Daily Archive: Monday, October 16, 2017

The GPSU has rejected the government’s wage increase offer for 2017.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States on Monday condemned Venezuela’s weekend gubernatorial elections as neither free nor fair and vowed to use its economic and diplomatic power to support Venezuelans in restoring democracy in the oil-exporting nation.

(Trinidad Guardian) Prominent south businessman Harry Ragoonanan says he plans to challenge to his suspension from the People’s National Movement (PNM).

Five persons – including a mother and two of her children – were killed yesterday in a head-on collision between a car and a paddy truck along the Number 59 Village Public Road, Corentyne.

A confrontation over the use of land at Cane Grove Backdam, Mahaica, turned deadly yesterday when a father and son were attacked and chopped.

The absence of a Chairperson is undoubtedly affecting the operations of the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom), according to Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield.

Eco Oil and Gas Limited says that there was no “flipping” when it sold a percentage of its shares in the offshore Orinduik Block to French oil and gas company, Total and that it is committed to the holistic development of this country.

The Ministry of Public Security on Friday met with residents of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Demerara where concerns were raised about security and adults preying on school girls.

The Special Purposes Unit set up to spearhead the divestment and privatisation of certain GuySuCo assets will be fully functional by January 2018, a government official says.

President David Granger’s daughter has rubbished an online news report that her jewellery company benefitted from millions in a contract to make 69 medals for the recent national awards investiture ceremony.

A meeting between Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Venkatachalam Mahalingam and the government will decide the way forward for the Indian immigration monument at Palmyra, Corentyne, the base of which crumbled while under construction earlier this year.

About two weeks ago, Goedverwagting residents, awakened by calls in the wee hours of the morning, rose to find the bridge linking their community to the adjoining Pradoville 1 on fire for the third time within the space of just over a month.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Friday launched the Steering Committee Meeting for an agricultural census at the Ministry’s boardroom, Regent Street.

Essequibo captured their maiden three – day title after ending atop the points table when curtains came down on the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Jaguars three-day league yesterday.

By Noelle Smith   Hosts Guyana ended in third place behind champions England and runners-up Ireland when the West Indies Fullbore Shooting Championships ended yesterday at the Timehri Rifle Ranges.

President David Granger said that as Guyana strives for national unity and social cohesion, there are many important lessons to be learnt from the Hindu festival of Diwali, according to a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency.

Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally, yesterday encouraged the 92 graduates of the Ninth Module One Youth Leadership Training Programme to take up frontline leadership.

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, CMC – Batsmen Shai Hope, Roston Chase and Kraigg Brathwaite all gathered half-centuries as West Indies made a bright start to their tour of Zimbabwe here yesterday.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Brandon King, Darren Bravo and Rovman Powell all starred as a Regional Invitational XI defeated a Trinidad and Tobago Red Force XI by 11 runs in a celebrity Hurricane Relief Twenty20 here Saturday night.

Dear Editor, For the past three days, ie Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the residents of LBI to Better Hope on the East Coast are without water, again.

Dear Editor, So much of the analysis from columnists and letter writers I see in papers in Guyana continues to remind me of the management maxim from Murphy’s law: “Nothing is as simple as it looks to most people”.

Dear Editor, In reference to a letter from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) published in the October 14, edition of Stabroek News captioned ‘The Corporation Tax Rate for non-commercial companies was reduced in 2017’, I wish to quote from my letter on from October 11, 2017 which stated: “With respect to corporation taxes (CTAX), according to the Ram & McRae website, there are three rates of CTAX in Guyana: a 30% rate that applies to non-commercial companies, a 40% rate that applies to commercial companies except telephone companies and finally a 45% rate for the telephone companies.”

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – President Nicolas Maduro’s government won a majority of governorships in yesterday’s regional election, according to official results, drawing fraud suspicions from the opposition whom polls had shown was poised for a big win.

The National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Minister of Sport, Dr.

Dear Editor, I thank the media for publishing my recent letter in relation to the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) failure to implement the much anticipated Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) REDD+ Readiness project in Guyana.

MOGADISHU,  (Reuters) – More than 200 people were killed by twin bomb blasts that struck busy junctions in the heart of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, officials said yesterday, marking the deadliest attacks since an Islamist insurgency began in 2007.

Jamaica completed a 39-run victory over Guyana in the final of the second Annual Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association Independence T20 Cup at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Saturday evening.

Dear Editor, The Toroparu Mining and Development Consortium is made up of a group of  small individual miners in Toroparu, Upper Mazaruni, Region Seven, who have been unable to work their dredges for the past two to three years for various reasons.

BAGHDAD, (Reuters) – Iraqi government forces took control of “vast areas” in the region of Kirkuk, including oilfields west of the city, in the early hours of today, Iraqi state TV said, but the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) disputed the assertions.

ARLINGTON, Va.,  (Reuters) – Negotiators at talks to modernize NAFTA are running out of time and look set to extend the remaining rounds in a bid to meet an end-year deadline as tensions rise, three sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Den Amstel crushed fierce rival Pouderoyen FC 4-1 while Wales upset Uitvlugt 2-0 when the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) U17 Football League continued yesterday in several zones.

Dear Editor, In his book The emergence of a Science Society in England 1800-1965,  GW Roderick reports that when the renowned German philosopher Wilhelm Von Humboldt was asked to explain Germany’s phenomenal rise as the most powerful nation in Europe around the beginning of the nineteenth century, Von Humboldt’s succinct response was: “What you want the nation to be, you must first put in your schools”.

Dear Editor, After two-and-a-half years into this APNU+AFC administration, the People’s Progressive Party is still being blamed for everything that goes wrong in Guyana.

By Noelle Smith In the last game of the Bounty Farm XV’s before the national squad focuses on preparation for the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) 7s tournament, the Guyana Defence Force trounced Caribs 76-22 Saturday at the National Park.

DUBLIN,  (Reuters) – Ireland dispatched its armed forces to bolster flood defences yesterday and warned people against non-essential travel as the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia threatened the country with its worst storm in 50 years.

VATICAN CITY, (Reuters) – Pope Francis canonised 35 new Roman Catholic saints yesterday, including three indigenous children martyred in 16th century Mexico and considered the first Christians killed for their faith in the New World.

Dear Editor, I would rather prefer to stream a movie or read a stimulating book, and simply enjoy my downtime after a gruelling week in the classroom.

(Reuters) – A drone hit an airplane landing at a Quebec City airport this week, the first time an unmanned flying object has collided with commercial aircraft in Canada, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said yesterday.

Optique donates spectacles: In observation of World Sight Day, Optique Vision Care on Thursday donated spectacles to nine children from Bless the Children home.

Sparta Boss tackles Gold is Money while Future Stars engages Back Circle in the semi-final round of the inaugural Street Vibes Entertainment, ‘Futsal Championship’ today, following quarterfinal wins on Saturday.

(Trinidad Express) Deryck “Chicken” Hinds was shot and killed near Medine Street, San Fernando on Friday night.

(Trinidad Express) An out of control vehicle crashed through a steel bridge and plunged into the New Cut Channel River, in Woodland on Sunday.

SANTA ROSA, Calif.,  (Reuters) – Firefighters gained ground on the deadliest wildfires in California history yesterday as winds eased while searchers combed charred ruins for more victims of the blazes that have claimed at least 40 lives.

On March 2nd 2015 after the disclosure of medical aid by the state to senior PPP/C officials including $2.1m in cosmetic dentistry for then Minister Pauline Sukhai, the newly formed APNU+AFC coalition quite rightly expressed its outrage.

  Audit is not an end in itself, but an indispensable part of a regulatory system whose aim is to reveal deviations from accepted standards and violations of the principles of legality, efficiency, effectiveness and economy of financial management early enough to make it possible to take corrective action in individual cases, to make those accountable accept responsibility, to obtain compensation, or to take steps to prevent or at least render more difficult, such breaches.

By Vijay Prashad   Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian and journalist.

Dear Editor, I took a look at a BBC online article titled, ‘Kaepernick: from one man to movement’ and realized why that, despite the negatives, Americans can be and should be admired. 

A helping hand for a working dad: The Cardinals Cricket team last Sunday made a monetary donation to Ron Pilgrim, at the National Park.