Daily Archive: Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence today joined the annual Wreath Laying ceremony for the five Enmore Martyrs at Le Repentir Cemetery, Georgetown, GINA said.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo says he never requested after he came into office that the street on which he is living in North Sophia be repaired.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – At a Caribbean anti-corruption conference in the Cayman Islands in March last year, politicians and activists called on regional leaders to create a culture of integrity and transparency with zero tolerance for offenders.

Canada’s recent $126 million (CDN$750,000) grant to Guyana aims to up conviction rates with the number of issues to be tackled ranging from improving police investigative capabilities to enhanced prosecution in the courts.

The People’s Progressive Party will not contest local government elections under the Guyana Elec-tions Commission’s Chair-manship of Dr Steve Surujbally.

The APNU+AFC administration envisages that the top diplomatic posts in Guyana’s key overseas missions should be filled by September and Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge says the current dearth of experienced home-grown diplomats means that government will have to look to the diaspora in order to help fashion a Foreign Service capable of executing its foreign policy priorities.

A 13-year-old girl was among four witnesses who testified yesterday when the trial of Clive Knights, who was charged with murdering GTM manager Bert Whyte in May 2012, began before Justice Navindra Singh and a 12-member jury.

A lot of work has to be put into the setting up of a State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), according to Minister of State Joseph Harmon, who says that it could take some time before results are seen.

Knocks from opener Robin Bacchus and skipper Leon Johnson helped the Guyana Rest Team to an upset four-wicket win over the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the first of two Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 20/20 practice matches played under lights at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence yesterday.

The US Embassy has confirmed that the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with overseas passport and visa systems.

Confirming that former advisor to the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Yvonne Pearson’s services have been terminated, Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock says that while the advisor was “very hard working”, as a new minister he wanted someone with fresh ideas and who he could trust.

  By Orin Davidson One day made the world of difference in the career of national 400m champion Winston George on Sunday in New York.

The Supligen Senior Bodybuilding Championships initially billed for July 18 has been pushed back by one day.

The testing of the eight-door sluice at the Hope Canal, continued into yesterday with water flowing from the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC).

Guyana’s male and female outfits missed out on rugby sevens Olympic qualification last weekend in Cary, North Carolina after each team lost twice in the preliminary rounds.

A Jamaican national was yesterday arraigned in the Albion Magistrate’s Court over the failed execution of Berbice businessman Ravi Outar.

The caution statement of Anthony De Paul Hope was tendered into evidence yesterday when the murder trial of the trio accused of killing Colleen Forrester continued in the High Court.

The Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) will join the rest of the world in celebrating Olympic Day 2015 on June 23 and to commemorate the occasion, the GOA has invited affiliates to organize Olympic Day activities between June 20 and June 27.

St. Rose’s High continued their impressing showing in the Georgetown Zone of Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) National School Basketball Festival, downing rivals the Bishops’ High 59-46 on Saturday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The shooting incident outside a Main Street nightspot a few weeks ago which left Nigel Isaacs dead is still being actively investigated, according to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum who said yesterday that ranks are currently trying to locate witnesses.

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Clement Rohee yesterday said that the party is still evaluating the nominating of its 32 Members of Parliament and stated that the party will not be pressured by any external forces.

Region four defending champions Mahaica Primary School was recently knocked out of the End of School Ministry of Education Department of Sport – AL Sport and Tour Promotions windball cricket Champions Trophy as action in the tourney continued at the Unity/Lancaster Ground.

A man whose 41-year-old wife died on Wednesday last at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) is blaming officials there for performing two operations on her without his consent and says he will not let the matter rest until he gets justice.

(ICC) Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Australia’s Steven Smith has become the second youngest batsman after Sachin Tendulkar of India to achieve the number-one ranking in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after stellar batting displays in the Kingston Test, which Australia won by 277 runs to win the series 2-0.

Three months after the launch of its enhanced internet service, GT&T says over 60% of its customers are now experiencing the fastest and most affordable internet in Guyana.

(Trinidad Guardian) Coach of the West Indies cricket team Phillip Simmons has told young opening batsman Rajendra Chandrika that he has to understand that sometimes you fail, then to succeed.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Last September, the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players’ Association agreed on a new Memorandum of Understanding and Collective Bargaining Agreement with the overall aim of professionalising the game in the Caribbean.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Beleaguered skipper Denesh Ramdin has once again lamented the fragile West Indies batting which led to a heavy 277-run defeat in the second Test on Sunday, and a 2-0 series loss to Australia.

The Guyana Association of Women Lawyers elected Sadie Amin president for the fiscal year 2015/2016 at its AGM hosted late last month.

Dear Editor, CML John is a Guyanese patriot and an outstanding public servant.

The Guyana Bar Association has launched The New Guyana Bar Review at a function held recently at Moray House.

Dear Editor, The history of health and disease in Guyanese historiography is a neglected area of research.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors yesterday made public their 2013 plea agreement with Chuck Blazer, revealing that the former FIFA executive committee member had been secretly providing authorities information for nearly two years before he admitted guilt.

Dear Editor, This year marks the 49th year of our country’s Independence and we seem to have forgotten the importance of co-operatives as an important sector in our trisectoral economy.

Brandon Rahaman, who was accused of causing the death by dangerous driving of another on Phagwah Day last year was yesterday freed of the charge at the end of a trial.

OAKLAND, Calif., (Reuters) – The Cleveland Cavaliers are undermanned, exhausted and facing an elimination game in the NBA Finals but LeBron James still likes his team’s chances of winning the championship series.

Dear Editor, In reference to Joey Jagan’s ‘The PPP central executive and the “Gang of 8”’ (SN, Jun 15), wherein he briefly contrasts decision-making in the PPP and the US, it must be noted that the PPP is not the only party to deny its members full participation (inclusive of voting) in the functioning of the party.

(Reuters) – The Golden State Warriors won the battle of small-ball and defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-91 on Sunday to move within a win of their first NBA title in 40 years.

MOSCOW/WARSAW (Reuters) – A plan by Washington to station tanks and heavy weapons in NATO states on Russia’s border would be the most aggressive US act since the Cold War, and Moscow would retaliate by beefing up its own forces, a Russian defence official said yesterday.

A fish vendor was yesterday charged with attempting to steal a truck battery from B.K

Dear Editor, For as long as I can remember, there has always been high youth unemployment in Guyana, but the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) recent report, ‘Youth are the future: The imperative of youth employment for sustainable development in the Caribbean’ has added colour and graphics to that picture.

(Trinidad Express) – In dismissing allegations by Jack Warner that he was involved in covering up marijuana found at her private residence two years ago, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has challenged Warner to take his information to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local police.

A West La Penitence youngster was refused bail yesterday after it was alleged that he held a woman at gunpoint and robbed her of her jewellery.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Once viewed as the perennial whipping boys of one-day cricket, New Zealand have not only reinvented themselves but have also helped inspire a remarkable transformation in England’s approach.

(Reuters) – Amnesty International criticised yesterday what it said was a “dismal” global response to the plight of Syrian refugees and urged neighbouring countries struggling to cope with the influx of refugees to lift “deeply troubling” measures designed to keep them out.

Laura Tyson, a former chair of the US President’s Council of Economic Advisers, is a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior adviser at the Rock Creek Group.

Three days after a chlorine leak at the Guyana Water Inc’s (GWI) Water Treatment Facility at Better Hope, East Coast Demerara, the water company’s investigating team is yet to determine the cause of the seepage.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Jozef Wesolowski, a former archbishop and papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic, will stand trial on criminal charges of paying for sex with minors and possessing child pornography, the Vatican said yesterday.

KARACHI (Reuters) – Dr Raza was waiting for his next patient when two young men walked into the consultation room, took pistols from a bag and shot him six times.

(Reuters) – Australia’s short Caribbean tour always looked like something of an hors d’oeuvres for the Ashes and captain Michael Clarke finally allowed himself to address the main course after wrapping up a comfortable 2-0 series sweep on Sunday.

BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The United States and Russia are competing for a strategic role in Brazil’s plan to launch commercial satellites from its base near the equator, opening up a new theatre in their rivalry for allies and influence.

Dear Editor, In his letter on Balram Singh Rai (SN, June 11), Malcolm Harripaul wrote the following, “…Dr Ramharack did in fact spend time interviewing Rai in London.”

The court is still awaiting a psychiatric report which was ordered over one month ago on Ryan Bobb-Semple, who was charged with the murder of nine-year-old Shaquan Gittens.

Since successive political administrations in Guyana have – to varying degrees − used ownership and control of some media houses and the suppression of others to retard the democratic process, the new government, we expect, will understand that its attitude to media and media freedom will be used as a barometer for measuring the sincerity of its commitment to raising standards of democratic behaviour.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Rachel Dolezal, a civil rights advocate who became embroiled in national controversy over her racial identity, announced her resignation yesterday as leader of a local branch of the NAACP in Washington state.

Dear Editor, May I take this opportunity to extend sincere congratulations to the President, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger, the Prime Minister and 1st Vice President, Mr Moses Nagamootoo and the entire APNU+AFC coalition on their victory at the polls.

(Trinidad Express) – Five people have been arrested and are expected to be charged for stealing cellphones from the cargo in a plane that stopped off in this country on its way to Guyana.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – The biggest change made by India captain Virat Kohli since taking over from Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the inclusion of an extra bowler, and while it is too early to judge if the strategy will pay off in the long run, he intends to give it every chance.

Needs urgent attention: This open manhole at Robb and Wellington streets has been this way for over a week now.