Daily Archive: Monday, November 28, 2016

1 1. Introduction 1.1 Mr. Speaker, I rise to move the motion for the approval of the Estimates of the Public Sector and the Budget for the Financial Year 2017 and, in doing so, I wish to indicate that Cabinet has recommended that the National Assembly proceed upon this motion, pursuant to Article 171, Paragraph 2, of the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.

While Finance Minister Winston Jordan was delivering his budget today it was also being communicated by sign language under a Ministry of Finance initiative.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan today announced that the Value Added Tax (VAT) will be dropped from 16% to 14% but it will also now be applied to electricity and water.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan today announced an increase in the income tax threshold from $660,000 per annum to the greater of $720,000 or one-third of an employee’s gross salary.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan this afternoon reiterated that radical reorganisation of the sugar industry is required but he made no announcements of any decisions in relation to estates.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan today said that provision has been made in the 2017 budget for Mabaruma in Region One to have a 400-kilowatt solar farm.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth this year is expected to be 2.6% compared to the originally projected 4.4% when budget 2016 was presented earlier this year, Finance Minister Winston Jordan said today while presenting his budget for 2017.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said in a tweet today he would end the United States’ “deal” with Cuba unless a better one was made, reflecting his campaign pledge to reverse President Barack Obama’s moves to open relations with the Cold War adversary.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s bolivar currency has depreciated an unprecedented 60 percent in a month against the U.S.

Ranks of the Guyana Police Force say they are making stringent efforts to apprehend a male suspect, who indiscriminately discharged several rounds from a handgun, in the vicinity of a popular gas station, located on the East Coast of Demerara.

The police today said that a male domestic violence suspect who assaulted and tried to disarm an armed police constable, was early this morning shot to his right elbow, at Diamond, EBD.

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – China has approved a 247-billion-yuan (US$36-billion) railway plan to improve transport links between the capital Beijing, the port city of Tianjin, and the neighbouring province of Hebei, part of plans to integrate the three areas into a mega-city.

Former President Donald Ramotar yesterday called on the government to set up a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the D’Urban Park construction project.

-land for workers on the tableBy Shabna Rahman With the 2017 budget to be presented today, a major announcement is likely on the way forward for sugar with GuySuCo Chairman Dr Clive Thomas telling Stabroek News on Friday of a possible rationalisation of the industry to four estates.

Following allegations of misconduct and lawbreaking levelled against police at the Springlands Berbice, Precinct, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan on Saturday assured residents in the county that thorough investigations will he conducted.

The delayed review of the financial model of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) is expected to be completed soon even as Oslo awaits details on Guyana’s much touted plans for a “green economy.”

A regular weekend hangout at the popular Wings and Things Bar on Mandela Avenue on Sunday morning, halted with the shooting of one of the area’s residents, following an altercation between him and another patron.

Chief Justice (ag) Yonette Cummings-Edwards on Friday ruled that the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) had provided sufficient evidence to support its decision to deny entry into the country of a container of condensed milk from Malaysia.

Amidst complaints of it being unreasonable and not practical, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has publicly restated its right to search any local aircraft.

Ranks of the Guyana Police Force on Friday last conducted a 12-hour drug eradication exercise at Gateroy, Upper Berbice River, during which four fields measuring about 8 acres were found cultivated with Cannabis Sativa with an estimated 10, 000 plants measuring between 2-6 feet in height and with a weight of approximately 21000 kilograms, police said yesterday.

The Guyana Jaguars took a slim lead of 27 over Windward Islands Volcanoes who were 90 for the loss of four wickets at the end of the second day of their day/night encounter at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Ground in Gros-Islet, St Lucia.

Quick response on the part of an inmate and prison officers of the Lusignan Prison on Saturday evening, led to the extinguishing of a fire of electrical origin, which broke out in one of the institution’s dormitories.

To commemorate the life of Claude Alphonso Merriman, President David Granger unveiled a bust at the Merriman Mall on Vlissengen Road on Saturday.

If you are a fan of the iron and strength sports, then yesterday at the St Stanislaus College auditorium was the place to be since some of the best gladiators in the country took the platform to do battle in what turned out to be a record-breaking day.

Education Minister and Working People’s Alliance (WPA) leader, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine should publicly address his role as a director in the private company that supervised the controversial D’Urban Park project, says his fellow party executive Dr David Hinds.

The Maritime Administration Department says that all vessels entering and leaving the Waini and Pomeroon rivers must report to the authorities.

The Sixteenth Rupununi Expo  kicked off on Saturday with scores of patrons from across Guyana and persons in the diaspora participating, GINA said.

The People’s National Congress Reform says it is deeply saddened at the passing of Fidel Castro, the former President of Cuba.

The Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) is warning that with immediate effect the Guyana Fertiliser Wharf, north of Muneshwer’s Limited on the Demerara River has been deemed unsafe for the mooring of vessels.

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe,  CMC – Half-centuries from Upul Tharanga and Kusal Mendis lifted Sri Lanka to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the final of the Tri-Nations Series here yesterday.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Free-scoring opener Anthony Alleyne stroked his third half-century of the new Regional Four-Day season and pushed his aggregate past 400 runs, but Barbados Pride found their progress stymied by rain on the penultimate day of their third round encounter against Jamaica Scorpions here yesterday.

ADELAIDE, (Reuters) – Australia cruised to a seven-wicket consolation victory in the day-night third test yesterday after dismissing South Africa for 250 and knocking off the 127 runs for victory for the loss of three wickets before dinner on day four.

MOHALI, India, (Reuters) – Half-centuries by Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin kept India on course for a first innings lead after England made a spirited comeback on day two of the third test yesterday.

ABU DHABI, (Reuters) – Nico Rosberg shed tears of joy after clinching his first Formula One championship on Sunday in a tense Abu Dhabi Grand Prix won by Mercedes team mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton amid accusations of ‘dirty tricks’.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Only 35 overs were possible on Sunday’s third day as rain continued to wreak havoc on the third around encounter in the Regional Four-Day Championship between Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and Leeward Islands Hurricanes.

Digicel Guyana Incorporated on Saturday presented Fruta Conquerors’ rising star Jeremy Garrett with the airfare to attend his tryout at European club Sporting Lisbon of Portugal.

ZAGREB, (Reuters) – Juan Del Potro’s tennis career looked over after a second wrist injury sidelined him for the best part of two years in 2014 but the Argentine enjoyed one of his greatest moments when he led his nation to their maiden Davis Cup title yesterday.

Guyana rebounded from their opening loss in the Jamaica Tri-Nation Invitational Basketball Series, defeating Libertyville Vipers 91-84 on Saturday at the Jamaica National Indoor Sports Centre.

Dear Editor, I came across a misguided letter in the Stabroek News of November 24, carrying the headline ‘The erroneous definition of broadcasting has not been removed from the Telecommunications Bill’ by Tony Vieira.

Dear Editor, The Ministry of Education celebrated forty years of nursery education ‒ from September 1976 to September 2016.

PARIS,  (Reuters) – Hardline reformist Francois Fillon scored a resounding win in France’s conservative primaries yesterday, making him favourite to win a presidential election five months from now against the popular far-right and a deeply divided left.

(Reuters) – Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho is fond of setting landmarks as a manager but becoming the first individual to be sent off twice in this season’s Premier League is not one he will covet.

Dear Editor, On November 18, a letter from the Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr Basil Williams, appeared under the caption ‘President is paying careful attention to his constitutional duty in the appointment of judges.’

(Reuters) – Heavy rain washed out much of the third day’s play of the second test between Pakistan and New Zealand yesterday, with the hosts facing just one ball in their second innings before bad light ended proceedings.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s state prosecutor said yesterday it would charge 11 members of the military for responsibility in the death of 12 civilians following a security raid last month in the violent country’s coastal state of Miranda.

Dear Editor, The electorate in Grenada has rejected a referendum to amend the constitution to abolish appeals to the Privy Council and accept the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final court, among six other constitutional amendments.

Golden Stars brushed aside Ann’s Grove by a 3-0 score line when the National Milling Company (NAMILC0) Thunderbolt Flour u17 Football Championship continued yesterday in the East Coast of Demerara zone.

(Reuters) – Reuters first established a presence in Havana before the Second World War and covered every major story of the Fidel Castro era since his 1959 Cuban revolution, from the Bay of Pigs invasion to his sickness in old age.

BEIRUT,  (Reuters) – Several thousand residents of rebel-held eastern Aleppo fled shifting frontlines, residents and a monitor said yesterday, after a rapid advance by the Syrian army and allied forces that rebels fear could split their most important urban stronghold in two.

Dear Editor, Reports in the media about the various sufferings of Guyana’s pensioners continue to jolt one’s conscience; the latest involves the cruel hassles imposed on them by an apparently mindless bureaucracy which insists that they endure a nightmare of days annually just to collect their pension books.

A Kendra Thomas double propelled the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to a 2-0 win over Linden unit Demerara Queens when the National Association for Women’s Football (NAWF) Developmental League continued yesterday.

Private investors in the promising eco-tourism subsector yesterday launched the Tourism Association of Guyana (TAG) and its first elected president Tony Thorne says tourist markets in North America and Europe will be targeted “to put Guyana back on the world map”.

DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC – Superstar Chris Gayle announced his arrival in the Bangladesh Premier League like only he can, hitting a boundary-studded cameo to help propel Chittagong Vikings to a nine-wicket win over Rangpur Riders here Sunday.

Today is Budget Day. It is an important day since it is the first time in the history of Post-Independence Guyana, and perhaps earlier, that we are having a budget for the fiscal year before the beginning of the year begins.

Interviews and photos by Dreylan Johnson and David Papannah This week we asked the man/woman in the street about their eating habits; whether they consider their diets to be healthy, what they can do to improve it and if a family history of diseases such as diabetes and hypertension influences their diet in any way.

For decades, the Directors of the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) have done yeoman’s working in protecting the health of citizens from unwholesome foods and improper food handling practices.

HAVANA,  (Reuters) – From the Bay of Pigs invasion to a historic visit by President Barack Obama to Havana, Cubans have known for generations that whenever the United States turns its face to Cuba, Fidel Castro would be staring right back.

BENGALURU,  (Reuters) – Anticipating a more protectionist U.S. technology visa programme under a Donald Trump administration, India’s $150 billion IT services sector will speed up acquisitions in the United States and recruit more heavily from college campuses there.

Dear Editor, Of late, we have been getting conflicting reports from this administration on the status of crime in Guyana.