Daily Archive: Friday, April 23, 2021

In a deepening scandal over fuel procurement at GUYOIL, its former General Manager Trevor Bassoo this evening denied again that his departure was in any way connected to the current controversy  over a shipment allegedly imported by Aaron Royalty Inc.

Anyin Choo (left), Guyana’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the People’s Republic of China today presented her Letters of Credence to Hong Lei, Director General of the Department of Protocol and Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, in Beijing.

The Ministry of Health today reported a whopping 214 new cases of COVID-19.

Dr Leslie Ramsammy, Advisor to the Minister of Health today said that over 115,000 persons had been inoculated against the Coronavirus and he slammed what he called a “whisper campaign” against the vaccines.

The Ministry of Education has announced that two Queen’s College students are the top performers at the 2020 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) assessments.

A Route 48 minibus driver who was seen in a viral video chasing a traffic rank with a cutlass has been sentenced to 12 months behind bars.

The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security (MoHSSS) has established a Virtual Help Desk on Facebook to respond to persons’ queries with pertinent information on various services provided by the Ministry.  

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – Sirens wailing, a police convoy escorting a tanker carrying oxygen reached a hospital in India’s capital just in time, to the huge relief of doctors and relatives of COVID-19 patients counting on the supply to stave off death.

 (Reuters) – A potential new malaria vaccine has proved highly effective in a trial in babies in Africa, pointing to it one day possibly helping reduce the death toll from the mosquito-born disease that kills up to half a million young children a year.

PUURS, Belgium,  (Reuters) – The European Commission said it has sealed the world’s biggest vaccine supply deal, agreeing to buy up to 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for the next few years as a debate rages over inequitable access to shots for the world’s poorest people.

CAPE TOWN,  (Reuters) – Sports minister Nathi Mthethwa has turned up the heat on Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) embattled Members Council after stripping them of the right to run the game, putting the country’s participation in future international tournaments in doubt.

(Barbados Nation) Barbadians were last night given a little more freedom to move about, play and do their business.

(Trinidad Guardian) The country’s COVID-19 cases continued to rise yesterday, after the Ministry of Health confirmed 167 new infections, 23 of which came from offshore platforms.

Implicated by Aaron’s Royality Inc. (ARI) as one of two officials at Guyoil from whom it received commitments for a fuel supply contract, Guyana Oil Company (Guyoil) Board member Akanni Blair yesterday said he approached the company after a directive and then discovered that now resigned General Manager Trevor Bassoo was already separately negotiating with it.

An Assistant Superintendent was yesterday charged and released on bail as the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) continues to institute charges against members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) over the alleged falsifying of feeding accounts.

Jaikarran Ramnarine, who fatally stabbed his drinking partner during an argument at Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara, was remanded to prison on Wednesday.

A new COVID-19 outbreak in Region Nine has sparked concerns that there might a virus variant circulating in the region.

Chief Education Officer, Dr Marcel Hutson yesterday announced that the National Grades Two, Four and Nine assessments as well as the placement examinations will not be written this year.

Three new COVID-19 deaths have put April 2021 on par with October 2020 as the deadliest month for the novel coronavirus in the country.

On the 15th anniversary of the gruesome murder, President Irfaan Ali hailed the service of the late PPP/C Agriculture Minister, Satyadeow `Sash’ Sawh but he was silent on the call for a comprehensive inquiry which the family called for in a letter in yesterday’s Stabroek News.

Seven juveniles escaped from the Sophia Holding Centre in the wee hours of Thursday morning and all but two are now back in custody.

A Crabwood Creek, Berbice, truck driver died on Wednesday after he was pinned to his truck’s steering wheel by a log he was transporting.

The push back against COVID-19 continues in the tourism sector with several eco-lodges positioning themselves to return to the business of welcoming tourists.

Sebai is a riverine community in the Matarkai sub-district of Region One, Barima-Waini.

Mark Royden Williams who is accused of the 2007 murders of Rajesh Singh and Fazil Hakim in a rum shop at Agriculture Road, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara (ECD), has professed his innocence.

Guyana has not recorded any cases of blood clots in persons who have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony.

This week’s IYFG spotlight falls on Damian ‘farmer man’ Bacchus. Two decades ago he left masonry behind and decided to ‘look to the land.’

Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves has disclosed that the entity is yet to file an official protest to CONCACAF and FIFA regarding the alleged ineligibility of Trinidad and Tobago’s Andre Boucard during the World Cup Qualifiers, as they are still gathering the necessary facts.

A deliveryman is nursing a gunshot wound at the Georgetown Public Hospital after he was ambushed by two bandits while visiting his family.

Dear Editor, I wish to express thanks to Stabroek News for highlighting the heartbreaking case of Padminie McRae, who “when an accident at the Infectious Diseases Hospital forced the amputation of her left leg from above the knee, after she was mistakenly admitted as a positive COVID-19 patient” (SN April 20, 2021). 

Even as an increasing number of poor countries begin to celebrate oil finds and the prospects for economic transformation that could inhere therein, a global environmental lobby continues to move in a direction that could undermine if not shatter altogether the dreams of the oil wealth hopefuls.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The United States and other countries hiked their targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions at a global climate summit hosted by President Joe Biden, an event meant to resurrect U.S.

Researchers say that prominent people getting the COVID-19 vaccine while urging others to get inoculated could help overcome widespread skepticism.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – India recorded the world’s highest daily tally of 314,835 COVID-19 infections yesterday as a second wave of the pandemic raised new fears about the ability of crumbling health services to cope.

It is almost certainly not the easiest job in the world to find a vegetable called by as many as four names, depending on the culture in which you locate it.

Tenders were last week opened at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board for the construction of core houses in the Sophia area under the Central Housing & Planning Authority.

Dear Editor, The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security is moving towards creating a Social Work Act, which will allow for the licensing of those employed in the field locally.

Residents on the Essequibo Coast in Region Two were recently allocated house lots as part of the government’s “Dream Realized” housing initiative  The land allocation drive took place at the Anna Regina Town Council building over a two-day period (last Friday and Saturday), where the Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal and Minister within the Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, assured residents of Region Two that as the government continues to work toward its goal of 50,000 house lot allocations across the country, the people of Region Two would also benefit.

(Reuters) – COVID-19 infections in adults of all ages fell by 65% after a first dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine in UK research, which scientists said showed the real-world impact of the nation’s immunisation campaign against the pandemic.

 It is not that Gillian James is indifferent to the fact that ready-made women’s attire now occupies its own fair share of both the global and local markets.

Dear Editor, The GAWU has recognised the GuySuCo through its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sasenarine Singh, and its Senior Public Relations Manager, Ms Indira Badal have offered responses to sentiments expressed by our Union over the last few days.

Banks DIH Executive, Carlton Joao, is encouraging persons to take their COVID-19 vaccines after a battle with the virus last year.

Dear Editor, It is important for us as Guyanese to give credit where credit is due.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Britain’s medicines regulator yesterday said there had been 168 major blood clots following a dose of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, a rate of 7.9 clots per million doses, a jump in incidence from the previous week’s figure.

Officials occupying high profile public sector positions in other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) territories will probably be paying more than peripheral interest in this week’s earlier media report that Jamaica’s Integrity Commission has initiated criminal prosecutions against two of the island’s public officials for alleged breaches of the country’s Corruption Prevention Act.

Dear Editor, In this the twenty-first century it is incomprehensible but not unbelievable that business, the magnitude of an oil shipment, is being conducted allegedly via oral undertaking.

Frontera Energy Corporation and CGX Energy, joint venture partners in the Petroleum Prospecting Licence for the Corentyne block offshore Guyana on Wednesday announced that that CGX Resources Inc.,

In a matter of just over a week, the presidency of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will change hands with the  St.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The Biden administration is considering creating a task force of officials from the U.S.

Dear Editor, There has been a halt in the issuing of leases by the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) according to officers working there.

Just over a year after the global community was thrown into a tailspin by the sudden, devastating visitation by the coronavirus pandemic, the planet has been delivered more bad news about the threatened intervention of a phenomenon that could pose a no less deadly threat to the well-being of the international community.

A man who was wanted by the police for a range of offences, including wounding and breaking and entering, was shot during an attempt to resist arrest on Wednesday.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Britain issued an apology yesterday for failures that meant “pervasive racism” might have denied a proper commemoration to as many as 350,000 Black and Asian service personnel who died fighting for the British Empire in world wars.

Dear Editor, I take the opportunity to comment on Eusi Kwayana’s letter of 18 April, in which he discusses the ‘principle of fairness.’

(Jamaica Gleaner) All public bodies have been asked by the Integrity Commission to furnish it with detailed particulars concerning contract cost overruns and/or variations that were incurred during the last financial year.

Rajin Allen, the Lindener who assaulted the mother of his children and caused her sister to suffer second degree burns to the right side of her face, was sentenced to four years in jail on Monday.

While international stock markets have shown recovery during the first quarter of this year, the same cannot be said about the six markets in the Caribbean including Barbados.

BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Lebanese President Michel Aoun warned against the destruction of property yesterday after the removal of a judge from a financial corruption probe last week prompted her and her supporters to storm a currency exchange bureau.

Dear Editor, Government has recently announced that some 100,000 Guyanese have received at least 1 shot of the two-shot COVID-19 vaccines available in Guyana.

(Trinidad Express) A man was killed and a pistol and a quantity of ammunition seized following a police-involved shooting incident at Cameron Road, Maraval, yesterday morning.

Kitco Market Data Gold Prices for the three day period ending Thursday April 22, 2021

GENEVA,  (Reuters) – Technical experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) will review on April 26 Chinese drugmaker Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine for possible emergency use listing, to be followed by the Sinovac jab on May 3, the agency said yesterday.

Banks DIH Limited, has once again, won the prestigious Coca-Cola Excellence Cup Award for performance excellence for small markets within the Coca-Cola Latin Centre Business Unit (LCBU) annual competition.

(Reuters) – Democratic Kansas Governor Laura Kelly yesterday vetoed a Republican bill banning transgender girls from participating in school sports, in a setback for a broad campaign in statehouses across the country this year to restrict transgender rights.

Long before the arrival of COVID-19, teachers within the public service have had to deal with disrespect for their profession.

(Reuters) – Upbeat Australia coach Graham Arnold has urged Argentina to bring Lionel Messi to the Olympics and described their tough pool as Tokyo’s “group of dreams”.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 911’s trading results showed consideration of $38,030,856 from 349,745 shares traded in 36 transactions as compared to session 910’s trading results which showed consideration of $12,658,404 from 158,220 shares traded in 14 transactions.

Wanton deliberate murder, then manslaughter Hello Readers all, welcome to today’s miscellany; my potpourri of mostly practical “issues of national significance.”

Dear Editor, After consulting with a few residents of New Plantation Housing Scheme (Herstelling) and after ascertaining that the facts presented below are correct and true, I pen this letter as my civic duty.

(Jamaica Observer) KINGSTON, Jamaica – The country recorded 165 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours and seven deaths, bringing the overall total to 44,502, and the death toll to 751.

(Reuters) – Eoin Morgan has no doubts he will rediscover his form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Kolkata Knight Riders captain says he is just waiting for something to click.

(Reuters) – The creation of an independent regulator is on the agenda for a British government review of football which will also look into whether the much criticised Owner’s and Director’s Test is fit for purpose.

CMC – Alzarri Joseph once again flaunted his improvement with the bat while fast bowler Miguel Cummins snatched a brace of wickets, as both West Indies players made key contributions on the opening day of the third round of County Championship matches yesterday.

(Reuters) – The spectacular collapse of the proposed European Super League may feel like a victory for supporters who protested against the plans across the continent and outside English Premier League grounds but the top clubs are already plotting their next move.

Periodically letters are printed in this newspaper calling for an inquiry into the killing of former Agriculture Minister Satyadeow Sawh, his sister Phulmattie, his brother Rajpat and his security guard Curtis Robertson, and this month two of these were published in our letter column. 

GENEVA,  (Reuters) – Technical experts from the World Health Organization are due to start the next round of their review of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 jointly with the European Medicines Agency on May 10, the WHO said yesterday.

Not even the current COVID-19 global emergency to which there, as yet, appears to be no end in sight could distract United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres from sounding what, in diplomatic terms, was a resounding alarm in response to the just released World Meteorolo-gical Organization (WMO) State of the Global Climate Report.

(Reuters) – Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli became yesterday the first batsman to score 6,000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

(Reuters) – Napoli won a 5-2 thriller against top-four rivals Lazio yesterday to stay within touching distance of the Champions League places in Serie A.

(Reuters) – New York City is suing three major oil companies and the top industry trade group in state court after a federal appeals court this month rejected its effort to hold the companies liable to help pay the costs of harm caused by global warming.

CMC – Cricket West Indies are hoping an accelerated rollout of COVID-19 vaccines by regional governments can result in a sufficient improvement in health conditions, so as to facilitate the staging of first class cricket in coming months.

(ESPN Cricinfo) – Bad light ate away the last 90-odd minutes of play on the second day, leaving Bangladesh very much in control with 474 on 4 on the board, even though they hardly moved the run-rate needle with their 172 runs in 65 overs on the day.

(Reuters) – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has warned rebel clubs that they will face “consequences” for their aborted breakaway and there may be more pain to come for the owners of the top clubs.

The police yesterday issued a wanted bulletin for Lenroy Michael Forde who is wanted in relation to  the murder of Odingo Anthony Haywood on Wednesday night on Drysdale Street, Charlestown.