Pushpa Balgobin

APNU Leader David Granger yesterday said the main opposition coalition would give support to the AFC’s planned no-confidence motion against government, setting the stage for new general elections.

Local Government Minis-ter Norman Whittaker declined to answer why government yesterday held a seminar on the role of elected officials in local development when it has not convened Local Government Elections for the past 20 years and has not moved to do so recently despite there being no confirmed impediments.

The construction of a US$54 million five-star hotel and casino at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, is set to begin before the end of the month.

Head of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand would like to see a full and comprehensive breakdown of funding given to the sugar industry in recent years before considering an offer of appointment to the GuySuCo Board of Directors.

An Annandale security guard riding home from work to help his wife prepare for father’s day festivities died after being struck by a car early yesterday, a year after his brother died in a similar hit-and-run incident.

Amid questions about how it had converted an intended wood processing facility to a housing project, it has now been revealed that the company co-owned by controversial businessman Edul Ahmad had quietly approached the Chief Justice’s court last year and secured an order to alter the conditions attached to the sale of the land.

The contract for the fabrication, delivery and installation of gates for the Hope Canal sluice has been yanked from Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited (CBCSL) and awarded to another company.

South American Woods Inc followed the required procedures when it embarked on a housing development project instead of the wood processing facility at Leonora according to proprietor Ed Ahmad.

-but Chand says figure still too low The Guyana Sugar Corporation has surpassed its first crop target with just under 75,000 tonnes of sugar produced as of yesterday.

Over $300 million is projected to be spent this year on the completion of eight pump stations, a year after a contract for the supply of the pumps from India ended.

Saying alcohol is the cheapest and most accessible commodity drug being abused by Guyanese, APNU’s Shadow Minister of Human Services Volda Lawrence yesterday castigated the Donald Ramotar administration for failing to address the impact alcohol abuse has on the economy in the proposed budget.

The Guyana Sugar Corporation has quietly moved in the new Chief Executive Officer, current Chairman of the Board of Directors, Raj Singh as the third week of the first crop is about to commence.

Despite months of wrangling, negotiations between the government and the opposition over the anti-money laundering bill will go down to the wire today with the Chief Parliamentary Counsel to  draft several APNU amendments to enable passage of the bill in Parliament in the backdrop of a Friday deadline that threatens severe financial repercussions.

Seven consultants from the Indian firm Integrated Casetech Consultants Ltd (ICC) arrived in Guyana recently to oversee GuySuCo’s production at the Enmore Estate.

No further action was recommended yesterday against Guyana by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) over the stalled anti-money laundering bill following the conclusion of its plenary in Paris, France.

Weeks after Stabroek News reported on a planned major investment by a Malaysian company questions have been raised about how the project was facilitated with key agencies seemingly being left out of the process and questions are soon to be asked in Parliament about it.

The proposed 25-megawatt wind farm under consideration at Hope Beach, East Coast Demerara is more likely to produce on average eight to 10 megawatts of electricity.

Despite the guaranteed payment for rice supplied under the deal with Venezuela, farmers on the Essequibo Coast continue to complain about late payments and this year’s bumper harvest has underlined the need to find new markets.

GuySuCo is awaiting the arrival of two Indian engineers who have been hired to help with factory adjustments at the Enmore estate.

Guyana suffered complete outages in its international telecoms traffic and internet services yesterday for around five hours after offshore damage to the Suriname Guyana Submarine Cable System (SGSCS).