Guyana News

Incessant rain, which began in the wee hours of yesterday, left most of the city under several inches of water, closing schools, shuttering businesses and causing millions of dollars in damage.

The Ministry of Education last evening said that forty-two schools in Georgetown and one on the East Coast of Demerara will remain closed today following flooding yesterday from heavy rainfall.

Four years after it was commissioned and innumerable bouts of severe weather later, the $550 million Doppler Radar project intended to provide up-to-the-minute weather reports isn’t doing so leaving some to conclude that the European Union and Guyana-funded project is a failure in that respect.

President Donald Ramotar says the proposed five per cent salary increase announced last week is above the current inflation rate and is not likely to exceed this sum as the treasury cannot afford more at this point.

The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) said that while yesterday’s flooding did not reach “alarming” levels, it was ready to deal with emergencies but needed public support.

The police yesterday said that taxi driver Lloyd Johnson was shot on Tuesday night at Liliendaal when he opened fire on cops who were probing the theft of cars.

The Ministry of Health is advising the public to pay special attention to water safety and personal hygiene in the wake of the flooding and it has announced that an Emer-gency Medical Response Team has been established to address any public health threats.

The regional civil society on Tuesday presented a petition to Caricom Heads of Government denouncing a controversial court ruling in the Dominican Republic (DR) that could strip tens of thousands of persons – mostly of Haitian descent – of their DR citizenship Presenting the petition, Professor Norman Girvan said Caricom has an “historic opportunity” to demonstrate its relevance to, and its caring for, the citizens of the region by resolving the issue, according to a press release yesterday from Caricom.

Harlem, West Coast Demerara appeared to bear the brunt of the flooding affecting Region Three yesterday.

Several villages along the East Coast Demerara were swamped yesterday in the wake of heavy rainfall that hit the coastland in the wee hours of the morning.

Caricom on Tuesday expressed deep concern about any adverse impact on Guyana and the wider region over the failure to pass anti-money laundering legislation here as required by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).

Caribbean Airlines Ltd is advising passengers booked and ticketed to travel today to North America that they will be allowed to make changes to their reservations because of bad weather in the United States.

The Ministry of Education this evening said that forty-two schools in Georgetown and one on the East Coast of Demerara will remain closed on Thursday, November 28th following flooding today from heavy rainfall over the last 24 hours.

The following statement was received from the Ministry of Agriculture today: “The Hydrometeorological Office has reported a high pressure system over the Bermuda which was dominant and forced the intertropical Convergence Zone to shift from its last position, to about 6 degrees North of the equator bringing it directly over Guyana’s Coast.

The Ministry of Agriculture this morning said “that the current heavy downpour has resulted in parts of Regions 3 and 4 under water.

GPL today advised the public that in light of the inclement weather pattern, the company has implemented several initiatives to mitigate the probability of network faults.

The Ministry of Education says that all public schools in Georgetown and along the East Bank and East Coast of Demerara will be closed today due to inclement weather.

The days of the century-old Fogarty’s Water Street store may be numbered with its reported sale alongside its Norton Street bond to Trinidad-based American Stores Ltd, which has started its regional expansion here.

A Tain Settlement man was found dead early yesterday morning at Port Mourant, Corentyne and it is believed that he was beaten to death.

Caricom is suspending consideration of the Dominican Republic’s (DR)  request for membership of the community and reviewing ties with it in other fora over the Santo Domingo court ruling that strips citizenship from tens of thousands of persons mostly of Haitian descent.