News

Central government remained optimistic yesterday about a renegotiation of the terms for the suspended metered parking project, while contractor Smart City Solutions (SCS) has already fired 60 wardens who had been hired for enforcement.

The Bank of Guyana (BoG) yesterday accused the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) of misleading the public on the effective purchasing rate for the US dollar, while also blaming exporters for negatively affecting currency supply by hoarding foreign currency.

Scores of administrative staff, parents and students came together under the ‘Guyana Private Schools United’ platform yesterday to protest the tax on private education.

While government yesterday said that it was awaiting input from the opposition on finalizing a code of conduct for government ministers, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo dismissed the proposals as “crap.”

While the two University of Guyana unions yesterday continued to protest for the start of negotiations on workers’ salaries and benefits, Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith has maintained that he cannot act without a decision by the University Council.

A police officer and two employees of the Ivor Bunbury Furniture Store were yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with trafficking  almost a pound of cocaine found at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

Moreno Wilson, a vendor who was held with 10 pounds of cannabis earlier this year, was yesterday sentenced to 60 months in jail and fined $6.9 million.

With concerns mounting over the availability of United States dollars, Dynamic Airways, which flies to New York,  yesterday began asking customers to bring their own US currency to purchase tickets or they would have to pay at a calculated rate of $250 to US$1.

A Queens, New York man apologized yesterday before he was sentenced to 2 to 6 years in prison for a fatal hit-and-run crash last year in Rotterdam in Schenectady County, according to timesunion.com.

A Black Bush Polder, Corentyne man was yesterday remanded over the murder of his teenaged brother last Sunday night.

President David Granger, on Tuesday, was paid a visit by a group of primary school students from Paruima Village in Upper Mazaruni, Region Seven.

A mining assistant was yesterday remanded to prison after she was charged in a city court with being in possession of 69 rounds of ammunition that were found at her home.

The prosecution yesterday closed its case against Wesley Carlos Payne, who is on trial for the alleged rape of a nurse at the Wismar Hospital in Linden.

The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has made an estimated $667,000 from the metered parking project, according to Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan.

In a bid to improve Region 9 miners’ livelihoods, Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, will be considering opening new mining lands in the Rupununi.

A simulated armed robbery, in which hostages were also taken, was conducted yesterday to test the effectiveness of the response by various agencies, including the Joint Services, to port facility emergencies.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo yesterday launched Harmony Village on the Main Street Avenue and declared that Guyana’s diversity is its beauty and  the strength of the nation.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – A group of 14 nations yesterday urged Venezuela to hold elections and release political prisoners, in a joint statement that kept open the option of seeking to suspend the South American country from the Organization of American States.

Cabinet has approved a Board of Directors for the government-controlled Power Producers and Dis-tributors Incorpora-ted, which is responsible for providing operations and maintenance services for the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL).

BOGOTA,  (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will withdraw troops from Colombia’s side of the two countries’ border, after his soldiers set up camp in the neighbouring country, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said yesterday.