Category: Top Stories

BY BHISHAM MOHAMED  Leonard and Indranie Bacchus and their 15-year-old son were remanded to prison by Magistrate Sherdell Isaacs-Marcus when they appeared in that Vigilance Magistrate’s Court on Monday, August 22 in connection with last week’s huge cocaine bust at Enmore, East Coast Demerara. They were arraigned on one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, and one count of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. They all pleaded not guilty to the charges, which stated that, on August 16 at Enmore, they had in their…

– Ramotar tells thousands at PPP youth forum BY JANELLE PERSAUD Presidential candidate of the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic Donald Ramotar has acknowledged the importance of youth involvement in national development and has committed to their inclusion under his presidency. He made this pledge at the opening ceremony of PPP youth forum on August 11 at the Guyana International Conference Centre before thousands of young Guyanese from across the nation. “You are the main stakeholders in what is taking place in our country because you will inherit our country and you…

Former Commonwealth Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal has hailed the work of the government, in particular, President Bharrat Jagdeo for maintaining a prominent and positive image of the country on the international scene. “I feel very excited at where we are and how in fact the government has succeeded in keeping Guyana alive and prominent in the international community in a progressive way,” Sir Shridath told Guyana Times International in an exclusive interview. The renowned international diplomat was notably impressed with Guyana’s contributions to tackle global environmental issues. “The work…

The wrecked Boeing 737-800 Caribbean Airlines airplane BW 523 has been removed from the crash site and taken to a hangar within the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), where it will be reassembled and be available for future investigations. With the crashed airline removed, the runway which was shortened by 500 feet was back in full operations on Friday evening. The entire runway is 7500 feet. The final part of the aircraft was removed on August 12, clearing the crash site for vehicles to gain access to the South Dakota…

– GTU stands firm on “no interest” deal The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) is close to finalising a new arrangement for the disbursement of loans, under the housing development revolving fund that was inked with government since 2006. General Secretary of the union, Coretta McDonald in an interview with Guyana Times International on August 16 said that teachers should be able to access these loans, as soon as next week. According to her, the issue was slated to be discussed at the level of Cabinet. McDonald noted that discussions surrounding…

The Guyana Defence Force and the Brazilian Army on Thursday signed a protocol that will see cooperation in areas of training, doctrine and operations, intelligence, logistics, engineering, and international affairs. The signing ceremony took place at the conclusion of the VI Bilateral Staff Conference between Brazil and Guyana at the Pegasus Hotel late Thursday. The protocol provides training courses for GDF personnel over the period 2012 to 2014 in the fields of infantry, paratrooping, logistics, and engineering, while the cooperation in doctrine and operations will see, among other things, the…

McGill University of Canada on Tuesday formalised a CDN$5 million (Gy$1,025,845,920) partnership agreement with the Agriculture Ministry to start a research project aimed at helping Guyana improve its production, health and nutritional value of crops over the next three and a half years. The project, titled “Improving Nutrition and Health of Caricom Population”, was awarded to Guyana based on a proposal submitted by the McGill University in 2009, following a call by the Canadian government for academic institutions to step up in assisting other countries to become food secure. The…

Presidential candidate of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, (PPP/C) Donald Ramotar, says he is not opposed to having an all-encompassing debate with fellow presidential candidates of the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the recently formed A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). Speaking at a media briefing at the party’s headquarters on August 5, Ramotar said that he had never opposed being part of any debate, but was never given any official invitation to be part of a national debate of that nature. “Let’s see what will happen before elections … I…