Guyana News

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, on Tuesday stated that Guyana’s recovery rate from the novel coronavirus is 95%, or 37,366 of the total number of 39,151 persons who tested positive for the virus.

Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir was this evening forced to suspend the second reading of the controversial Natural Resources Fund (NRF) bill after 18 members of the Opposition got out of their seats and onto the main floor to drown out Senior Minister with the responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh as he was on the floor.

The Guyana Bar Association has rebuked Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC for stating in parliament today that Guyanese legal practitioners do not have the capacity to handle some matters which he described as “technical legal documents” and “joint venture agreements”.

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) today said that while it believes that wider consultation should have been pursued it supports the tabling and passage of the Natural Resource Fund legislation which is scheduled to come up for approval in parliament this afternoon.

On 4 June 2021, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) dismissed an appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeal of Guyana in the consolidated matter of Guyana Geology and Mines Commission v BK International and Chunilall Baboolall; and Chunilall Baboolall v BK International and Guyana Geology and Mines Commission [2021] CCJ 13 AJ (GY).

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) today said that more time should be given to the public to provide input on the Natural Resource Fund Bill which the government appears intent on passing today in Parliament despite severe criticisms.

President Irfaan Ali yesterday mounted an impassioned defence of the bill for the governing of oil money which the government apparently intends to pass today using its slim majority but he still did not explain who was selecting members of the Board of Directors, a major concern of critics of the legislation along with the proposed rate of extraction of monies.

New PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton yesterday took President Irfaan Ali to task over the Natural Resource Fund Bill promulgated by the government, charging that the Minister of Finance has been given too much authority and that the committee for determining the economically sustainable amount for withdrawal from the fund had been discarded.

A New and United Guyana (ANUG) yesterday launched a blistering attack on the PPP/C government, accusing it of using the “absolute power” under the current constitutional system to consolidate its control and dispensing with necessary systemic safeguards.

Investigators probing the murder of martial arts instructor and bodyguard Garfield Newton have issued a wanted bulletin for an 18-year-old West Ruimveldt resident.

The loss of Professor Emerita Dr Joycelynne Loncke is a blow to Guyana and the entire Caribbean’s cultural sphere since she was the embodiment of culture and humanity in the arts, according to literary critic Al Creighton.

Eighteen-year-old Ezekiel Hawker is wanted for questioning by the police over the gunning down of Deon Charles on Christmas Eve night on James Street, Albouystown.

Minister of Agriculture,  Zulfikar Mustapha  and Lionel Wordsworth, Chairman of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), and members of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) yesterday conducted assessments of flood impacted areas in Essequibo Islands-West Demerara (Region 3).

Former APNU+AFC Minister of Finance Winston Jordan who was yesterday charged (see other story below) over the sale of waterfront property to BK International at a price allegedly far below market value had been cautioned in January of 2019 via the Ministry of Public Works that the transaction could lead to charges against him and other culpable officers.

A Corentyne fisherman is now battling for his life at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital after he was stabbed on Monday morning after he defended his nephew, 13, against the alleged attacker.

Six Berbicians are now nursing injuries after the driver of the vehicle they were in slammed into a concrete structure on Main Road early yesterday morning.

Former Minister of Finance Winston Jordan was arraigned this morning before Chief Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan on a charge of  misconduct in public office in relation to the sale of a prime piece of real estate owned by the state below market value to BK Marine Inc.

Three civil society groups yesterday called on the government to postpone parliamentary debate on the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) bill amid growing concerns that it is grossly defective.

The Regional Administration of Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) paid over $33.7 million more for the supply of drugs, from outside suppliers, during the year 2020, according to the Auditor General’s report.

Government earlier this month tabled in Parliament a bill which would see the establishment of a Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Agency here to facilitate the removal, donation and transfer of human organs to those in need due to health complications.