Author: TIMES INT'L

Transparency International has released its latest global rankings, showing that while Guyana is considered one of 20 countries that have made improvements it has also taken a step backwards last year. According to the index, Guyana fell by one spot to the 93rd position out of 180 countries. The index placed Guyana’s corruption perception score at 37 to tie with Gambia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Mongolia and Panama. The highest ranked Caribbean country was the Bahamas at 29th place with a score of 65. It is followed by Barbados, which received a…

… bus driver arrested Following the major drug bust in Charlestown, Georgetown, on Tuesday, ranks from the Customs Anti-Narcotics (CANU) have taken a Route 42 minibus driver into custody for questioning. He was arrested on Wednesday morning and is assisting with the investigation. The bus driver was observed by CANU ranks collecting a package from another suspect – a 58-year-old male of St Stephen Street, Charlestown – on Tuesday. In addition to the two males, the ranks also arrested a 23-year-old female of Lamaha Springs, Georgetown, who was found in…

…as probe deepens As the Guyana Police Force continues its investigation into threats made against School of the Nations and the subsequent shooting of its Director, Dr Brian O’Toole, several persons have been questioned by the Major Crimes Unit which is leading the probe. “We have embarked on an investigation…What I can say is that we have taken some action and we’ve contacted a few persons. There’re some others that we are pursuing and it’s an ongoing investigation… [So far] we have questioned at least four persons to my knowledge,”…

As the 2007 “Mango Man” murder trial continued before Justice James Bovell-Drakes at the High Court, Police Detective, Inspector Suraj Singh testified on Wednesday that the accused, Mark Royden Williams called “Smallie” and Sherwin Nero known as “Catty”, admitted under caution that an ex-Police accomplice was the one who transported them from the scene via a horse cart. Now that the voir dire (trial within a trial) hearing has ended, the main trial of the duo got underway when Inspector Singh denied that neither he nor any rank in his…

House-to-house registration has been touted as necessary by Government Commissioners before elections can be held, but according to the Opposition-nominated Commissioners, the voters’ list is valid and such a process is wholly unnecessary. Commissioners Bibi Shadick, Sase Gunraj and Robeson Benn were at the time appearing on a television programme. On the programme , “Elections 2019; what is GECOM’s mandate?”, the Commissioners were adamant that GECOM has the capacity to hold elections by March 19. Commissioner Bibi Shadick noted that even if the list has a few deceased persons on…

By Andrew Carmichael Residents of New Amsterdam, Berbice and surrounding areas are calling on the Government to address the rapidly deteriorating condition at the New Amsterdam Hospital after an elderly patient died on Tuesday night after she was reportedly given nine injections. Additionally, the residents are alleging that several critical pieces of equipment are out of order in addition to a shortage of basic medicine leaving them to come to the conclusion that the state of the institution’s affairs is not being properly managed. As a consequence, they are calling…

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) nominated commissioners on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) are contending that far from the view being expressed by GECOM and Government officials, elections can be held by March 19, 2019. In an interview with Guyana Times International, PPP’s GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj noted that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield has been creating an impression that there is not enough time to complete various tasks before elections. But according to Gunraj, many of these tasks can be completed concurrently. “Lowenfield has said that we need…