Guyana News

-masterminds seized revolver from warder The number of Camp Street Prison inmates unaccounted for after Sunday’s breakout stands at eight, according to Director of Prisons Gladwyn Samuels, who also said yesterday that the four masterminds took a service revolver from a warder.

A Route 32 minibus driver was fatally shot around midday yesterday on the McDoom Public Road, East Bank Demerara after he attempted to drive away from bandits who robbed several passengers onboard his bus. 

Taxi driver Matthew Shivtahal, who says he was abducted by four of the men who broke out of the Camp Street jail on Sunday, yesterday credited his one-year-old son as the reason why the men spared his life.

President David Granger yesterday said that his administration does not intend to rebuild a full scale prison facility at the site of the former Georgetown Prison on Camp Street, the Ministry of the Presidency said last evening.

While lauding the performance of the security forces during Sunday’s revolt at the Camp Street prison, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) yesterday flayed the government for not doing enough to act on the recommendations made after last year’s inquiry into a similar insurrection and called for more information to be made public.

Three-time golf champion Imran Khan, of Courbane Park, Annandale, passed away on Monday evening, mere hours after being diagnosed with the bacterial infection, leptospirosis.

One of the accused in the murder of businessman Rajendra Singh, who was killed after being kidnapped in 2014, was yesterday discharged after the prosecution failed to prove a case against him.

Retired Assistant Com-missioner of Police, Paul Slowe was yesterday sworn in to lead the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into an alleged plot to assassinate President David Granger and the police force’s handling of the investigation.

Relatives of inmates relocated to the Lusignan Prison after Sunday’s Camp Street jail fire yesterday bemoaned what they said was the slothfulness of the prisons authority in providing them with information.

Residents on the Essequibo Coast are frustrated due to frequent power outages that they have been experiencing daily.

The 200 acres of seed paddy that was cultivated at Wales estate, as part of the diversification venture following the closure of sugar operations in December 2016, would be ready for harvesting in September.

Two billion-dollar bids were opened yesterday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for the acquisition of emergency pharmaceutical supplies for Regional Health Services under the Ministry of Public Health.

Poor preparation by officials of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs on Monday saw the deferral of a scheduled hearing before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for the second time in the space of a month.

The 15-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed an Upper Corentyne hire car driver in his neck killing him, was on Monday refused bail.

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is moving to improve its database management software system in order to improve its efficiency, according to Commissioner-General Godfrey Statia, who on Monday reported that it would be only a matter of time before the agency moves from the Total Revenue Integrated Processing Systems (TRIPS).

A man was yesterday fined and ordered to perform two months of community service for cultivating cannabis.

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure is advising the general public, particularly those living in close proximity, that construction works will be ongoing over the next 72 hours at the Camp Street Prison.

The Police say they are investigating the murder of Tedroy James, age unknown, a route 32 minibus driver which occurred about 11:30hrs today at McDoom Public Road, East Bank Demerara, during which several passengers were robbed of personal items.

The number of prisoners missing from the Camp Street Prison following Sunday’s breakout stands at eight, Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels today told Stabroek News.

Matthew Shivtahal, the taxi driver who says he was abducted by the prison escapees on Sunday in the vicinity of the Camp Street jail  is grateful to be alive but says he is fearful for his life.