Year: 2017

Canadians are being cautioned against travelling to several Caribbean nations, including Guyana over the high instances of crime. The Canadian Government updated its travel warnings on May 2 and warned nationals to exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to eight Caribbean countries. Visitors were told to beware of assaults, pickpocketing, purse snatching, break-ins, armed robberies, car theft and carjackings as they are common occurrences in Georgetown, Guyana. The travel warning said the seawall – East of the Pegasus Hotel extending to Sheriff Street and adjacent areas – has…

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…along with the changing dynamics in Guyana In wake of a very contentious elections campaign for the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) presidency, the obvious lack of youth and modernity reflected by the leadership was on full display. The elderly incumbent president has, after all, been in that seat for 30 years. Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran, has noted in his most recent column that the GPSU needs to modernise along with the changing dynamics in Guyana. According to Ramkarran, it is not just the GPSU which…

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The Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has expressed disappointment over Monday’s sitting and the fact that after bringing questions to the House on drug procurement, they are still left with more questions than answers. During a press conference, Opposition Member of Parliament, Juan Edghill decried the answers given by the subject Ministers to the PPP’s questions. According to Edghill, the answers skirted some of the specifics he had sought. “I had placed four questions to the House, particularly to deal with drugs and medical supplies. Three of those questions went…

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The grandmother of four-year-old Ramkarran Mohan who was almost two months ago killed by an errant driver has announced that she, along with his parents and other family members, will be seeking an audience with Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo. According to the woman, Bibi Nazoom Khan, in an effort to get justice for Mohan, the family will appeal to the Opposition Leader to look into the issue as “it has been too long now”. “No one contacted us for months now; we are not hearing anything and I need someone…

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The NEW GPC has refuted the new flurry of lies generated by Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence regarding the supply of drugs to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. In reference to a Stabroek News article published on May 9 captioned “G$1.3B spent on drugs for GPHC in first two months of 2017”, NEW GPC said the statements attributed to Lawrence during her presentation in the National Assembly on May 8 were erroneous and false. In fact, the NEW GPC is calling on the authorities to engage in more principled ways…

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Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Bishop Juan Edghill wants full disclosure on the persons who have been blacklisted from leaving the country by the controversial Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) of the Guyana Police Force (GPF). With much concern, Edghill wrote the Chief Immigration Officer on May 9, 2017, acting under the provisions of the Access to Information Act of 2011, for details on the identity of the individuals who were reported as being blacklisted from departing the jurisdiction. According to reports, SOCU has blacklisted over 200 individuals from leaving…

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Two prime suspects in the fatal stabbing of Covent Garden teen Brian Charles Yearwood were on Monday morning hauled before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on a joint charge of murder. The charge stated that Shannon Cox, 20, and Andy Damel Peters, 17, unlawfully murdered the 16-year -old on April 29, 2017 at Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara (EBD). It was previously reported that Yearwood was fatally stabbed in the chest, in the compound of the Covent Garden Nursery School, during a concert hosted by the school. His grieving mother related…

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A top official of the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC) has sought to correct recent assertions by African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) Executive Eric Phillips that sovereignty belonged to the State and not to individual groups. NTC Vice Chairman Lennox Shuman expressed his disagreement with that statement, during an interview with this publication on Tuesday. He noted that Guyanese, as the electorate, held sovereignty in their hands. “As it relates to sovereignty, sovereignty belongs in all the people of Guyana. But while we must understand that while we say one…

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The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has ruled that Guyana refund Trinidad-based beverage company, SM Jaleel (SMJ) and its subsidiary in Guyana, Environmental Tax imposed between 2011 and 2015 which can amount to millions of dollars. CCJ President, Sir Dennis Byron on Tuesday ruled that the taxes levied during this period are in violation of the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom) Single Market and Economy rules. In handing down the ruling, Sir Dennis Byron stated that Guyana has been clearly unjustly “enriched” at the expense of SMJ and GBI (Guyana Beverages Inc),…

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