Daily Archive: Thursday, February 27, 2014

There was little progress today in drafting proposed APNU amendments to the anti-money laundering bill which means that it will not be ready for today’s sitting of the National Assembly and will miss a key deadline set by a the Caribbean watchdog, CFATF.

The government today broke its silence on an accident on Sunday involving Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, with the Attorney General stating that the minister was not intoxicated and that the matter was reported to the police and is being investigated.

(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO — Kaloti Jewelry International is likely involved in doubtful gold transactions.

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine,  (Reuters) – Armed men seized the regional government headquarters and parliament in Ukraine’s Crimea today and raised the Russian flag, alarming Kiev’s new rulers, who urged Moscow not to abuse its navy base rights on the peninsula by moving troops around.

Despite months of wrangling, negotiations between the government and the opposition over the anti-money laundering bill will go down to the wire today with the Chief Parliamentary Counsel to  draft several APNU amendments to enable passage of the bill in Parliament in the backdrop of a Friday deadline that threatens severe financial repercussions.

The body of a young woman, last seen alive on Mashramani day, was found in a shallow grave in a cemetery at Paradise, East Coast Demerara last evening.

A Guyanese man was arrested at JFK Inter-national Airport last week after being found with cocaine and marijuana in his luggage shortly after touching down.

Wendell Sooklall, the taxi-driver accused of causing the death of a cyclist by dangerous driving on Homestretch Avenue last week, was yesterday charged and placed on $250,000 bail after denying the crime.

A Plaisance man, charged with wounding two men and behaving disorderly at a police outpost, has accused cops of shooting him and refusing him medical treatment while in custody.

  A Linden auto salesman last evening died  when he lost control of his superbike trying to overtake a car on the Kara Kara Bridge in Linden.

Some local ports are still to comply with the international security code implemented in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and since all private and public facilities have to be compliant, Guyana could face blacklisting.

Rice exports to Venezuela will not be affected by the unrest in that country and will resume shortly, since a memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed last week between the two governments and logistical arrangements are being put in place.

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh last evening declined to comment on an accident he was involved in on Sunday which has raised questions about his conduct at the scene and why the police seemed to have taken no interest in the matter.

More complaints of counterfeiting have surfaced against Super Foods Inc, the distributor linked to  fake Del Monte-brand corn, according to Head of the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Depart-ment (FDD) Marlon Cole, who says the veracity of these reports has yet to be determined by the agency.

William Light, who was accused of murdering two persons during a rampage with a cutlass in Charlestown, pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter last Friday before Justice Navindra Singh in the High Court.

Elections commissioners are shying away from pronouncing on the readiness of the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) to hold local government polls.

By Jeff Trotman Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon sounded a defiant note at the republic anniversary observance in Linden on Saturday and said that the unrequited agreements clinched with the government in August of 2012 will be implemented with or without its input.

Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford has cautioned Region Seven residents against depending solely on mining for its economic stability and suggested that resources be put into tourism.

ST.JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC- Head Coach Ottis Gibson has described the limited overs series against England starting today as important to the West Indies preparations for the ICC T20 World Cup in Bangladesh starting next month.

(Cricinfo) The Fatullah crowd waited for Virat Kohli to reach his 19th ODI hundred, and started heading for the exit soon after he reached the landmark.

The Customs Anti Narcotic Unit is seeking Wayne Hubert Williams, 51, aka “Splicer”.

(Cricinfo) One of the owners of Dhaka Gladiators, Shihab Jishan Chowdury, has been found guilty of “being party to an effort to fix” a match in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2013.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has issued a call to the opposition urging “genuine and tangible support to the developmental goals of the government.”

Works at Georgetown’s first crematorium is expected to be completed on March 1, according to Head of the Cemetery Committee Ranwell Jordan.

Once any region remains underdeveloped, then Guyana will be reflected through that underdevelopment, Labour Minister Dr Nanda Gopaul told Region Nine residents last Saturday.

Digicel donated building materials and assisted in constructing a basketball court fence for the Kwakwani community on February 21 as part of their 7th anniversary celebrations.

Two parents are now facing multiple charges of wilfully neglecting their four children, who they are accused of abandoning on the Kitty seawall on Mashramani Day.

While the HIV response in the Caribbean has made “remarkable” progress, inequality and exclusion continue to hamper efforts to reduce new infections and the number of people on treatment, a meeting of government and civil society representatives from eight Caribbean countries heard last week.

(Reuters) – Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy will play in the same tournament for the first time this year when they contest the Honda Classic starting in south Florida today.

Oumesh Ballram, the 16-year-old shot during a home invasion at Number 69 Village, will be undergoing  surgery tomorrow for the removal of the warhead lodged in his back.

Dear Editor, It has been reported that Minister Ashni Singh was under the influence of liquor when he got into the accident last Sunday night.

GREENBURGH, New York, (Reuters) – New York Knicks coach Mike Woodson said yesterday that he stood behind point guard Raymond Felton, who was arrested on Tuesday on gun possession charges, and that Felton would remain in the Knicks’ lineup.

Region Eight REO Ronald Harsawack says residents have benefited from tangible support and contributions that have advanced their livelihoods.

Dear Editor, Once again the people of Region 1 –  Barima-Waini or the North-West district – are battling an outbreak of gastroenteritis.

Dear Editor, I wish to submit the following for the consideration of Guyana Water Inc, the Ministry of Public Works, Roads Division and the Ministry of Regional Development, whose town councils and NDCs are responsible for internal streets.

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Tuesday met with Commissioner of Information, Charles Ramson.

Dear Editor, I write to publicize the constant and unrelenting harassment, victimization and abuse perpetrated on my son, Marlon Dolphin, by the Guyana Police Force.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- World and Olympic champions Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica are among 42 sporting giants nominated for prestigious Laureus Awards to be presented next month.

City Hall’s 2014 budget is expected to be presented on Monday by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, but Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker has already signalled that he would not be endorsing it.

 Dear Editor, A recent letter writer while writing on the need to maintain landmark buildings has mentioned Brickdam Cathedral as in need of a major overhaul (‘Restore our landmark buildings,’ SN, February 25).

(Reuters) – Five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. will face Marcos Maidana of Argentina in a welterweight title fight on May 3, the American announced on Monday.

An East La Penitence man, accused of an armed robbery in the city, was yesterday remanded to prison.

Three finals will take place today when the Frank Watson Memorial anniversary football tournament continues today at the Georgetown Football Club ground.

NP Electronics spearheaded by top player Michael Vieira on Monday defeated Titans B when the Guyana Table Tennis Association League Teams Table Tennis Tournament began at the National Gymnasium Mandela Avenue.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Former West Indies captain and batsman, Richie Richardson, has said that to be knighted is a great honour, but to be knighted alongside the likes of former bowling greats Andy Roberts and Curtly Ambrose is what makes the occasion special.

Dear Editor, I refer to Mr Charles Sohan’s letter in KN dated February 25 re the interview with Mr Phillip Allsopp of February 23 in the same newspaper about the recent flooding in Georgetown and the location of new Marriott Hotel.

(Reuters) – Jonathan Trott is “raring to go” for England once again and he will make his comeback for Warwickshire in April, Dennis Amiss, chairman of Trott’s benefit committee, said yesterday.

BOSTON, (Reuters) – Former National Football League star Aaron Hernandez, charged with shooting a friend to death last year, was involved in a Massachusetts jailhouse scuffle with another inmate that left neither man seriously injured, law enforcement officials said yesterday.

Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud recently led a delegation to Malaysia for talks on the Malaysian experience with sustainable forest management, and their implementation of the European Union Forest Law, Enforcement, Governance and Trade (EU FLEGT) protocol.

Bridgetown, Barbados – Sir Everton Weekes?is just 11 short of another hundred.

The guard who was held after the robbery of the KFC Bagotstown outlet early Tuesday morning is now free.

Dear Editor, I wish to extend full support to the Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana (AOAG) in their request for budgetary allocations to improve hinterland airstrips, and encourage both the opposition and the government to listen to the proposals of this organization. 

ANKARA, (Reuters) – A second audio recording, presented as the voice of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan asking his son not to accept an amount of money on offer in a business deal but to hold out for more, was published on YouTube by an anonymous poster using a pseudonym yesterday.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. senators lashed out at federal prosecutors yesterday for a lack of zeal in going after Swiss banks that helped Americans dodge taxes, blaming both sides for billions of dollars in missed revenues.

An attacking batting display by Elian Rampersaud led Vreed-en-Hoop Primary School to a comprehensive victory over Two Brothers in the latest action of the Scotiabank Kiddy Cricket Festival at Wales ground West Bank Demerara yesterday.

Dear Editor, There are a couple of things this society should to be mindful of in relation to the Anti-money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill (AML/CFT).

A trip for two to see Formula One’s Belgian Grand Prix, in Spa, Belgium later this year, is one of the prizes up for grabs in the newly-launched Sol Guyana Inc Customer Retail Promotion.

Krishna Nanoo, the Sunfoods delivery man who was shot while dropping off stocks at Independence Boulevard, La Penitence on Tuesday, is now in intensive care after undergoing surgery.

Dear Editor, There are some local persons of interest that I find intriguing. 

When former President Bharrat Jagdeo took ill last week and ended up in the United States for emergency medical treatment, we witnessed how low we could sink as a nation.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Pope Francis called yesterday for an end to violence in Venezuela that has killed at least 13 people and urged politicians to take the lead in calming the nation’s worst unrest in a decade.

LAHORE, (Reuters) – The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed Rashid Latif as the new chief selector and also offered him an important role in dealing with anti-corruption issues, the former captain said yesterday.

ATLANTA, CMC- Star striker Deon McCauley has become the first Belizean footballer to sign a contract with a professional soccer team in the United States.

Prominent Muslim scholar Maulana Muhammad Qasim Ashrafi -Dargah Makhdoom Ashraf of India made a two-day stopover visit to Guyana after visiting Suriname and Holland.

Dear Editor, The issue of race should not be a taboo subject, but must be discussed openly if Guyana is to progress according to UK based Guyanese Professor Clem Seecharran as reported in GT of February 23.

Dear Editor, This year has seen the judges choose a soca monarch, but two of the persons who were selected did not deserve to win because they did not sing soca, they sang calypso.

A welder will be a guest of the state for the next nine months after he admitted to snatching two chains from a woman on Mashramani day.

(Trinidad Guardian) Unrest in neighbouring Venezuela can have consequences not only for T&T but also for neighbouring Caricom states involved in Petrocaribe and oil energy arrangements with Venezuela, says UWI Professor Anthony Gonzales. He

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has sent subpoenas to Mt.

(Jamaica Observer) KINGSTON, Jamaica – Trinidad and Tobago has established an embassy in the People’s Republic of China.

CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) – Australia opener David Warner’s claim that South Africa tampered with the ball during the second test has “added 10 percent motivation” ahead of the series decider, Proteas coach Russell Domingo said yesterday.

LINCOLN, New Zealand, CMC- West Indies lost to New Zealand by 107 runs in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) allowing the home side to complete a three-nil series win at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, here  yesterday.

Dear Editor, I was in Guyana over the last several days to conduct a survey on contemporary issues.

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine, (Reuters) – Waving the Russian flag and chanting “Russia!

(Trinidad Guardian) Renee T’Anna Lazarus spent her last moments with her older brother discussing how she could better her life through education.

An annexe has been constructed at the Woodley Park Primary School in Region Five to cater for more than 150 students, including those of the Woodley Park and Rosignol Primary Top.

Bridgetown, Barbados – New?Barbados first-class cricket captain Kraigg Brathwaite left the island yesterday for St Lucia at the helm of the national senior side on a double mission.

Water, or rather the provision of water which is of a consumable quality without producing deleterious effects, has become a million-dollar business in this country.

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