News – Page 674 – Guyana Times International

Guyana accredits new UNDP representative

February 16, 2012 TIMES INT'L

The Foreign Affairs Ministry on Tuesday accepted credentials presented by Khadjia Musa as United Nations (UN) resident coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative of Guyana. Musa succeeds Dr Mamadou Kiari Liman-Tinguiri. She presented her credentials to Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett. Prior to her appointment here, Musa served as deputy resident representative of the UNDP to Egypt where she was responsible for the management and implementation of development programmes. A statement from the Guyana government congratulated Musa, noting that it remains committed to “further strengthening of its…

€3M conservation fund launched

February 16, 2012February 16, 2012 TIMES INT'L

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and other donor agencies, on Monday, February 13, launched the “Guiana Shield Facility” (GSF) at the Promenade Gardens. The project financed by the EU and the government of the Netherlands to the tune of three million euros is aimed at ensuring the operation of a long-term funding facility for the conservation and sustainable development of the Guiana Shield eco-region which is designed to enable the six countries of the shield – Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname…

Guyanese busted with cocaine at JFK

February 16, 2012 TIMES INT'L

A Guyanese who managed to smuggle five kilograms of cocaine through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri was busted with the drugs when he arrived at the JFK Airport in New York. Samuel Prashad, a U.S.-based Guyanese was intercepted at the JFK Airport on Sunday after he disembarked a Caribbean Airlines Flight. During standard routine checks, it was discovered that the man’s suitcase, though emptied, was still heavy which led to further checks during which the cocaine was unearthed in false bottoms and the sides of the suitcase. Prashad Tuesday…

Airplane, GDF chopper to boost piracy fight

February 9, 2012 TIMES INT'L

The ever-faltering Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Bell 412 helicopter and a Cessna aircraft that was abandoned several years ago by drug dealers in the interior will be refurbished to help provide air surveillance as government takes steps to beef up its fight against rampant sea piracy. This announcement was made by Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon at a post-cabinet media briefing at the Office of the President on Wednesday. Dr Luncheon disclosed that air and sea surveillances will be heightened in a systematic and continuous manner to remedy the deteriorating…

Bharrat Jagdeo conferred with honorary doctorate of philosophy

February 9, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Former President, Bharrat Jagdeo, last week received an honorary doctorate of philosophy from Nobel Prize Laureate, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chairman and TERI University of India, Chancellor, Dr Rajendra Pachauri. In a ceremony at the university’s New Delhi campus, Dr Pachauri highlighted the former president’s keen interest in climate and his outstanding work. “There are very few heads of government in the world who understand the scientific, economic and social dimensions of climate change like President Jagdeo. His sense of the global injustice that climate change represents is…

Cocaine in Guyana star apples bust made in Canada

February 9, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Police in Canada have charged a Toronto reggae singer and three others in a scheme to allegedly smuggle cocaine into Canada hidden in hollowed out fruits from Guyana. The arrests stemmed from a seizure last week of 20 kilos of coke allegedly stashed in hollowed-out star apples that arrived at Pearson Airport in an air freight shipment destined for a nonexistent Toronto business. Police alleged the coke, which was seized from fruits that were contained in 17 boxes was worth more than five million Canadian dollars. The Mounties alleged the…

Guyana welcomes cruise liner MS Vista Mar

February 9, 2012 TIMES INT'L

The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) renewed its call for cruise liners across the world to truly explore the wonders of Guyana. The call was made when the luxurious MS Vista Mar docked at port Georgetown at the Guyana National Shipping Corporation Limited (GNSC) wharf last Sunday afternoon after sailing from Brazil where the cruise commenced on January 27. In the absence of acting Tourism Minister Irfan Ali, GTA Director Indranauth Haralsingh during a courtesy visit, welcomed the captain of the cruise liner, Alfio Bizzi and his team to the land…

Jamaica still to submit Lindo Creek DNA report

February 9, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Despite assurances by the Jamaica Constabulary Force that a full report on the DNA analysis of samples taken from the Lindo Creek massacre in 2008 would have been made available to Guyana by the end of January, the report is yet to be submitted. Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee last Friday said “Notwithstanding the commitment that was made by the team that came from Jamaica to provide us with the remainder of the analysis and the results of the DNA testing, I have to report that so far as of…

Prashad new head of reconstituted Gaming Authority

February 9, 2012 TIMES INT'L

The Gaming Authority has been reconstituted so as to monitor the operations of the country’s lone casino, being operated at Princess Hotel, Providence. Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee on Friday, February 3, said the body was reconstituted in accordance with the Gambling Prevention Amendment Act. The Gaming Authority has the responsibility to oversee the casino operations at Princess Hotel, Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD). “They also have the function to issue licences under Section 32 of the Gambling Prevention Act, monitor the operations of the casino, administer the regulations of…

PSC gives UK insight into local business prospects

February 9, 2012 TIMES INT'L

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) last week held discussions with top officials of the British High Commission during which the body outlined business prospects and opportunities provided to the country with the current configuration of the National Assembly. Head of the team for the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico’s Department of the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Madeline Knox and British High Commissioner, Andrew Ayre were the UK’s representatives at the meeting. Knox and the high commissioner were given a brief history of the country’s political situation by the PSC…