Daily Archive: Friday, April 8, 2016

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Sports Minister Emmalin Pierre has praised West Indies players Andre Fletcher and Afy Fletcher for their discipline, following their triumph at the just concluded Twenty20 World Cup in India.

(Reuters) – Rock star Bruce Springsteen today canceled a weekend concert in North Carolina to protest a new state law barring transgender people from choosing bathrooms consistent with their gender identity, as country music stars decried similar legislation proposed in Tennessee.

Wales workers continued their protest on Thursday against the planned closure of the sugar estate there by the end of the year.

Guyanese players from the West Indies (WI) Male Under-19 and WI Female World Twenty (WT20.)

Samuel Marks of Port Kaituma, NWD, has been charged with murder committed on Police Sergeant 16934 Leonard La Rose which occurred on March 01, 2016, at Matthews Ridge, NWD.

During today, Police Special Constable 14536 Akeem Hyles, 22 years, of the Tactical Services Unit was among a team of Joint Services personnel and officials of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) in a boat in the Amatuk Falls area, Potaro River, when the vessel capsized and he is suspected to have drowned, the police say.

The Government has approved the application of Surinamese Airline ‘Fly Always N.

Government has green-lighted a proposal submitted by Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin to introduce a ‘Trusted Trader’ programme to benefit legitimate businesses in Guyana, a release from the Ministry of the Presidency said today.

About 1725h. yesterday, the police say that Major Cunjah, 18 years, of Pomona Housing Scheme, Essequibo Coast, was the pillion rider on a motorcycle when the rider lost control of the vehicle and crashed on the Aurora Public Road, Essequibo Coast.

LONDON, (Reuters) – England all-rounder Ben Stokes says he was left devastated by his last over horror show in the World Twenty20 final against West Indies and has yet to watch a re-run of Carlos Brathwaite hitting him for four straight sixes.

Former president Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday declared that he does not have hidden wealth in shell accounts and is willing to declare his holdings, both local and overseas, if the opposition members would do the same.

Four persons, including a 12-year-old girl, were arraigned yesterday for the murder of Nonpareil pensioner Roger Manikam.

Three men were yesterday charged with murder after the gunning down of Coast Guardsman Kevon Payne and the suspected reprisal killing of Gladstone “Tuffy” Taylor in Charlestown.

The ruling coalition is still to address reports that Minister of State Joseph Harmon interfered in the work of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) with respect to Chinese-owned logging company Baishanlin.

Almost two months after General Secretary of the Rice Producers’ Association Dharamkumar Seeraj accused the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) of signing an underhand agreement for the procurement of $420M in fertiliser, a source says that the deal has collapsed.

Public officers who make a log of illegal directives given by government will be protected by whistleblower legislation, according to former president Bharrat Jagdeo, who yesterday warned that those who do not will face the consequences should his party return to office.

Suzette Cornette, a former employee of the Guyana Police Force’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), was yesterday charged with obtaining over $500,000 in cash and items to derail the prosecution of a larceny suspect.

The wooden stands at D’urban Park are starting to show signs of deterioration though only months old.

Thirteen years after being charged with killing a 22-year-old man during a row at a cricket match, Ganesh Narine was yesterday sentenced to nine years in jail after pleading guilty to the crime.

It is clear from a reading of the entire local government legislation that the framers never intended for the electorate to directly elect a mayor and application of a clause that speaks to voters directly electing a mayor would lead to an “absurdity,” Attorney-General (AG) Basil Williams said.

Livestock farmers in Guyana may soon be able to buy locally produced soybean meal as a Brazilian company is expected to begin cultivation at Ebini.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday disputed reports that his party received a hefty donation from Chinese company Baishanlin for its 2015 elections campaign.

LONDON,  CMC – Cricket’s world governing body, the ICC, announced late yesterday it had cleared Sunil Narine to bowl again, paving the way for the West Indies off-spinner to participate in the cash-rich Indian Premier League starting Saturday.

Dubbing the deaths of 17 prisoners in a fire last month a “massacre,” a former Camp Street prison inmate yesterday testified that the officer-in-charge (OC) of the jail, Kevin Pilgrim, was not fit to run the facility.

Workers of the Wales Sugar Estate were joined by senior officials of the Guyana Agricultural & General Workers’ Union (GAWU) in holding a  candlelight vigil last evening in front of the  estate.

While the victorious women T20 cricketers were being feted in various parts of the Caribbean, the two Guyanese members of the team arrived at the Ogle airport on Wednesday without a government official showing up  and the Director of Sport yesterday cast most of the blame for this on the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).

Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul has ordered that a station diary, which may establish an alibi for one of the accused in the violent robbery of Justice Nicola Pierre and her family, be produced in court today.

Two Buxton brothers were yesterday granted their release on $30,000 bail each after denying an assault on a person who broke into to their vehicle.

Lamenting Guyana’s notoriety as the suicide capital of the world, President David Granger on Wednesday urged stakeholders to take action to get help to those in need of it.

The newly-appointed mayors of the country’s three new townships have identified infrastructural development as being among their main priorities.

Heavyweight matches will commence the start of the eighth round in the GFF Stag Beer Elite League when leaders, Slingerz FC tackles fifth-placed Pele and third-positioned Alpha United opposes second-place Fruta Conquerors today at the Leonora Facility.

Following the recent protest action taken by students to highlight their concerns over the neglect of the University of Guyana, President David Granger has agreed to meet with representatives of the student body.

Potential investors who had previously engaged the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) are being encouraged to reopen those investment enquiries as the agency enters its retooling phase to better position itself to respond to government’s accelerated focus on creating an enhanced enabling environment for foreign investment.

Serious resource-related weaknesses in the monitoring and enforcement regimes at the Government Analyst Food and Drugs Department (GAFDD) may have opened the doors to concerted abuse of the laws governing the importation of foods, medicines and cosmetics into the country.

BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s government rejected new accusations yesterday that her election was illegally funded with graft money and expressed confidence it can block an attempt to impeach her.

Dear Editor, Now that new local government councils are in place, the pivotal challenge representatives and their constituents will face involves the nature and quality of the representation itself.

(Barbados Nation) Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has told members of the women’s West Indies Cricket team that they will go down in history as “restoring” the spirit of the people of the Caribbean.

History will be created on Sunday May 15th as CONCACAF powerhouse and FIFA 87th ranked Canada will play Guyana in the first ever international friendly at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

This newspaper’s interview earlier this week with the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of GO-Invest Mr Owen Verwey, provided some important and long-overdue insights into the likely future of the agency charged not only with promoting Guyana at home and abroad as a worthwhile investment destination but also with helping to open up new external markets in which Guyana can pay a trading interest, apart, of course, from shoring up the traditional ones.

President of the basketball referees group, Dexter Douglas says the body has received an official apology from the basketball federation over a March 22nd game where a Linden team walked off the court in protest over the refereeing.

Dear Editor, On Wednesday we observed World Health Day 2016 under the theme: “Beat Diabetes”. 

Dear Editor, On Thursday March 31, 2016, Guyanese Hubert Devonish, distinguished professor of Linguistics at UWI (Mona), was our guest in the Department of Language and Cultural Studies, Turkeyen Campus, UG. 

Dear Editor, I refer to the letter `There is nothing corrupt about the Minister of State’s actions’ (SN July 7, 2016) by Mr.

By: Valrie Grant, Entrepreneur, Managing Director, GeoTechVision   Starting your own business can be exciting, yet it can be quite a daunting experience.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolas Maduro threatened yesterday to seek a constitutional amendment to slash the opposition-led legislature’s term and vowed to lead a “revolution” should his foes wrest him from the presidency.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Stafanie Taylor, the Jamaican who led the regional women’s cricket team to its first ICC World T20 title, was treated to a welcome-home ceremony fit for a heroine inside the Pineapple Lounge at the Norman Manley International Airport on Wednesday.

The extractive sector in the Caribbean region will benefit from a Cdn$20 million fund being made available by the Canadian Extractive Sector Facility (CANEF) to help implement best practices in the management of natural resources linked to extractive industries.

(The Sports Xchange) – Brad Stevens had a feeling his team, coming off a five-game western trip and battling for playoff position, could be in for a rough time Wednesday night.

Dear Editor, Reference is made to Nigel Hinds’ letter, `There is nothing corrupt about the Minister of State’s actions’ (SN 7th April, 2016).

Dear Editor, It was a traffic stop of a different kind.

Newly elected President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Vishnu Doerga has told the Stabroek Business that effective collaboration between government and private sector in the quest to take the country’s economy forward continues to be affected by the fact that the private sector is “the other half” of an unequal partnership.

GUATEMALA CITY, (Reuters) – A Guatemalan court yesterday sentenced five men to terms of up to 53 years in prison for the 2011 killing of popular Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela specified yesterday that public sector employees, save those in the food industry, would receive Fridays off until a drought stops hurting hydropower generation.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Former President Bill Clinton faced down protesters angry at the impact his crime reforms of 20 years ago have had on black Americans and defended the record of Hillary Clinton, his wife, who is relying on the support of black voters in her quest for the presidency.

“Guyana cannot hope to promote itself as a country that is open to foreign investment on the basis of “a portfolio that turns its back on the exploitation of the workers of the country, the pillaging of its resources and one which appears to have no difficulty with the transgression of the laws of the country,” General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) Lincoln Lewis has said.

Dear Editor, Two members of the World Champion West Indies Women’s T20 team, Guyana’s Shemaine Campbell and Tremaine Smartt returned home to a rousing welcome at CJIA earlier today.

KINGSTON, Jamaica,  CMC – Olympic star Yohan Blake has declared himself fully fit, following an incident-free outing at the UWI Invitational last weekend.

Any of you ever heard how Forbes Burnham inveigled Barrister-at-law Desmond Hoyte to join him and the PNC in sophisticated, but activist party politics?

UNITED NATIONS,  (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The fight to abolish human trafficking, which claims nearly 21 million victims worldwide, is so far a failure, a top leader in the field said yesterday, calling for an immediate international effort to coordinate strategic efforts.

What the 50th anniversary of Guyana’s independence offers – among other things – is an opportunity for the rest of the Caribbean to join us in the celebrations and the Jamaican-born businesswoman who has set up operations here has told Stabroek Business that her Island Style Restaurant situated on Brickdam directly opposite what is commonly called the GTT Blackberry Building feels honoured to part of it.

Dear Editor, I have just returned from the GRO at the GPOC building feeling very frustrated and disgusted with the slothful behaviour of staff in processing requests for Birth Certificates.

SAN SALVADOR, (Reuters) – El Salvador’s Congress yesterday approved a $100 million loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration to help stem a tide of gang warfare that has turned the country into one of the most violent in the world.

AUGUSTA, Georgia,  (Reuters) – Jordan Spieth’s love affair with Augusta National continued yesterday as the reigning Masters champion fired a flawless six-under-par 66 to seize an early three-shot clubhouse lead in the opening round.

SAO PAULO,  (Reuters) – A Brazilian court has ordered the government to suspend its agrarian reform programme, citing evidence that instead of helping the poor it was used to hand out free land to thousands of politicians, business owners and wealthy individuals.

(The Sports Xchange) – J.J. Barea added another clutch performance to the best stretch of his career Wednesday night and the Dallas Mavericks secured a crucial 88-86 win over the Houston Rockets at American Airlines Center.

(Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged in a TV interview yesterday that he once had a stake in his late father’s offshore trust, which was revealed in the “Panama Papers” leak from a law firm.

A glimpse of Wedding Expo 2016

HAVANA,  (Reuters) – Former Cuban President Fidel Castro, 89, made a rare appearance outside his home yesterday, visiting a school to mark the birthday of a late revolutionary heroine days after penning a scornful critique of U.S.

Dear Editor, The private national media and Transparency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI), along with local organisations like Red Thread have made statements condemning actions of Government leaders.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 662’s trading results showed consideration of $277,150 from 7,734 shares traded in 5 transactions as compared to session 661’s trading results, which showed consideration of $332,956 from 9,522 shares traded in 6 transactions.

Seven of the lowest paid public servants, most of them relatively young women who are heads of their households, spoke with Stabroek Business last week, seeking a way to make their case for their salaries to be lifted to at least the minimum wage level.

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

Dear Editor, Like the dominant Clive Lloyd and Vivian Richards teams of the past, once again our West Indies cricket team has given me that sense of what it means to be West Indian. 

Reports from neighbouring Brazil indicate that the congressional opposition is gaining momentum in its bid to garner 342 votes in the Chamber of Deputies to approve the formal initiation of the impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff on April 17.