Category: Top Stories

Clive David, the Customs Officer who was allegedly caught on camera packing cocaine into a mail bag at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport last week, was on Wednesday remanded to prison when he appeared before City Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan. David, of 22 Princes Street, Lodge, pleaded not guilty to the charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. He allegedly committed the crime sometime between April 9 and 11. Police said that David was allegedly in possession of 647 grams of cocaine at the time. His lawyer,…

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U.S.-based hotel group Ramada will be spending US$7 million to rebrand the Princess Hotel and Casino at Providence, East Bank Demerara to Ramada Georgetown Princess, officials announced at a news briefing on Tuesday. The rebranding mission has already taken effect and arose following an agreement between the Providence entity and Ramada, which is a subsidiary of the Wyndham Hotel group of New Jersey in the United States. The agreement is a work in progress in which the two have partnered on Princess’ existing hotels in Europe and the Caribbean. President…

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Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday announced the creation of the New York City Children’s Cabinet, a multi-agency initiative to bolster communication among city agencies and develop strategies for a holistic approach to a child’s safety and well-being. The plan to assemble a Children’s Cabinet came after the tragic death in January of 4-year-old Myls Dobson. It stems from the mayor’s belief that children at risk are served by multiple city agencies, and therefore the responsibility of keeping them safe and attending to their well-being should extend beyond the Administration…

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Guyana on Thursday mourned the passing of well-respected Caribbean integrationist and United Nations Good Officer in the border controversy with Venezuela, Professor Norman Girvan. “For Guyana, we valued the wisdom which he brought to the Good Offices Process as the Personal Representative of the United Nations Secretary General,” said President Donald Ramotar in a statement. Girvan, 72, died in Cuba where he had been receiving treatment for paralysis due to fall while hiking in Dominica three months ago. Foreign Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett also praised Girvan’s work as the United Nations…

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After intense grilling by the combined parliamentary Opposition, the Gy$6 billion subvention for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) was approved by both sides on Wednesday evening as the National Assembly commenced consideration of the Gy$220 billion 2014 Budget Estimates. In addition, the House approved the entire Agriculture Ministry’s budget, but not before scrutinising the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). Allocations to other agencies under the Ministry were also approved. These include the Guyana School of Agriculture, Guyana Livestock Development Authority, Guyana Rice Development Board, Guyana Marketing Corporation, and Hope…

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The main Opposition A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) has criticised the Gy$220 billion National  Budget presented by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh on Monday, saying it is bloated with expenditures  while warning a “difficult debate” even as it threatens to cut sections of the estimates. While addressing media representatives, Opposition Leader and APNU Chairman, Retired Brigadier David Granger said: “I don’t know what the budget is all about” as he registered his concerns. Granger said several issues were not adequately addressed, for instance, the plan to computerise hinterland secondary…

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– “Opposition members were invited for consultations” Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh said the Gy$220 billion budget should be judged on its merits even as he set the record straight on the Government’s engagements with the Opposition on the estimates. When Minister Singh began the 2014 budget presentation to the National Assembly on Monday, members of the Alliance For Change (AFC) left the chamber, claiming that there had been no meaningful consultation before the preparation of the budget. According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) statement, in dismissing the party’s…

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– Opposition poll finds Former President Bharrat Jagdeo would be the most formidable candidate that the Opposition parties, A Party for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC), could face in any upcoming general elections. This was revealed in a poll conducted by the combined Opposition earlier this month, according to highly placed sources in the party. Evidently worried that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) would call snap elections in the trail of their controversial stance on a host of issues, the combined Opposition rushed through their polling exercise…

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The lifeless body of 62-year-old Guyanese Shirley Caesar was found on Wednesday afternoon in a New York cemetery, exactly one week after she was reported missing. The elderly woman who has been living in Brooklyn, New York for the past 10 years was last seen alive when she left her Brooklyn apartment last Wednesday to visit a commercial bank in Queens, New York and a tax office to file her taxes. When she did not return home on the same day and could not be contacted, her brother and other…

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