Daily Archive: Tuesday, September 26, 2017

PPP/C MP Juan Edghill yesterday wrote the Chairman of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), Carol Corbin calling for an inquiry into the government’s renting of a property in Charlestown for the storage of drugs.

  BERLIN,  (Reuters) – The Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) co-leader Frauke Petry said on Tuesday she was leaving the far-right party, dealing a major blow to its credibility just two days after it surged to third place in a national election.

  CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition said yesterday it will not send representatives to the Dominican Republic for talks with President Nicolas Maduro’s government due to lack of progress on issues from human rights to elections.

  LONDON,  (Reuters) – England all-rounder Ben Stokes was arrested early today after an incident in Bristol and will miss the fourth one-day international against West Indies, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said.

Dominica’s police chief says the death toll following the passage of Hurricane Maria has now risen to 27.

In keeping with a proposal made in 2015, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has appointed a UN prosecutor to deal with corruption matters in Guyana but the details of his work have not been made public.

A Smithfield, New Amsterdam man was yesterday charged with the murder of his wife, who he is accused of fatally beating.

State Minister Joseph Harmon has said that the special purpose unit set up to spearhead the divestment and privatisation of certain GuySuCo assets will build on the preliminary work undertaken by consultant Wesley Kirton to identify potential investors, and conduct its operations transparently.

A Corriverton, Berbice man was yesterday sentenced to 20 years in jail after he recently pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge in the High Court at Berbice.

City councillors yesterday questioned whether taxpayers’ monies were being spent responsibly after finding out that an incomplete stun gun had been bought by City Hall for use at the municipal abattoir and so another one had to be purchased.

A post-mortem examination yesterday on the body of 13-year-old Leonard Archibald who was killed two Sundays ago was inconclusive, due to the badly decomposed state of the body.

Commentator Christopher Ram has questioned the wisdom of Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman signing a new contract with ExxonMobil, arguing that the opportunity was lost to correct some obvious errors in the original pact.

A minibus driver was yesterday charged with causing the death of a 66-year-old cyclist, who was struck down last week along the Herstelling Public Road.

Amidst calls for the City Engineer’s Department to be more firm with its employees, Assistant City Engineer Rasheed Kellman was yesterday given two weeks to submit an overdue report, failing which, disciplinary action will be taken against by the Georgetown City Council.

Two more suspects have been held by police in connection with the murder of Fazal Shaheed and the wounding of two of his brothers during a robbery at Freeman Street, East La Penitence on Sunday.

The trial of the six former Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) members, including two opposition parliamentarians, who are charged with failing to record entries for funds amounting to over $250 million in total in the agency’s general ledger, began yesterday.

Detective Senior Superintendent Rishi Dass’ request to be removed from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been granted and he has been placed as second-in-charge of the Guyana Police Force’s Operations Department.

A Brazilian national is now dead after the excavator he was operating fell into a mining pit with him last Tuesday.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) rugby outfit marched all over the Pepsi Hornets yesterday with a 41-10 trouncing when the Bounty Farm 15’s league continued Sunday at the National Park.

The two suspects in the torching of three houses in Sophia just over a week ago have fled the country, according to Commander of ‘C’ Division Calvin Brutus.

Almost two years after she is alleged to have fatally struck down a pedestrian, the trial of attorney Keisha Chase is set to begin.

Boxing and Track and Field are expected to be Guyana’s best bet for medals at this year’s South American Youth Games in Chile.

Dear Editor, It is easy to be angry at the villagers who had heard about the men who killed Leonard Archibald.

People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) General Secretary Amna Ally has said that as the party prepares to observe its Diamond jubilee, it remains committed to fighting poverty and establishing the economic independence of working people.

Dear Editor, The Public Procurement Commission (the Commission) has noted several inaccurate and misleading statements about the work of the commission published in the media recently, particularly the article in the Stabroek News of Monday, September 18, 2017.

By Noelle Smith   Laurie Adonis is a top notch rugby coach, one of the bets in the country.

Colts secured berths to the first and second-division finals while Pacesetters clinched a berth to the U23 final when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) League Championship continued on Sunday.

The preliminary trial of Marcus Bisram, who is the alleged mastermind behind the murder of Number 70 Village carpenter Faiyaz Narinedatt, was yesterday adjourned after an expected update did not materialise.

In a letter which appeared in our edition yesterday captioned ‘PPC commissioners worked collectively on drugs procurement matter and all were fully aware of contents of final report’, the name Fonseca Peters appeared as the signatory on behalf of the Public Procurement Commission.

Dear Editor, Please allow me to respond to Mr Lincoln Lewis’ letter in SN , Sepember 24 in which he argues the presenters at the recent constitutional symposium at University of Guyana, Tain, should first understand the 1980 Burnham Constitution before trying to critique it or ask for its reform.

Dear Editor, I have noted with increasing concern your publication on the front page of ‘Weekend Magazine’ of 3rd and 10th September, 2017, photographs of outboard boats driven at speed by young drivers who are not wearing life jackets, and it appears without using engine cut-out safety cords.

Den Amstel, Soesdyke Falcons and Ann’s Grove secured quarterfinal berths, when the Hamilton Green Football Championship continued on Sunday at the Victoria Community ground.

Polio survivor Pamela London is now in urgent need of assistance after her abode collapsed a few weeks ago, destroying the little she had and forcing her to now occupy a makeshift structure which is unsafe.

LONDON, CMC – Captain Jason Holder believes West Indies can still take a share of the five-match One-Day International series against England despite losing two of the first three games.

Dear Editor, In a letter published on September 19, 2017, titled ‘Jagdeo was no Lee Kwan Yew’, I wrote that the  administration of former President Bharrat Jagdeo had squandered the “proceeds from the commodities price surge as well as the roughly US$1 billion aid package from the European Union granted in compensation for the impending 36 per cent cut in the preferential price for Guyana sugar heading to the bloc.”

The Cheddi Jagan Inter-national Airport (CJIA) and the Eugene F Correia International Airport should be equipped with better, free WiFi for the public by the end of this year, according to Floyd Levi, Head of the National Data Management Authority (NDMA).

The lack of training of the police force’s handwriting experts was brought into sharp focus last week during the continuing trial of accused drug trafficker Dennis Jones.

NEW YORK/SEOUL,  (Reuters) – North Korea’s foreign minister said yesterday President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea and that Pyongyang reserved the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down U.S.

LONDON, (Reuters) – England’s selectors name their squad tomorrow for the Ashes series with the team in a surprising state of flux despite recent home series wins over South Africa and West Indies.

Dear Editor, I hope performers from the Cricket Guyana Inc Jaguars three-day Franchise League are duly rewarded for their performances.

A United Nations disaster assessment official visiting Dominica, which was battered by Hurricane Maria, said yesterday that an estimated 60,000 to 65,000 people, or 80 per cent of the total population, have been affected and that food and water are the most immediate needs, a release from the United Nations Information Centre said.

President David Granger (left) yesterday met with UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres at the United Nations in New York.

Dear Editor, The seemingly unending blasts from one natural disaster after another stirred some thoughts. 

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Steve Smith has said his side’s record in 2017 is unacceptable for an Australian cricket team in the wake of the one-day international series loss to India.

The Ministry of Social Cohesion on Friday launched the 2017 National Skip to My Lou jump rope championships which will see winners being rewarded with laptops as prizes.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela’s doctors, fed up with what they called the World Health Organi-zation’s passive attitude toward the country’s deep medical crisis, protested at the agency’s Caracas office yesterday to demand more pressure on the government and additional assistance.

The Solid Waste Department of the Georgetown municipality is aiming to streamline garbage collection in large communities in a bid to conserve its resources.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in prison yesterday for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl, setting off a scandal that played a role in the 2016 U.S.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Australia spinner Ashton Agar has been ruled out of the last two one-day internationals in India after suffering a broken finger, Cricket Australia said yesterday.

Dear Editor, For some repatriates to readjust to Guyana after being gone 15, 25, 35 years is a very daunting task.

SAN JUAN, (Reuters) – Many people living near a crumbling dam in storm-battered Puerto Rico have evacuated, Governor Ricardo Rossello said yesterday, as he asked for more government aid to avert a humanitarian crisis after Hurricane Maria.

Dear Editor, The bins remain where they were placed Thursday night for a 5.30am pick-up Friday morning on the eastern side of Duncan Street, Campbellville, with no indication from City Hall through any media about when they would be cleared.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Susan Collins rebuffed intense lobbying from fellow Republicans and the promise of more money for her state in deciding yesterday  to oppose – and likely doom – her party’s last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare.

NEW YORK, CMC – American track star Justin Gatlin plans to make the Grenada Invitational a major part of his early season schedule next year.

An eight-member team from the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons with representatives from the Ministry of Public Security, the Guyana Geology and Mines Com-mission and the  Ministry of Social Protection visited mining camps, Indigenous Settlements and Landings in Upper Mazaruni, Region 7 from September 15-19, for trafficking in persons’ awareness.

Dear Editor, After reading Mosa Telford’s column, ‘The single parent problem’ (SN, September 9) and Henry Jeffrey’s ‘Repositioning a not so ‘noble idea’ (SN, September 13) I found myself asking if there is a solution to ending (or reducing) intergenerational poverty.

BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – Brazil will reinstate a mining ban in a vast area of the Amazon rainforest, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters yesterday, in a victory for environmentalists who feared deforestation.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – The Supreme Court signaled yesterday it may dismiss a challenge to President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban after the White House announced tailored restrictions on eight countries that legal experts said stand a better chance at holding up in court.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – South African opener Dean Elgar is backing new cap Aiden Markram to make a successful step up to senior international cricket when the Proteas meet Bangladesh in the first test in Potchefstroom on Thursday.

Dear Editor, The PNC will be observing in the month of October its 60th anniversary as a political party.

Once you decide to pursue a career in teaching in Guyana, moreso in the state school system, you automatically forfeit any chance of material fulfilment at the end of that career, except you simultaneously pursue some other more lucrative moonlighting option.

Facing escalating international sanctions, Venezuela’s autocrat Nicolas Maduro is offering a new “dialogue” with the opposition and national elections at the end of 2018.

ERBIL/SULAIMANIYA, Iraq,  (Reuters) – Kurds voted in large numbers in an independence referendum in northern Iraq yesterday, ignoring pressure from Baghdad, threats from Turkey and Iran, and international warnings that the vote may ignite yet more regional conflict.

(Jamaica Gleaner) About 125 Jamaicans are set to be evacuated from the hurricane-ravaged British Virgin Islands (BVI).

LONDON, CMC – West Indies captain Jason Holder hopes to have talismanic opener Chris Gayle available to the Caribbean side for a while yet, following his positive contributions on and off the field in the ongoing five-match One-Day International series.