Daily Archive: Friday, December 31, 2021

Police have arrested a suspect in the murder of martial arts instructor and bodyguard, Garfield Newton who was shot during a robbery in Albouystown, Georgetown on Christmas Eve.

President Irfaan Ali yesterday afternoon assented to the controversial Natural Resource Fund Bill which was passed on Wednesday in the National Assembly.

BEIJING,  (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of maintaining a “strategic focus” in his 2022 New Year address and of being mindful of “potential risks” in the Communist Party’s long-term vision to turn China into a global power.

(Trinidad Guardian) Seriously consider taking the vaccine and the booster. That’s the year-end message to their flocks from seven churches that have jointly called for an attitude of hope heading into 2022, as they warned against “divisiveness” and suggested that vaccination against Covid-19 become a tool for unity.

(Trinidad Guardian) Police Constable Marcus Henry who was last attached to the Eastern Division Task Force, passed away yesterday due to complications from the COVID-19 virus.

A recent World Bank Symposium on Data Analytics for Anticorruption in Public Administration has tagged corruption as a major challenge to the Bank’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity for the poorest 40 per cent of people living in developing countries.

With both countries seeking to steer their significant oil resources in the direction of meaningful socio-economic transformation, Guyana and Ghana have signed a broad swathe of enabling agreements following a visit here earlier in December by Ghanaian Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

A day after the controversial Natural Resource Fund Bill was passed in Parliament, the PPP/C government is still unable to say who will select the directors of the all-powerful board and what procedures will be followed.

There is no shortage of interesting tales derived from Amerindian folklore and from Amerindian life as a whole.

Incremental change within existing mechanisms has failed; we need a fundamental reset We are nowhere near the end of the pandemic.

A sixty-year-old fish vendor of Walton Hall, Region Two died yesterday around 1 pm as a result of a fire that completely gutted his home.

Policy Forum Guyana (PFG) yesterday charged that the ruling PPP/C has since August 2020 progressively closed off avenues for influencing decision-making in politics and it also condemned what it described as the “dismissive” parliamentary handling of its petition seeking a pause in deliberations on the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Bill which was passed in a stormy session on Wednesday.

Dear Editor, Yet again I feel compelled to pen a letter to you, given recent developments, particularly with respect to our natural resource wealth management, in this instance. For

The Caribbean may still be some distance away from leaving its COVID-19 woes behind, but on the basis of the available evidence it would very much appear that the region is sparing no pains to ensure that it does everything in its power to ensure that its tourism industry survives, and, if possible, prospers in a challenging environment.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) and GT Panthers will contest the inaugural final of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF)/Guyana National Women’s Football Association (GNWFA) Super-16 Women’s Festival on January 2, following commanding semi-final victories yesterday.

High hopes are being expressed for the contribution that aquaculture can make to a more robust response to global hunger-related challenges, according to a recent Caribbean News Global Report.

The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) under the leadership of Hilbert Foster, described the year 2021 as very successful in spite of the restrictions triggered by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

One day after a wanted bulletin was issued for him in relation to the murder of La Penitence resident Deon Charles, nineteen-year-old Ezekiel Hawker was on Wednesday arrested in neighbouring Suriname and the police say that he has since confessed to the crime.

Dear Editor, Please permit me to make a last-ditch effort to appeal to the President to not sign the NRF Bill.

At a time when the twin effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate-driven environmental challenges are having a serious negative impact on the agriculture sector in low-income countries, the Government of Canada has announced its further commitment to ensuring the continued resilience of small-scale farmers in rural communities by increasing its financial contribution to the United Nations’ International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira yesterday accused APNU+AFC MPs of engaging in terror tactics during Wednesday’s failed bid to derail the second reading and passage of the Natural Resource Fund Bill.

Dear Editor, The recent ruckus and objectionable behaviour by APNU Members of Parliament in the National Assembly, during the second reading of the Natural Resource Fund Bill, as well as the heated exchanges that took place between protesters and a of group hecklers, during a picketing exercise while the House was in session, was to be expected.

Throughout history, stakeholder communities have asked what skills and competencies children need to fit into the larger society and how to best cultivate those skills; indeed, various societies have tailored education to the demands of each new age. 

Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon yesterday voiced support for the raucous actions of APNU+AFC MPs in Parliament on Wednesday evening which included the seizing of the Mace.

Dear Editor, It seems that it is now customary to preface or conclude any discussion on misbehaviour in the National Assembly, as in your article on 30 December on the latest episode there, with an accounting of the incident more than thirty years ago in January 1991 when PPP MP Isahak Basir picked up the Mace in the National Assembly and handed it to Dr Jagan, telling the ‘Minority’ Leader, who had then been under a ban for months if not years from speaking in the Assembly, that he could speak.

On Wednesday, at approximately 10:48 am, the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) experienced a shutdown due to a trip on the L16 Transmission Line, which links the Company’s New Sophia to Good Hope Substations.

Dear Editor I beg to differ with Stabroek News’ Page One Comment (Thursday, December 30, 2021), because at its core, it failed to acknowledge the normal cause and effect factors and universally acceptable principles.

Several years after the Stabroek Business first encountered the Region Nine farming couple, Marko Codrington and Kim Casimiro, we met them again, in November, at Lethem.

A 64-year-old pedal cyclist died after a collision with a motor lorry yesterday morning along the Grove, East Bank Demerara (EBD) Public Road.

The Caribbean’s tourism industry, having endured for almost two years a disastrous decline on account of the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, would appear to be on the way to recovery at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world,   according to recent information gleaned from a World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) probe.

Dear Editor, Yesterday’s passage of the Natural Resource Fund Bill 2021 was a missed opportunity that the PPP/C government will come to regret. The

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) yesterday reported that two Triumph, East Coast Demerara (ECD), men have been arrested over the discovery of counterfeit United States currency.

WILMINGTON, Del./MOSCOW,  (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday exchanged warnings over Ukraine but conveyed some optimism that diplomatic talks in January could ease spiraling tensions.

Dear Editor  The madness of mandating unrealistic targets for local content was brought to absurd heights yesterday, when it was passed into law that local accountants must get 90% of the oil industry’s business.

Efforts by developing countries to maximise food production and generate job-creation by moving to expand their agro-processing sectors could come under closer official scrutiny following claims made in a recent study published by the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) that the pursuits of food processing, packaging, transport, household consumption and waste disposal “are pushing the food supply chain to the top of the greenhouse gas emitters list.”

Dear Editor, I woke up this morning still in bewilderment at what I witnessed in the Guyana parliament.

Bibi Farina Fareeda:  Lisa’s Manufacturing: Offers a variety of cakes, fruit mixes, jams and assorted snack foods.

DENVER,  (Reuters) – A fierce, wind-driven wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes, injured at least a half dozen people and prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents in and around two towns east of the Rockies near Denver, authorities said yesterday.

One more COVID-19 death was yesterday recorded even as 157 new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported.

Dear Editor, Regardless of one’s political affiliations and leanings, whether sitting as a member of the ruling party, or on the other side of the aisle in the opposition benches, whether one is a senior Minister, a back-bencher, a clerk, or even an observer in the gallery, there is protocol and decorum that must be observed and adhered to in the National Assembly.

RIO DE JANEIRO,  (Reuters) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro rejected an offer of aid from Argentina, saying yesterday that his country did not need the assistance dealing with deadly floods that have affected broad swaths of the country’s northeast and killed dozens.

If the ‘lighting up,’ the product display, and the various other attractions trotted out to ensure that this year’s Main Street Christmas Village offered a ‘lift’ of spirits from the emotional trough associated with the coronavirus pandemic, it appears to have worked.

The barbecue hut outside of the St. Pius X Church on Cemetery Road, La Penitence, Georgetown, which has been marked for demolition is still in place with the Mayor and City Engineer at odds over the issue. 

(CMC) – Off-spinner Onaje Amory’s brilliant four-wicket haul proved futile as West Indies Under-19s slumped to a narrow one-wicket loss in a low-scoring affair yesterday.

(Reuters) – Quinton de Kock has announced his retirement from test cricket, another blow to South Africa’s brittle top six batting line-up in the longest format of the game that has seen them lose a number of established internationals in the last few years.

In February of this year President Irfaan Ali addressed Parliament telling the assembled MPs that his government’s vision was one of “inclusion”, and that he wanted “regular high-level consultations” with representative bodies to address key issues.

(Reuters) – Former India and South Africa coach Gary Kirsten has said he would be interested in coaching England’s beleaguered test side as long as the role does not involve coaching the limited over teams as well.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Chile’s free and fair elections set a “powerful example” for the region and the world, U.S.

(Reuters) – India seamers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took three wickets each as the tourists bowled South Africa out for 191 to claim victory by 113 runs just after lunch on the fifth day of the first test at Centurion Park yesterday.

On civil defiance and lawlessness I’ve decided that this contribution will be one of the shorter man-in-the-street columns that this Friday feature represents.

Dear Editor, On December 9, 2021, the Guyana Chronicle published an article titled, ‘Guyana Energy Chamber inks agreement with Ghana Petroleum Commission’.

The recent outburst of fretfulness by the World Bank over what it says is the problem of governments seeking to “unfairly determine the winners of government contracts, with awards favouring friends, relatives, or business associates of government officials” (and which is reported in this issue of the Stabroek Business), came shortly before a revelation emanating from the Office of the Auditor General here in Guyana regarding a particularly outrageous instance of seeming manipulation of the state tender process in a manner that appeared to bend over backwards in favour of an un-named contractor.

(CMC) – Veteran all-rounder Paul Stirling is one of two Ireland players who have tested positive for COVID-19, and are likely to miss the opening matches of the four-match white-ball series against West Indies starting next month in Jamaica.

Kitco Market Data Gold Prices for the three day period ending Thursday December 30, 2021

(Reuters) – Match referee David Boon has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be available for the fourth Ashes test in Sydney from Jan.

Hours before an uproar gripped the National Assembly over the controversial Natural Resource Fund Bill, protesters outside of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) had been vocal in their calls for its scrapping.

(Reuters) – New Zealand plan to give retiring Ross Taylor the perfect send off when they face Bangladesh in a two-test series beginning in Mount Maunganui tomorrow, with the tourists’ hopes of playing party poopers dimmed by the absence of talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.

There is something about a New Year that makes you start thinking about a fresh start.

(Reuters) – A sensational six-wicket innings haul on debut may not be enough to keep paceman Scott Boland in the Australian team, with regular seamer Josh Hazlewood set to return from a side strain for the fourth Ashes test in Sydney next week.

Some people remember the first time Some can’t forget the last Some just select what they want to from the past – Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Come On Come On” In 1992 Mary Chapin Carpenter released her album “Come On Come On”.