Land identified for homestead to accommodateVenezuelan migrants

Citizenship Minister Winston Felix has announced that a plot of land in Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Waini) has been identified for the establishment of a homestead settlement area or a humanitarian centre for registered Venezuelans who have fled to Guyana. According to the Minister, the land has been identified as a result of a collaborative effort of the Mayor and Town Council of Mabaruma and the Citizenship Ministry. The decision was taken during a multi-agency coordinating committee meeting on Tuesday. Felix said the resettlement area was currently privately owned and that…

Read More

National footballer slapped with 10 robbery charges

A member of Guyana’s national football team was on Tuesday remanded to prison by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts slapped with 10 counts of armed robbery. Omalla Williams, 26, of Lot 83 Leopold and Breda Streets, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, was not required to plead to the indictable charges. It is alleged that on July 27, 2018 while in the vicinity of Breda Street and armed with a gun, he robbed Darlene Gaines, Joe Hughes, Christina Gaines-Sluss, Daisy Gaines-Sluss and Dennis Grant of one Samsung…

Read More

Sugar workers stage another protest for redundancy payments

Sugar workers of the Wales Estate staged a protest outside the estate on Wednesday, demanding their redundancy pay after they were asked to move their operations to the Uitvlugt Estate. These workers were retained by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to be engaged mainly in the paddy experiment, which the Corporation was pursuing in the former cane fields of Wales. However, according to their union, they were instructed on Monday morning without any warning to report for work at the Uitvlugt Estate, which is located some 22 miles from their…

Read More

Lawrence underscores important role health workers play in communities

…to push for better salaries on their behalf Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence said she would be lobbying for an improved salary scale for persons working for basic wages within the health sector. She was at the time speaking to staff members of the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre last Friday, during the closing ceremony of a two-week capacity-building programme for orthotic and prosthetic technicians. The technicians, most of them hailing from the Centre, were very instrumental in providing prosthetic limbs and orthotic devices for some 25 persons. Minister Lawrence said…

Read More

Revenue for State agencies on downward spiral – Ali

…projects G$22.8B deficit for public entities The 2018 Mid-Year report, which was laid in the National Assembly, is characterised by disturbing projections for important public enterprises. This is according to Opposition Member of Parliament Irfaan Ali. According to Ali in a statement following the document’s release, a number of such enterprises have had their projected income revised downwards, thus reflecting a worsened financial status than expected. His examples included the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), two of the agriculture sector’s most important public enterprises.…

Read More

Opposition Leader not in favour of politicians having full control of Natural Resources Fund

Days after the Government laid the Green Paper in the National Assembly, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo raised concerns over the total control of the Natural Resources Fund by the Finance Ministry. The Green Paper sets out preliminary plans on how the Government hopes to manage the revenue from oil and other natural resources, with clear objectives of the Natural Resources Fund. Jagdeo reminded that he had initial objections to Government’s plans for the Fund but now that the Green Paper has been made public, he finds the plans to be…

Read More

Family outing turns deadly

… father of 5 drowns after saving daughter, grandson A family outing on Saturday at Bushy Park Beach, East Bank Essequibo turned tragic when 42-year-old Farook Bacchus perished by drowning after saving his daughter and grandson from being swept away by a “big wave” in the mighty Essequibo River. The dead man had been a goldsmith who resided at Lot 65 Old Road, La Grange, West Bank Demerara. At his home on Sunday, grieving family members were contemplating their next moves as they considered plans for burial. Bacchus’s wife of…

Read More

Guyana targeting ABC countries in tourism drive

By Jarryl Bryan In the Caribbean, specifically the Eastern region, the World Bank last year calculated tourism to account for roughly 52 per cent of earnings on average. Even without festivals, other parts of the Caribbean are famous for their scenic tourist destinations. New Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Director Brian Mullis hopes to leverage the increased focus on Guyana, with the oil and gas sector being an international topic of discussion, while ironing out a strategy to effectively market Guyana as a tourist destination. In an interview with this newspaper,…

Read More

Ukrainians accused of assaulting Guyanese miners remanded to prison

The two Ukrainians who allegedly assaulted and threatened two Guyanese miners were on Tuesday taken before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. Vitaly Paraschuck, 38, whose local address was given as Lot A 173 Robin’s Place, Bel Air Park, Georgetown and Maksym Furtak, 33, who was stationed at Quartzstone, Region Seven (Cuyuni- Mazaruni) where the incident occurred, denied the allegations through a translator. The men who were represented by Attorney-at-Law Mark Waldron answered to their charges separately. It is alleged that Paraschuck, on August 3, 2018 at…

Read More

Several injured in 2-vehicle collision at WCD

Several persons were injured on Wednesday morning following a two-vehicle collision at La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara (WCD). According to information received, the incident involved a Toyota Spacio motorcar and a route 32 minibus bearing registration plate BVV 4757. Guyana Times International was informed that the motorcar was heading to Parika, East Bank Essequibo and the minibus was a short distance behind proceeding in the same lane. However, the Toyota Spacio reportedly came to an abrupt halt, resulting in the minibus slamming into its rear. The driver of the minibus…

Read More