Zoisa Fraser

With registration commencing today, Guyanese law students say that they are being subjected to emotional torture as they are yet to be told whether they have been accepted into the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) in Trinidad and Tobago.

Government is considering using monies from the Consolidated Fund to aid the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), which is finding it difficult to pay out the minimum benefits to its contributors owing to two “reckless investments,” Finance Minister Winston Jordan said yesterday.

A modernised prison system is on the government’s to do list but given the unavailability of financing not much can be done in the short term, according to Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan, who says surveillance is being increased as a short-term measure.

Rejecting former president Bharrat Jagdeo’s criticisms of the proposed 2015 budget as nonsensical, Finance Minister Winston Jordan early this morning told the National Assembly that the public’s reaction has been positive and encouraging.

Government wants to install CCTV cameras on every city street as part of its plans to address the country’s escalating crime, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan announced last evening, while informing that more resources would also be given to the police force.

Concerned at the number of employment visas being granted to foreign nationals, Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix yesterday said the government will be seeking to ensure “fair play,” particularly since the labour force for some of the jobs can be sourced by citizens.

Following a 9% increase in serious crimes for the year, newly-appointed Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum says existing crime fighting strategies need to be revisited.

Newly-appointed Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams on Thursday said the pillars of the rule of law have to be restored and he signalled the likelihood of more judges being appointed with emoluments that would make it worth their while.

Junior Communities Minister Keith Scott, who has responsibility for housing, plans to move housing development in the country from the sale of house lots to the sale of turn-key homes in communities that are outfitted with basic services, such as schools and police stations.

Newly-appointed Minister of National Security, Khemraj Ramjattan said yesterday that the planned reshuffling in the Guyana Police Force has been put on further hold as he has to do a review and he said a decision on the transfer of senior officers will be made next week.

Up to press time this morning members of the Joint Services were in `C’ Field Sophia trying to restore calm after angry residents set six vehicles alight, stoned two houses and burnt a small shack with a horse stable attached, after alleging that ballot boxes were in the PPP/C command centre located in the area.

“It is time we remove this PPP wrecking crew from government,” APNU+AFC presidential candidate David Granger told a mammoth crowd last evening, while emphasising the need to get to the polls early and be vigilant throughout the day.

Members of the legal fraternity have expressed concern at the intervention by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to advise a retrial of Samuel Hinds Jr and say the law does not allow her to do so.

Former traffic magistrate Moenuddin Mc Doom says the police have been instituting the wrong charge as it relates to drunk driving and it is only if the harsh penalties provided in the law are applied that this growing scourge can be stopped.

President Donald Ramotar yesterday unveiled a 15-point plan to win public confidence and improve the overall crime fighting capability of the police force.

DNA testing has confirmed that the decapitated corpse found at Cummings Lodge last year is that of missing businessman Mohamed Khan, the former owner of MFK Trading.

Opposition forces APNU and the AFC will contest the upcoming May 11th general elections as a coalition, with David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo as its presidential and prime ministerial candidates, respectively.

A murder accused was granted bail on Wednesday at the Matthew’s Ridge Magistrate’s Court but it was revoked before he could be released due to the intervention of senior judicial officials.

Apart from setting the genitals of a teenaged boy alight in 2009, Inspector Narine Lall had an “unblemished record,” members of the Police Service Commission (PSC) said yesterday in defending the promotion of the cop, who was found liable for the torture of the teen.

The parliamentary opposition last evening pledged that it will continue to hammer the Ramotar- led government over its “dictatorship” leadership-style even as Chairman of the AFC Nigel Hughes said that the prorogation of parliament has plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.