Guyana News

Facing concern by coalition partner AFC over the extensive powers of Minister of State Joseph Harmon, President David Granger last evening defended his APNU colleague, saying his duties are not “burdensome” and no objections had been raised before.

Dhupaul Singh, who was on trial over the fatal chopping of Mahaica farmer Balkissoon in September, 2014, was yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment after a 12- member jury found him guilty of murder.

A man who was nabbed at the JFK Airport in the US with 19.2 kilogrammes of cocaine packed between curry powder and rice will be leaving a New York jail in August after a court accepted that he was a minor cog in the operation and sentenced him to a year and a day in jail.

Trade unionist Carvil Duncan yesterday professed his innocence to the charges of stealing almost $1 million and conspiring to steal over $28 million from the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL).

A cousin of Kevin Rankin, who is accused of murdering his two-year-old niece, told the High Court yesterday that she had earlier supplied a different version of what happened on the day of the incident to protect her cousin.

Dhanshand Balram, the exporter who was charged last year with trying to ship almost 90 pounds of cocaine in buckets of cassareep, green seasoning and Chinese sauce through the Cheddi Jagan Airport (CJIA), was yesterday found guilty and sentenced to four years in jail.

An unexpected raid in Bartica yesterday led to the detention of eight Dominican women, who are suspected to be victims of trafficking in person.

Members of the City Council yesterday elected the six committees—City Works, Social Development, Information Technology, Legal Affairs and Security, Markets and Public Health, International Relations, Investment and Development Committee and Human Resource Management—which will run some of the city’s business for the next three years.

Officer-in-Charge of Operations at the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) Compton Sparman, yesterday testified that given the security risks that exist within the prison system, the fire service had to wait on the directive of prison authorities to proceed on rescue efforts on the morning of March 3, when the lives of 17 inmates were lost.

Mayor Patricia Chase-Green was yesterday inaugurated at a ceremony held outside City Hall on Regent Street.

A man was yesterday sentenced to four years in jail after he was found guilty of robbing another man of a smartphone during a knife-point holdup.

Albouystown resident Michael Ridley, who fatally stabbed another man who had ambushed him owing to an ongoing dispute over a woman last year, was yesterday charged with murder and remanded to prison.

‘The Travelling Exhibition,’ showcasing nine drawings done by children who have been sexually abused, was launched yesterday at the Brickdam Police Station.

The staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), Customs, and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard are among key stakeholders undergoing training to improve their capacity to combat illegal fishing.

The body of Tactical Services Unit (TSU) Special Constable Akeem Hyles has been recovered and a post-mortem examination done yesterday listed the cause of death as drowning.

Less than two weeks after Bibi Safaora Salim was arrested for allegedly making death threats against President David Granger on Facebook, investigations into the matter have been completed and the file has been sent for legal advice.

It is the government that decides the overall sum that will be allocated for local government authorities in the national budget and the formula in the Fiscal Transfers Act will then be used to determine how much of this sum each local government organ receives.

The employment contracts for Patrick Mentore and the other civilian professionals of the Strategic Management Department (SMD) will not be renewed as government intends to scrap the unit.

A Guyhoc Park resident was yesterday remanded to prison after he was charged with having an illegal gun and matching rounds of ammunition in his possession.

In a day of fast moving political events swirling around the Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, the Chairman of the Alliance for Change, Nigel Hughes has tendered his resignation.