Daily Archive: Friday, July 31, 2015

The police say that investigations are being conducted into the circumstances surrounding the death of Davonan Sookram, 37 years, of Philadelphia, EBE, whose decomposing body was found at about 1200h.

Joseph Harmon, Minister of State, with responsibility for the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), today said that as the agency celebrates its 36th Anniversary, it must always put the country and its stakeholders first in its operations.

The Government of Guyana today gave a 2 million Guyana dollars cheque to the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA).

Staff of the Georgetown Public Hospital were today attired in their African outfits in observance of tomorrow’s Emancipation Day observances.

Four Guyanese who were sentenced in 2009 to long jail terms in Barbados over drug trafficking have been allowed by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to appeal a ruling of the Barbados Court of Appeal denying their application to appeal their convictions because time had run out.

(Trinidad Express) West Indies will no longer be touring Zimbabwe. While the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is still looking at other avenues to give the regional side a chance at qualifying for the 2017 Champions Trophy, India is not one of them.

HARARE, (Reuters) – The American dentist who killed Cecil the lion was a “foreign poacher” who paid for an illegal hunt and he should be extradited to Zimbabwe to face justice, environment minister Oppah Muchinguri said today.

The Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) has indicated that it could be ready to hold the long-awaited local government elections by December, according to Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan.

After spending three days in police custody, self-confessed “death squad” member Shawn Hinds was yesterday released on bail, without cooperating with the ranks regarding the revelations he made during a recent interview with HGPTV Nightly News.

Three months after a criminal complaint was filed against him, former Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran was charged yesterday with using insulting language against rights activist Sherlina Nageer.

A new bail application for Anthony David, one of the four men charged with robbing Land Court judge Nicola Pierre and her husband Mohamed Chand, was denied yesterday, even after the prosecutor in the case was unable to tell the court what evidence the police has that implicates him in the crime.

The opposition PPP/C’s Ganga Persaud has 14 days to file an affidavit in answer to a summons from the representative of the APNU+AFC candidates’ list Harold Lutchman seeking “further and better particulars” from the elections petition he has filed challenging the results of the May 11th polls.

The opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic will be in parliament in time for the presentation and debate of the 2015 National Budget.

Construction at the Celina’s Atlantic Resort at the Kitty seawall has come to a complete halt and no plan has been proposed to have the construction approved and continued.

Magistrate Annette Singh has still not received directions from the High Court on how to proceed on the conviction of Samuel Hinds Jnr, who has been found guilty of beating his sister-in-law Tenza Lane and threatening her with a gun last year.

Police are investigating the shooting of 23-year-old Desmond McPherson last night as the man clings to life at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

CGX Energy Inc. yesterday donated $1M to the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) to help fund the organisation’s annual Emancipation celebrations.

A motion was passed last evening to change the composition of the four sectoral oversight committees to reflect the government’s parliamentary majority.

Writer Ryhaan Shah was robbed during an attack outside her Irving Street, Queenstown home yesterday.

Defending WICB Regional Under-15 champs Guyana, yesterday romped to a commanding 98-run win over the Windwards, compliments of MVP Kelvin Umrao’s five-wicket haul in the final round of the tournament which concluded at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

The suspected robber who was shot dead by police in a confrontation after a robbery near the Number 61 Village beach has been identified as Delroy Cort, of Manchester Village, Corentyne.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge yesterday announced that the government has enacted regulations to close the lines across the mouths of the three largest navigable rivers of Guyana, the Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice rivers.

A second person will today be charged with the June 1 murder of Mahaica rice farmer Hardat Kissoon, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum has confirmed.

A Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) customer is now before the court as the company has been experiencing an increase in the number of instances where meter readers have been verbally abused or threatened while on the duty.

Despite selecting St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the next round in the official 2018 World Cup draw, FIFA is yet to formally contact Guyana on the result of the entity’s complaint against the former for allegedly fielding an ineligible player during their qualifiers.

The Indigenous community of Akawini located in Pomeroon River, Region 2 – Pomeroon-Supenaam has benefitted from a Food for the Poor (FFTP) community development project valued at $42M.

Public and private sector workplaces will come under closer official scrutiny, Minister in the Ministry of Social Protection Simona Broomes told Stabroek Business earlier this week, adding that her ministry will be exercising much greater vigilance in matters that have to do with the safety and health of workers.

A visiting team from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) led by its President, Dr William Warren Smith on Wednesday met with President David Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo as well as several members of the cabinet to discuss priorities issues for which the bank can provide assistance.

On the basis of the available evidence, the organizers of last weekend’s Linden River Front Festival would almost certainly have fallen short of persuading residents to buy into the vision of the once thriving mining town being able to offer a tourism option.

Kevin Schambach walked out of court with a bright smile on his face as Magistrate Ann McLennan dismissed the narcotics charge against him on Wednesday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

It is evidently not by accident that in one of his relatively early public presentations substantively connected to the country’s economy President David Granger has signalled his concern for the challenges confronting the rice industry and his government’s interest in supporting the sector in its anticipated response to the problem.

Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman who also has responsibility for Natural Resources and the Environment on Friday visited Region Nine to meet with Toshaos there on a fact-finding mission.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, CMC – Jamaican star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce dipped below 11 seconds again as she captured the 100 metres while rising Trinidadian star Machel Cedenio won the 400 metres, at the Stockholm Diamond League meet here yesterday.

The Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) League Qualifying Knockout Tournament will officially commence tomorrow at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Homestretch Avenue with two fixtures.

HAYES, Jamaica, CMC – Alzarri Joseph’s attacking 97 was not enough to save Leeward Islands, as they plunged to a 23-run loss to hosts Jamaica, in the Regional Under-19 Championship here yesterday.

Aspiring boxers from across the country will gather to compete in the 2015 National Novices Championship at the East Ruimveldt Community Centre on August 8-9.

By Valrie Grant, Managing Director, GeoTechVision   Over 160 years ago, in 1854, an English physician, John Snow, provided the classic example of how mapping can be used in epidemiological research.

MIAMI, United States, CMC – Reggae Boyz head coach Winfried Schafer believes his charges have nothing to be ashamed of despite their defeat in the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup last Sunday.

MANDEVILLE, Jamaica, CMC – Leniko Boucher stroked a century and opening partner Lee-Germon Gaskin narrowly missed out on another, as Barbados whipped Canada by 151 runs in the sixth round of the Regional Under-19 Championship here yesterday.

Dear Editor, I continue to wish the government well, in part because the PPP/C-led government was so thoroughly corrupt.

Track and Field athletes from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) are eagerly awaiting to invade the MacKenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground on a mission to capture the spoils of the Boyce/Jefford Classic Championships scheduled for August 15-16.

In response to concerns expressed by small vendors who customarily cash in on the annual GuyExpo event, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin has told the Stabroek Business that the APNU/+FC coalition administration has no intention of removing what has become a highly popular and – for the small and micro business sector – a lucrative one-off market opportunity – from the country’s events’ calendar.

DHAKA, (Reuters) – Dale Steyn became the second South African bowler to join the 400 club as his team took five wickets in the final session to reduce Bangladesh to 246 for eight on the first day of the second test in Mirpur yesterday.

SAINT-DENIS, Reunion, (Reuters) – Plane debris washed up on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean is almost certainly part of a Boeing 777, a Malaysian official and aviation experts said, potentially the biggest breakthrough in the search for missing Flight MH370.

CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) – Michel Platini’s bid for the FIFA presidency has garnered no immediate enthusiasm from Africa despite France’s strong footballing ties with the continent.

Beneficiaries of funding under the state-run Micro and Small Enterprise Development (MSED) project aimed at assisting vulnerable groups to create alternative livelihoods are now unlikely to satisfy a key original target set out in the project’s conditionalities, Derrick Cummings, former chief executive officer of the Small Business Bureau, the agency responsible for managing the project has told Stabroek Business.

The National Assembly yesterday moved to repeal a $10 environmental tax on non-returnable containers of imported beverages as part of its obligations under a ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and Finance Minister Winston Jordan signalled that in excess of over $1 billion would be lost annually as a result.

Dear Editor,   As a dentist who has been in practice here in Guyana for a number of years and has also been in practice in Brooklyn, New York, for about the same time, I would like the public to understand the ramifications of getting dental treatment from a ‘quack’ or false dentist.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezue-lan troops occupied a Caracas warehouse complex used by local food giant Empresas Polar and Nestle to distribute food and beverages, workers and company officials said yesterday.

SEOUL, (Reuters) – A towering figure in Asian football and smooth operator in diplomatic circles, South Korea’s Chung Mong-joon will need to sharpen his political elbows if he is to survive the vicious twists and turns of the upcoming FIFA presidential race.

(Trinidad Express) – Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has signed an interline deal with the world’s largest international airline-Emirates, which promises to make it easier for customers to travel the world.

Dear Editor, Like the myriad of concerned Guyanese, I have been following the vicissitudes of the rice sector, and like most, if not all, look forward to the early resolution of the circumscribing factors.

PORTLAND, Ore., (Reuters) – Greenpeace protesters dangling from a bridge in Portland, Oregon, yesterday forced back an icebreaker that Royal Dutch Shell needs in Alaska to start drilling in the Arctic, as a U.S.

BIRMINGHAM, (Reuters) – Paceman Steven Finn’s five-wicket haul put England on the brink of a 2-1 Ashes series lead over Australia yesterday with the tourists facing a desperate battle to avoid a humiliating third test defeat.

Dear Editor, 1) The appointment of public servants to be part of depleted and mismanaged NDCs and municipalities; the dissolution of some councils and their replacement by appointed IMCs are not a creation of the PPP or the PPP/C but are captured in the relevant legislative provisions on local government.

Against the backdrop of the disclosure that Venezuela will no longer be acquiring rice from Guyana under the PetroCaribe Agreement after November this year, it has been disclosed that as part of the alternative arrangements being made by the Maduro administration to fill the demand gap, rice farmers in the economically challenged Bolivarian Republic will be required to sell between 30% and 100% of their output to official state outlets.

SANTIAGO, (Reuters) – Hundreds of Chileans took to the streets of affluent Santiago neighborhoods on Wednesday night, clanging kitchenware and waving banners to protest what they say is an explosion in crime in one of South America’s safest nations.

Jacqueline Ann Camille Smith (the first letters of her full name spell out the trading name of the business that she operates) defines the economic tailspin that has plagued Linden for more than a decade in terms to which she can personally relates as a businessperson.

BIRMINGHAM, (Reuters) – England paceman James Anderson will be assessed after appearing to suffer a side strain bowling in Australia’s second innings during the third test yesterday.

Dear Editor, I went to the Ministry of Education’s department in the Queen’s College compound to uplift my daughter’s examinations certificate and was told by one of the staff that I could not collect the certificate because my daughter had to give me an authorization.

How dare I – a non-academic, a non-political scientist, a non-professional, qualified analyst or philosophy “logician” – attempt to advise a new government how to entertain or respond to a political/parliamentary Opposition-aggressor, seemingly dedicated to being uncooperative?

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 626’s trading results showed consideration of $1,144,497 from 7,029 shares traded in 10 transactions as compared to session 625’s trading results, which showed consideration of $4,353,953 from 177,616 shares traded in 15 transactions.

LONDON, (Reuters) – UK Athletics has found no impropriety on the part of Mo Farah after receiving the initial findings of a review into the double Olympic champion’s relationship with coach Alberto Salazar, it said yesterday.

Dear Editor, I wish to supplement the advice given to the police by Mr Roger Bhulai in the SN letters column this week that bicycle patrols are more appropriate for our streets than horse patrols (July 29), and suggest that we seriously consider using the bicycle more than we do now for regular, routine commutes within the city and even for short commutes in the countryside, instead of using our private cars and taxis.

(Trinidad Guardian) Officials at the Ministry of National Security are alleged to have discovered a plot to destabilise the country. The

By the end of August, Oriental General Store would have taken what its General Manager considers to be an important step in changing the face of a company that has a great deal more to offer consumers than it currently does.

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – Rio de Janeiro will employ more than twice the number of security personnel for the 2016 Olympics than London used in 2012 but authorities are not planning to occupy the city’s notorious favelas, the games’ organizers said yesterday.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Pakistan continued their impressive tour of Sri Lanka by comprehensively beating the hosts by 29 runs in the first Twenty20 International of the two-match series yesterday.

BRASILIA/SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – Brazil announced another cut to education spending on Thursday, the latest step back from President Dilma Rousseff’s pledge to turn the Latin American giant into an “education nation” in her second term.

Dear Editor,   I really appreciate the time taken by former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds to answer questions I had asked in a previously published letter in regard to the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.

Residents of large areas of south Georgetown enjoy the convenience of not having to travel to city markets to buy freshly caught, ready-to-cook fish.

As we reported last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge has said that Guyana is still hoping that Caricom will reach a consensus on a single candidate for the position of Commonwealth Secretary-General, to be decided, in November, at the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, in Malta.

Every year about this time, a small group of skilled craftswomen display an impressive array of African fashion in the Main Street Avenue, close to Courts Guyana Inc.

(Reuters) – CONCACAF, the governing body for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, has implemented a “detailed” review of its refereeing department after several controversial decisions were made during the recent Gold Cup.

(Trinidad Guardian) Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader Jack Warner has been ordered to pay former attorney general Anand Ramlogan close TT$900,000 in compensation after losing defamation lawsuit.

Kitco is a Canadian company that buys and sells precious metals such as gold, copper and silver.

LONDON, (Reuters) – World champion Lewis Hamilton has edged out Kimi Raikkonen as Formula One’s most popular driver in a global fan survey carried out by Britain’s Autosport magazine and associated publications.

Dear Editor, Dishonest politicians in the region must be careful because there is a wind of change blowing from as far as South America.