Daily Archive: Monday, March 23, 2020

TORONTO/TOKYO, (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee has decided to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games because of the coronavirus pandemic, IOC member Dick Pound said today, as a window slowly began to open that would allow the showcase to be staged next year.

(Jamaica Star) Dancehall artiste, Elephant Man , whose given name is Oneil Bryan, has been charged with breaches of the Immigration Act.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Actor and director Garfield Reid, more popularly known as ‘Bad Boy Trevor’, has been taken into custody after cops reportedly raided a pool party being held at a house on Plantation Drive, in Plantation Heights, St Andrew last night, law enforcement sources revealed.

(Jamaica Star) The daughter of dancehall artiste Tommy Lee Sparta was shot and injured during a gun attack in the community of Flanker, St James, on Sunday afternoon.

   COVID-19 UPDATE – For immediate release Considering the current situation, the Ministry of Education wishes to advise that schools will be closed for an additional week (March 30, 2020 – April 03, 2020).

(Jamaica Star) Jamaican students who are studying overseas are now facing the wrath of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

SINGAPORE,  (Reuters) – Singapore Airlines (SIA) will cut capacity by 96%, ground almost its entire fleet and impose cost cuts affecting about 10,00 staff because of coronavirus travel curbs it described as the “greatest challenge” it has ever faced.

TORONTO/TOKYO,  (Reuters) – Major sporting nations Australia and Canada quit the Tokyo 2020 Olympics today as organisers faced global pressure to postpone the Games due to the coronavirus crisis for the first time in their 124-year modern history.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Scores of Jamaicans who are on an overseas work programme were forced to leave behind the goods and appliances they were stockpiling to take back home as they were informed at very short notice that they had just hours to leave the United States if they wanted to get home for Saturday’s midnight closure of all borders to incoming passengers.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Michelle Ally, 48, is from Westmoreland, Jamaica, and her only job in the United States for the past 18 years has been working as a nursing assistant at a 60-bed caregiving home in the Mount Vernon-Westchester area of New York City.

Taking precautionary measures in light of the global spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), ExxonMobil has suspended construction of its local headquarters at Ogle, East Coast Demerara for now.

In a second statement in a matter of days on the elections crisis here,  Sir Shridath Ramphal has warned that the country this week will choose a path that will either lead it to a good Guyana or a failed state.

Hundreds of self-styled ‘Guardians of Democracy’ gather daily to keep watch on the ballot boxes from the March 2 general and regional elections which are seen as key to finally establishing the winner and end the crisis that has gripped the country three weeks on.

The Ministry of Public Health is currently investigating a report that two Cuban nationals, who recently visited Guyana, tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) upon their return to their country.

Asks Royston Alkins  With cricket’s next major event seven months away and the sporting landscape at a standstill due to the rapid spread of the new Coronavirus, fans are on edge as to whether the 2020 ICC Twenty-20 World Cup will also be affected by the pandemic. 

HOUSTON,  (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp is notifying contractors and vendors of planned near-term cuts in capital and operating expenses over a coronavirus pandemic, and will announce the plans once they are final, company spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry said yesterday.

(Trinidad Express) Three days after she left this country on March 8, a Trindadian national residing in Canada developed COVID-19-like symptoms and has been tested and is awaiting the results.

Twenty-year-old off-spinning all-rounder, Richie Looknauth has blossomed into one of the shining lights around the local cricket fraternity and now sets his sights on breaking into the Guyana Jaguars side.

The opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has called on President David Granger to instruct Ulita Moore to withdraw her High Court challenge to the legality of a recount of the ballots from the March 2 general election.

Tullow has no immediate plans to continue drilling for oil here this year as it is still to further assess the results from three wells drilled last year, which the company has also written off.

“NBA Basketball gets pulled and the players still get paid but boxers, we have to fight to get paid, so I have to continue doing my work so when they say it’s go time, I have to be ready” Words mentioned by Lennox ‘Too Sharp’ Allen after he got word that his WBA super middleweight world title bout versus David Morrell Jr.,

During what it described as a “critical time” Courts says it is offering relief to its credit customers.

(Trinidad Express) Hundreds of Trinidad and Tobago citizens made a desperate dash to return home yesterday before the borders were officially closed at midnight.

Asks Emmerson Campbell As the globe grapples with the pandemic, COVID-19, everyday brings more calls for a rethink of this year’s Olympic Games scheduled to open in four months to the day in Tokyo, Japan.

The Georgetown City Council has reported a big decrease in revenue since the confirmation of the first novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) case in Guyana on March 11.

(Reuters) – A round-up of reaction to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announcing it is considering postponing the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, while ruling out cancelling the Games.

Dear Editor, The statement of President Granger on the afternoon of Saturday March 21 on `Civil violence in the Mahaica-Berbice Region 5’ appeared to be surreal. 

TT’s first-ever Olympic-bound female cyclist, Teniel Campbell, has described eerie scenes throughout the streets of Italy as a result of the extensive outbreak of covid19 in the world’s second most affected country.

(Reuters) – The Tokyo Olympics are not feasible at their current July starting date because of the coronavirus pandemic and must be delayed, World Athletics president said yesterday.

Presidential Candidate for the Change Guyana political party, Robert Badal, has branded government’s approach to the World Bank for a US$5 million loan to tackle the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) currently ravaging the world, a “shame.”

Dear Editor, There is a worldwide war against the coronavirus.  In war a whole range of medals and awards are given for bravery and performance beyond the call of duty.

Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels is among a number of ranks who were granted substantive appointments effective from the beginning of this year.

ATHENS, (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee is stepping up its “scenario planning” for the Tokyo 2020 Games — including a possible postponement — as the coronavirus pandemic spreads, it said after an emergency meeting yesterday.

The price per barrel of Guyana’s oil will be calculated using the Brent crude benchmark after the bill of lading for the cargo is issued and how information on the sales will be released is currently being determined, Director of the Department of Energy (DE) Dr Mark Bynoe says.

Dear Editor, We all know, all Guyanese and all of the democratic world which has witnessed the failure of GECOM to deliver credible results that there is only one solution and that is a transparent internationally observed recount of the vote from the ballots currently sealed in containers.

Dear Editor, As the Guyana election drama continues, some political power seekers as well as academics have been calling for power sharing as the way out of the current political crisis.

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) says it is taking a range of measures to keep customers and employees safe.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – The Australian Football League’s (AFL) attempt to forge on with the season despite the coronavirus outbreak lasted just one round before it was shut down on Sunday in the wake of a government crackdown on non-essential travel.

Dear Editor, Guyana is in a perpetual election/political crisis. The solution is five-pointed and easy a.

A car driven by a Canje nurse slammed into the Welfare Community Centre fence on Saturday after the driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle.

DUBAI, (Reuters) – The Dubai World Cup, one of the world’s richest horse races and a premier annual sporting event in the United Arab Emirates, will not go ahead this year amid the worsening coronavirus epidemic.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – When the mighty Indian cricket board decided last week that only the chief among its national selectors would travel business class, it merely confirmed straitened times for the game amid the coronavirus outbreak.

A man accused of robbing a woman of two gold chains during which he fired shots from a gun was remanded to prison after appearing at the George-town Magistrates’ Court on Friday on several charges. 

Dear Editor, Like many other Guyanese, I have been finding the letters of Mr GHK Lall learned and erudite and entertaining yet, even so, a little troubling in its studied purveying of us the PPP/C as being much the same as the PNCR/APNU+AFC.

(BBC) The county cricket season will not start until at least 28 May because of the coronavirus crisis.

OTTAWA,  (Reuters) – The Canadian death toll from the coronavirus outbreak jumped by more than 50% yesterday, and impatient officials threatened to punish people refusing to take precautions to fight the spread of the highly contagious illness.

The Leopold Street man accused of assaulting a police officer was granted bail on Friday after telling the court that his father was struck down and subsequently died.

Dear Editor, The coronavirus (COVID-19) is a threat to all Guyanese.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Some Indian athletes have joined the clamour for the Tokyo Olympics to be postponed because they have no access to training facilities, which are under lockdown to arrest the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Rotary Club of George-town Central partnered with the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) to establish a public handwashing station at the Stabroek Market Square yesterday.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, the Trump administration eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing intended to help detect disease outbreaks in China, Reuters has learned.

Dear Editor, His Excellency, Guyana’s Brigadier – President – did achieve, enjoy and demonstrate a sterling career.

In a bid to limit the risk of exposure of employees and customers to the coronavirus, Beepats Store on Regent Street will be temporarily reducing its hours of operation from today until further notice.

Dear Editor, I read David Granger’s 20th March, 2020 statement and despite the little ray of hope I may have held that he would act in a way that would place country before party so that there would be a sensible resolution to this international embarrassment, the consequence of which will affect all Guyanese, that is now lost.

(Trinidad Guardian) As the Trinidad and Tobago economy begins to feel the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic fallout, the Government is moving to announce initiatives to provide a source of income to those who lose jobs during this time.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Formula One’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June looks set to become the latest casualty of a season that has yet to get started due to the coronavirus outbreak.

HAVANA, (Reuters) – Communist-run Cuba said it dispatched a brigade of doctors and nurses to Italy for the first time this weekend to help in the fight against the novel coronavirus at the request of the worst-affected region Lombardy.

MADRID,  (Reuters) – The Spanish government sought to extend until April 11 a state of emergency that it has imposed to try to control Europe’s second-worst outbreak of coronavirus while some regions yesterday asked for harsher confinement measures to combat the pandemic.

FIFA will be looking for someone else to lead the TT Football Association (TTFA), as Tyril Patrick has turned down the position of interim leader of the local football body.

Dear Editor, I have a simple message to those who present themselves as leaders of the people of Guyana.

The Assuria insurance company is providing a grace period of 14 days for the payment of insurance premiums after the due date for any of its policies in the wake of the challenges posed by the coronavirus alert.

(Trinidad Guardian) Passengers both outward and inward-bound welcomed special flights from Caribbean Airlines yesterday, saying these measures have brought much-needed relief to themselves and their families as countries around the world continue to shut their borders to prevent those infected with COVID-19 from entering their respective countries.

(Reuters) – Nine-times Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis yesterday called for the 2020 athletics season to be scrapped and July’s Tokyo Games to be postponed until 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed thousands.

BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO,  (Reuters) – Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has denied the country’s healthcare system will collapse next month, contradicting his own health minister as the number of deaths in the country jumped 39% and confirmed cases topped 1,500.

(Jamaica Observer) Gordon “Butch” Stewart yesterday advised that all Sandals and Beaches Resorts are being closed for the period March 30 to May 15, 2020 in a move to safeguard the safety and health of the chain’s valued guests and team members.

As Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh has a pivotal role in ensuring that elections supervised by that body are conducted in a manner that accords with best practices and yields a free, fair and verifiable result.

By the International Assembly of the Peoples and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

The Georgetown Mayor and City Council will be sanitising public spaces to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Dear Editor, V. S. Naipaul once famously noted, “Where you born, man, you born.”

I am not sufficiently convinced that the results of the Region 4 elections as declared by the GECOM RO last Thursday (March 5th) accurately reflect the results recorded on the various statements of poll collected from the 879 polling stations…I have a difficulty accepting that all the persons and organizations who have so far deemed the process to lack credibility have somehow gotten it wrong…If our election results are as widely rejected as they appear likely to be, then there can be no winners.