Daily Archive: Wednesday, July 4, 2012

SCARBOROUGH, Tobago,  CMC – Tagenarine Chanderpaul lashed his second consecutive half-century as Guyana racked up their second win of the Regional Under-17 Championship with a convincing 163-run demolition of Leeward Islands here today.

(Jamaica Observer) MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Deputy Commissioner of Police Delworth Heath says a culture of ‘anancyism’ is undermining national life and that law enforcement alone will not be able to effectively tackle the problem.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Back-to-back defeats for Usain Bolt has left tongues wagging about a changing of the guard at the upcoming London Olympics but the sprint double World record holder hardly seems worried by the chatter.

Police today issued a wanted bulletin for Sherwin Bobb who escaped from the Camp Street prison on June 27, 2012.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Harold Crooks, former Commandant of the Island Special Constabulary Force has been found guilty of indecent assault.

Digicel today announced the launch of its service in one of Guyana’s main mining hubs – Omai, in Region Seven.

Police say that at about 1130 today, Seon Hopkinson was recaptured by Joint Services ranks in a swampy area at Sherima, Essequibo River while Carlton Sampson was later recaptured in the same area at about 1515h by the Joint Services.

(Barbados Nation) CARICOM leaders have gathered for their 33rd Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in St Lucia, as a handful of demonstrators use the opportunity to get regional attention for their campaign for the decriminalization of marijuana.

The AFC will seek to have the appointments of the 11 staffers of the Auditor General’s department rescinded, the party’s Chairman, Khemraj Ramjattan has said.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – More than 1 million homes and businesses in a swath from Indiana to Virginia remained without power today, five days after deadly storms tore through the region.

(Jamaica Observer) The Chinese dealer of an emerging laundry detergent brand is investing millions of dollars in a new packaging plant in Portmore, St Catherine.

(Jamaica Observer) Losing unrecoverable millions of dollars in rainfall damage may be a thing of the past when Jamaica signs on to a new insurance plan.

(Jamaica Observer) Ten months into his job as Caricom secretary general Irwin LaRocque is clear that keeping the economic bloc alive will require an overhaul of the secretariat and a reform of the regional integration process.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Allison Peart, managing partner at Ernst & Young Jamaica, said it is in the interest of banks and their customers to start preparing the paperwork required under Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which takes effect next January.

(Barbados Nation) Prime Minister Freundel Stuart says he isn’t planning to pick a fight with Trinidad and Tobago over that country’s blocking of Bajan goods, but he does plan to warn the twin-island republic that it has too much to lose in Barbados to risk that mistake again.

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – The recently issued human trafficking report is not based on facts and contains half truths and lies, Justice Minister Edward Belfort told Parliament yesterday.

(Trinidad Express) Teaching Service Commission (TSC) member Prof Ramesh Deosaran says the number of matters involving teacher misconduct, including assault of pupils, is on the rise.

(Trinidad Express) A mysterious multi-million dollar fire yesterday destroyed the Carapichaima mansion of sanitation contractor Jawarhalal Deosaran.

GENEVA/LONDON,  (Reuters) – Scientists at the CERN research centre have found a new subatomic particle that could be the Higgs boson, the basic building block of the universe.

(Trinidad Express) Less than two months after a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed outside his Laventille home, two of his brothers, on Monday, also fell victim to gunmen close to their home.

A farmer was yesterday found buried in a shallow grave in a yard four corners from his Enmore, East Coast Demerara home with suspected stab wounds and the prime suspect was yesterday held, along with a female accomplice.

Former PPP Executive member Ralph Ramkarran is right in highlighting corruption in government circles, Joey Jagan, the son of PPP founders and late presidents Dr.

Trinidad-based Senior Counsel Seenath Jairam yesterday entered an appearance on behalf of the government when the hearing on its motion to restore over $20B in allocations cut from the National Budget continued before acting Chief Justice Ian Chang.

Christopher Da Silva was yesterday remanded to prison for last Thursday’s fatal stabbing of a teenager at Diamond, on the East Bank of Demerara.

Police yesterday apprehended the man accused of knifing Plastic City fisherman, Vishwanauth Narine, to death during a row over a missing gas cylinder.

Two Albouystown residents accused of narcotics trafficking were yesterday remanded by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton.

Parliamentarians recently concluded a first-of-its-kind outreach to East and West Berbice schools.

A Joint Declaration on Crimes Against Freedom of Expression spanning the United Nations and other agencies requires state officials to desist from  statements that increase the vulnerability of journalists and others who are targeted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Sharon Howell, who was stabbed and hammered in a brutal attack at her Freeman Street, East La Penitence home, has regained her ability to speak, which she credits to her children’s insistence that she speak.

A man accused of raping and sodomising his former common-law wife was yesterday remanded to prison when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

The Chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of Corriverton,  Bhawase Harripaul says that he is duly-elected to head and manage its affairs.

Michael `Pimsy’ Vieira on Monday looped and smashed his way to  titles when the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) staged its multi-category Veterans tournament at the National Gymnasium.

Prime Minister Sam Hinds yesterday defended government’s decision to reduce the subsidy for power consumption in Linden, while denying that the move is a result of race-based politics.

By Iva Wharton As expected, frontrunners the Guyana Defence Force Sunday night clinched the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) Banks DIH Limited-sponsored President’s Beer football league when the defeated hosts Georgetown Football Club (GFC) 3-1 at the GFC ground.

St Lucia Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony will preside over the 33rd Caricom Heads of Government meeting today, since assuming the chairmanship of the Caribbean Community on July 1. 

Nine  plays crafted by  new playwrights will be showcased for the first time at the One-Act Festival set for July 6-8 at the Theatre Guild Playhouse, said a press release from Merundoi, the local radio serial drama.

The Barbados Public Sector Smart Energy programme, which is seeking to cut energy costs and reduce dependence on imported fuel, is getting support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which has approved a US$17 million loan.

If Kadecia Baird and Sheniece Daphness had been running for elected office, they surely would’ve been buoyed by the lobbying of a diplomat who knows a bit about running a government office.

By Yonalla Dalrymple Queen’s College carted off two titles to be the most outstanding school when the Business School sponsored tournament ended on Monday at the National Gymnasium.

The Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) of the Roman Catholic Church says it is “deeply disturbed” at the Guyana Chronicle’s Editorial dated July 2, 2012 titled: “Opposition rampages to sow disunity in the country,” calling it racially inflammatory.

By Emmerson Campbell Most sportsmen and women the world over are rewarded for their record-breaking feats and other outstanding performances whenever the represent the land of their birth.

Owner of the Ocean Breeze Hotel, Shameir Mohamed yesterday took the stand as the trial into the July 12, 2011 $7M Bel Air Gardens robbery continued at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

Acting Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell told ranks that he expects more professional conduct from them to match the refurbished police stations commissioned at Providence and Timehri on Saturday.

Even though she has nothing to prove and has already won several national titles over the years, world ranked squash star Nicolette Fernandes is pumped and ready to take on the local competition at the Digicel National Senior Squash Championships which serves off this evening.

By Iva Wharton It went down to the wire, but Tutorial High School nevertheless prevailed and were crowned Regional 6 Champions.

Seventy-year-old Gordon Leslie Durant was remanded to prison on Friday after being charged with the murder of his wife, Joan Durant, at Melanie North, East Coast Demerara (ECD) last week.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida,  CMC – Dr. Ernest Hilare, the outspoken and often controversial Chief Executive Officer of West Indies cricket, is leaving the job.

By Treiston Joseph It was not to be third time lucky for the Brooklyn Bulldogs who went under without a whimper 60-84 to the Washington DC jammers basketball team at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Monday night.

KINGSTON, Jamaica,  CMC – Though better known for his fiery fast bowling, Tino Best believes he has more to offer the West Indies with the bat.

SCARBOROUGH, Tobago,  CMC – Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the son of Test star Shivnarine Chanderpaul, gathered a half-century as Guyana beat Barbados in the second round of the WICB Under-17 Championship here yesterday.

US Ambassador D. Brent Hardt and his wife Saskia Hardt recently opened their home to host the launch of a domestic violence awareness campaign initiated by the Sonia Noel Foundation for the Creative Arts.

A shortage of staff to man the Mazaruni Prisons may have played a role in Sunday’s escape of two prisoners from the Region Seven facility.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Scenting a fifth Wimbledon singles title, grasscourt predator Serena Williams mowed down defending champion Petra Kvitova to move ominously into the semi-finals for the eighth time  yesterday as the championships again battled the elements.

In the letter which appeared in our edition yesterday by D M Roper captioned ‘That homosexuality is neither a pathology nor mental illness has been recognized internationally and in varying political contexts’ the name of Dr Santinover appeared as “Dr John Santinover.”

China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), the contractor for the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion project has confirmed that it has dispatched a letter to A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) Joseph Harmon expressing regret at not meeting Opposition political parties regarding the project and on the concerns surrounding a World Bank sanction.

Former PPP Executive Member Ralph Ramkarran yesterday declined  to comment on his shock resignation from the party over the weekend.

The Agricola/McDoom community on Saturday welcomed the opening of its first basketball court and pavilion, which was built under the Rapid Impact Project, a feature of the Community Action Component (CAC) of the Guyana-IDB Citizens Security Programme.

COLOMBO,  (Reuters) – Sri Lanka duo Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara shared a double-century partnership before Pakistan hit back by grabbing three late wickets on the fourth day of the second test   yesterday.

The Caricom Secretariat says Foreign Policy Co-ordination in the Caribbean Community is priority on the agenda of the 33rd Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government that starts today in St Lucia.

Dear Editor, With the resignation of Mr Ralph Ramkarran from the PPP after many years of dedication and commitment, I would like to publicly apologize to him for my errors of judgment in relation to his political positions over the years.

A group of men posing as City Council workers on Monday demolished a house at Newtown, Kitty, leaving at least six people without a home.

Dear Editor, Mr Deodat Sharma may not be a proper Auditor General but he surely knows how to play the political game.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond suddenly quit yesterday over an interest rate-rigging scandal that threatens to drag in a dozen more major lenders but suggested the Bank of England had encouraged his bank to manipulate the figures.

CAIRO, (Reuters) – A meeting of Syria’s splintered opposition in Cairo descended into scuffles and fistfights yesterday that dealt another blow to Western leaders seeking a unified front against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Dear Editor, If one wanted proof that there is rampant and barefaced corruption in all aspect of business and administrative endeavours in Guyana, the resignation of Mr Ralph Ramkarran from the PPP/C is the perfect smoking gun.

At the start of a partnership with the Food for the Poor (FFTP) organization, the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Five received 18 computer systems and a quantity of books to set up a resource centre.

Abiola Eadie, the woman shot to her face last month in McDoom, East Bank Demerara, during an argument over a cockfighting bird, succumbed on Monday and police say they are still searching for the key suspect.

Key local quarries recently benefitted from the first in a series of refresher training programmes on blasting.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – New Jersey surgeons removed a rapidly growing, 51-pound (23-kg) cancerous tumor from a woman who had delayed treatment for more than a month until she became eligible for health insurance, her doctor said yesterday.

Dear Editor, I thought the good folks over at Stabroek News had more sense and actually had their fingers on the pulse of the PPP government and how it operates on the issue of corruption.

(Reuters) – Injury-prone paceman Mark Gillespie has been ruled out of New Zealand’s two-test series in West Indies after failing to recover from an ankle injury, the country’s cricket board (NZC) said  yesterday.

Dear Editor, It is with great displeasure that I am forced to highlight an error made in your Friday June 29 publication.

Police say that at about 0830h yesterday, a woman reported to the police at the Divisional Headquarters at Cove & John, ECD,  that she had been sexually assaulted by a Police Constable at the Enmore Police Outpost

ZURICH, (Reuters) – Traces of the poisonous element polonium have been found in the belongings of late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, a Swiss institute said yesterday, and a television report said his widow had demanded his body be exhumed for further tests.

Dear Editor,   Ralph Ramkarran’s resignation on June 30 is not surprising for many of us who reached great heights in the PPP and were finally pushed out.

LIMA, Reuters) – Three people were killed and 21 injured yesterday when Peruvian police clashed with protesters opposed to a $5 billion gold mine planned by Newmont Mining , officials in the northern region of Cajamarca said.

The suspect, who fled here after the murder of 18-year-old Nikita Ramischand in Trinidad, has not yet been located by family members nor by the police, who can do very little since the crime did not occur in Guyana, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud has said.

(Reuters) – Actor Andy Griffith, whose portrayal of a small-town sheriff made “The Andy Griffith Show” one of television’s most enduring shows, died yesterday at his North Carolina home at age 86.

Attorney George Thomas yesterday made a no-case submission on behalf of his client, murder accused Sherwin Barnwell.

(Bernd Debusmann is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

My last three articles focused on the need to radically reform the undemocratic/illiberal nature of the PPP, rooted as it is in old and misunderstood autocratic doctrines such as democratic centralism and vanguard party. 

OTTAWA, (Reuters) – Canada’s foreign aid minister is resigning from politics after coming under fire for extravagant spending, including a $16 dollar glass of orange juice in a luxury London hotel.

The talk of the month in Trinidad & Tobago has been the ministerial reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar.

Dear Editor, The numbers on the swipe-pad of a city commercial bank are faded, and customers, especially the elderly, even though they are wearing spectacles, cannot press these digits readily.