the event at the Digicel head office in Kingston.
Dear Editor, If the choice of a venue was ever an indicator of the nature of an event, then I should have known what to expect at Saturday’s (May 19, 2012) meeting with President Ramotar at Moka Night Club in New York.
The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) says two cadets have won full scholarships to two of the most prestigious military academies in the USA.
NOTTINGHAM, England, CMC – Captain Darren Sammy has underscored the importance of a win in the second Test against England starting here today, pointing out that it was crucial the embattled West Indies began to turn competitive performances into actual results.
The stress that parents endure in sending their children to school by a two to three mile trek or facing the high cost for a taxi from Water Front, Lamp Island and other far reaching communities of Kwakwani is now a thing of the past.
Dear Editor, I witnessed a picketing exercise on Friday, May 11 in the vicinity of the Regional Chairman’s Office and also near the Guyana Rice Development Board Office in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), and having read all of the placards, talked to a few persons who were in the picketing line, and also read most of the daily newspapers that carry the farmers stories, one would be led to believe that the Mahaicony Rice Mill may have owed farmers in this region large sums of money for paddy over a lengthy period of time.
Workers at various sugar estates across the country yesterday continued their strike after they were informed that they will not receive their customary one-week, holiday-with-pay (HWP) today because of cash flow problems.
The National Sports Commission-sponsored Independence Junior Badminton tournament continues today at the Queen’s College Courts with several matches.
Spartans, Old Fort, Hikers and GCC emerged winners in the Bryden and Fernandes-sponsored Indoor Hockey Tournament which started yesterday at the National Gymnasium.
Weeks shy of the 13th anniversary of its commissioning Pomeroon Oil Mills, owned by businessman Alfro Alphonso is facing challenges, recovery from which will take some doing and is looking to diversify its product range.
The badly chopped 16-year-old girl remained in a critical condition yesterday and up to press time last night, the attacker remained at large.
Dear Editor, The government has to be commended for the efforts at public information it made this past week, in permitting the discussions about NICIL on television.
NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Doug O’Neill, the trainer of Triple Crown hopeful I’ll Have Another, was given a delayed suspension yesterday after one of his horses returned an irregular doping test from a race almost two years ago.
The Guyana Karate Federation is ready to stage its all-styles national junior championships on Sunday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall at 10am, Chief Instructor, Amir Khouri, said.
BUDAPEST, Hungary, CMC – Newly elected CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb has been appointed to powerful executive committee of football’s world governing body, FIFA.
A man from North Rupununi was yesterday sentenced to three years in prison and fined $7,500 after he pleaded guilty to having ammunition in his possession, without being the holder of a licence, when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Hazel Octave- Hamilton.
Dear Editor, A few weeks ago when there were dire signs of Lethem being once again flooded, the Lethem Power Company (LPC) started rationing electricity supply to 12 hours per day.
Local miners who attended last Wednesday’s meeting with Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud and Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee say that while they are supportive of government’s efforts to enforce the country’s mining regulations they believe the issue of work permits for foreigners in the industry, specifically Brazilians, should be expedited.
A man was yesterday fined $3,000 and ordered to do three months of community service after he confessed to having in his possession one gram of cannabis before acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
Dear Editor, My letter to you kindly published in Stabroek News yesterday proposing the purchase by government of the old New Building Society’s premises ended on a note which was intended to be facetious involving NICIL financing, but which I admit may have caused offence (‘Government should acquire the old NBS building for the Commercial Registry’).
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Former West Indies team manager Omar Khan has called on authorities to attach a full-time sports psychologist to the regional side.
Not too many people bother to bat an eyelid these days when a public announcement is made about the uncovering of a corruption-related occurrence at the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
A businessman was yesterday placed on $400,000 bail for robbery under arms when he appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octave-Hamilton at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
(Reuters) – Novak Djokovic will arrive at Roland Garros seven wins away from becoming the first man for 43 years to hold all four grand slam titles concurrently – the only trouble is one of his victims will probably have to be claycourt king Rafa Nadal.
Executives of the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) Local Organizing Committee (LOC) which is responsible for the upcoming home games for the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers for the Golden Jaguars gave the media an update yesterday about its recent activities in the boardroom of the Providence National Stadium.
The authorities are embarking on a major clean-up of the gold and diamond mining communities countrywide.
Dear Editor, Kindly pardon the intrusion – once too often perhaps – given the number of missives I have sent to the relevant authorities, including the National Road Safety Council.
A section of the Meadow Bank wharf on the East Bank Demerara (EBD) collapsed yesterday morning and fishermen at the facility listed a number of problems affecting the industry including a “dysfunctional” co-op society there.
Needed Focus With the service sector accounting for two-thirds of the output of the economy, the behavior of major industries in that sector deserve some attention.
LONDON, (Reuters) – England’s home friendly against Belgium at Wembley next month will be used to test the Hawk-Eye goalline technology system, world governing body FIFA said yesterday.
Dear Editor, Sixth Street, Cummings Lodge, is the main access road linking Cummings Lodge, Industry and Ogle, and it has been in a state of disrepair for the past three years.
Local sawmills and lumberyards are habitually in breach of the regulations governing the sale of timber, which sometimes have a serious impact on consumer satisfaction, officials of the Guyana Forest Producers Association (GFPA) have told Stabroek Business.
HPS and Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon said Cabinet this week offered no objections to four contracts including one for one $100M for the fibre optic cable project which is part of the Government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) sector.
Dear Editor, Please allow me to respond to Mr Indarjit Ramdass Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, whose letter of May 23 published by Stabroek News was captioned ‘CH&PA has to enforce injunction and not EPA.’
BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – Luxembourg’s sports minister has stripped the country’s boxing federation of government subsidies after it chose to sanction July’s proposed heavyweight contest between unlicensed British fighters David Haye and Dereck Chisora in London.
In Region Two, 38 persons, representing six entities, completed a two-day training exercise in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management conducted by the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) at Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast.
Dear Editor, May I comment on your headline ‘Pietersen says entertainer Gayle would be great for the series’ (SN, May 23).
CARACAS, (Reuters) – Mystery, rumor and conspiracy theories surround Hugo Chavez’s health almost a year after his cancer diagnosis, with many Venezuelans contemplating a future without their larger-than-life president.
(Reuters) – The Philadelphia 76ers ground out an 82-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday to force a deciding Game Seven in their Eastern Conference second-round playoff series.
Farmers from the Essequibo coast and Pomeroon River have secured ‘high marks’ from international donors and visiting specialists for the progress which they have made in ‘taking forward’ a Shade House Vegetable Production Project launched in several parts of the country with the support of several multilateral agencies including Partners for the Americas, Caribbean Self-Reliance International (CASRI) and the Inter American Development Bank through its Multilateral Investment Fund.
(Reuters) – Based on form alone, Maria Sharapova enters the French Open as favourite to complete her career grand slam, a surprising turn of events for the Miami-based Russian whose relationship with the red dust has not always been a happy one.
(Trinidad Express) After three years of slump, Trinidad and Tobago’s economy is not recovering, and crime and labour unrest are making matters worse.
Dear Editor, Your editorial of May 10, ‘Chaos on the road’ mentioned almost everything that causes death and destruction on our roads.
(Trinidad Newsday) As if moved by the spirit, her voice cracking, Minister of Gender, Youth and Child Development Verna St Rose-Greaves on Wednesday jumped around her seat in frustration in the Senate as she lamented the sexual abuse that has been meted out to children in this country over the years.
Vilma Da Silva is a hale and hearty-looking 50-year-old resident of the Pomeroon with as fine a business brain as any you might find in the city’s corporate community.
LONDON, (Reuters) – A Venezuelan oil tanker is returning to Venezuela from Syria with a cargo of naphtha, shipping records showed on Thursday, after delivering badly needed diesel early this week as Western sanctions, causing severe shortages, hurt Syria’s economy.
GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 460’s trading results showed consideration of $8,736,516 from 605,193 shares traded in 16 transactions as compared to session 459
BUDAPEST, (Reuters) – Sepp Blatter’s reform of FIFA will continue today when delegates at the 62nd FIFA Congress review a set of proposals aimed at modernising the way world soccer’s governing body is run.
BAGHDAD, (Reuters) – Iran and world powers agreed to meet again in Moscow next month for more talks to try to end the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme, but there was scant progress to resolve the main sticking points between the two sides.
We are loath to insert the adjective ‘former’, when describing Ramnaresh Sarwan as a West Indies batsman, but we have to wonder whether this wonderful but unfulfilled talent will ever return to the West Indies Test team.
Dear Editor, Can APNU and the AFC address the fact that there has been no appointment of a Minister of Tourism?
Yes, I’m quite aware that I often bore certain listeners and readers, when I repeat that “I’ve never attended any high school or university”.
Signature Productions is hosting its third annual stand-up comedy show Uncensored on June 2 and 3 at the National Cultural Centre.
(Barbados Nation) Former CONCACAF vice-president Lisle Austin is in football’s hot seat again.
(Trinidad Express) A 25-year-old man has been ordered to serve a total of 105 years in prison for raping a 52-year-old mother and her 17-year-old daughter almost nine years ago.
(Trinidad Express) Express reporter Akile Simon and CCN TV6 cameraman Brendon Alexander were yesterday remanded in prison following their appearance before an Arima magistrate on charges of robbery in Arouca on Sunday.
(Trinidad Express) She didn’t use the term Cabinet reshuffle. But Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced last night that she would undertake a “reconfiguration” of her Cabinet and of the membership of State boards.
