Author: TIMES INT'L

…as November plans for elections rejected The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman has advised the Executive that elections can be held no sooner than November 2019, earning him a sharp rebuke from the Opposition nominated Commissioners on GECOM, who condemned this position to hold elections outside of the constitutional timeframe. Article 106 (6) of the Guyana Constitution states: “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”…

RUSAL and the Bauxite Union have finally reached an agreement which will see the fired workers being reinstated and the clearing of the blockages in the Berbice River. See excerpts of the statement from the Union: Strike ends and Terms of Resumption The workers’ struggle, which began on 22nd November 2009, has ended after approximately nine (9) years, three (3) months, and twenty-eight (28) days. The recent industrial conflict from February 15th, one (1) month and four (4) days, has also ended today with the signing of Terms of Resumption…

By Devina Samaroo Some six months after he was overlooked for the position of Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), an investigation has found that Vishnu Persaud was in fact the most qualified person for the job. “Mr Persaud was the first candidate in the history of GECOM who had obtained the highest score and had not been appointed,” stated the report on the findings of the probe, which was conducted by the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC). The report was handed over to the complainants,…

The trial for the proprietor of a popular Georgetown liquor bar, Savita Persaud, who was charged with four counts of Trafficking In Persons is set to commence on March 29, 2019, before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. Persaud, of Station Street, Kitty, had pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to her at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Courts earlier in March Particulars of the first two charges stated that between January 31 and March 8, 2019, she unlawfully recruited, transported and withheld the identification papers of two Venezuelan nationals…

The Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday threw out contempt of court charges against eight top executives of the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Limited (GBTI), saying the bank’s officials should not have been charged in the first place. The matter was brought by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) against GBTI and its Board of Directors. This case stemmed from the matter in October 2017, when SOCU charged the bank’s directors with contempt based on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The contempt proceedings stemmed from…