Month: July 2011

UWI deputy principal to receive Caricom women’s award

TIMES INT'L

University of the West Indies deputy principal and gender professor Dr Violet Eudine Barriteau will receive the Caricom Triennial Award for Women for her remarkable contribution to the field of gender and development and her role as “a powerful exemplar of self-respect, self- discipline, vision and leadership”. The Triennial Award for Women was introduced in 1983 to recognise and honour Caribbean women who have made significant contributions to socio- economic development at the national and regional levels. Acting Caricom Secretary General Lolita Applewhaite, who made the announcement at last Friday’s…

Read More

Caricom heads to focus on health at upcoming summit

TIMES INT'L

The upcoming 32nd regular Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, which opens in St Kitts and Nevis on July 01, will focus on health, as the Community marks ten years of solid achievements in that sector since the 2001 Nassau Declaration – the Health of the Region is the Wealth of the Region. Acting Caricom Secretary General Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite told journalists at a media conference on June 24 that health was one of the major success areas for the Community in its “arsenal of functional cooperation.”…

Read More

Patriotism, unity and concern should take precedence above political agenda

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor, Please permit me to comment on what is currently obtaining in Guyana in Region Nine. The situation is indeed quite heart-breaking, and only those who have had similar encounters can truly empathise with the victims. At the physical level, it appears as though one can cope fairly well, and indeed many do. At the psychological level, it is even more challenging; and this is where a good, caring and clairvoyant government comes in. The PPP/ C, just like it did in 2005 in the Great Flood (on the…

Read More

Uniform programme benefits 30,000 hinterland students

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor, I was a bit disappointed at first when the news about the distribution of school uniform was announced and schools on the coastland were alerted, because I thought there was nothing for the school children in the Amerindian villages. However, I was proven wrong, because I was advised later that hinterland communities in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine would also be getting their share of school uniforms for free distribution. I see that the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs is busy with the uniform packages for dispatch and…

Read More

Consumer protection legislation

TIMES INT'L

Guyana is moving towards enacting modern consumer protection legislation which seeks to ensure the rights of consumers are safeguarded. The enactment of this new piece of legislation will see the country joining the league of other Caricom countries that have already passed adequate consumer protection legislation in keeping with the changing times. Countries such as Barbados, Jamaica, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines among others, have already enacted relevant consumer legislation and have established effective institutions to carry out enforcement activities. Once enacted, this bill will…

Read More

Parents, students protest NA speedboat service

TIMES INT'L

Parents of children attending school in New Amsterdam staged a picketing exercise against the speedboat service introduced by Transport and Harbours Department on June 28 to traverse between the New Amsterdam and Rosignol ferry stellings. The protestors were joined by Alliance For Change presidential candidate Khemraj Ramjattan and other senior executives of that party. The speedboat service, which is dubbed more economical for T& HD, made its first trip with commuters across the river on the morning of June 28, ending weeks of speculation over its implementation. A source attached…

Read More

Guyana’s economic status has risen over the years – Ramotar

TIMES INT'L

General Secretary and presidential candidate of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), Donald Ramotar, said the party is ready for the upcoming elections. He noted that discussions to appoint a prime ministerial candidate are ongoing, and the party’s choice will be announced soon. That choice will be made from the civic component of the party, Ramotar assured. “Our electoral structures at both the leadership level and in the communities have been established to face the challenges,” he stated. He expressed confidence that the PPP/C would be successful in the upcoming…

Read More

Guyana making efforts to tackle…

TIMES INT'L

BY JANELLE PERSAUD Guyana has been removed from the Tier Two watch list in the U. S. State Department’s report on Trafficking in Persons, and is now just on the Tier Two list. Government believes that its protest of Guyana’s 2010 Tier Two watch list ranking has paid off. The report, released on Monday, June 27 by U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said the Guyanese authorities do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of this scourge, but are making significant efforts to do so.…

Read More

Gangadin to stand trial for murder of wife

TIMES INT'L

– family relieved at decision Dwarka “Dave” Gangadin has been committed to stand trial in the High Court for the murder of his wife, Bridgette Gangadin. At the hearing, which was held at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court on June 24, Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus ruled that a prima facie case had been made out against the accused. This was despite the absence of Trinidad-based pathologist Dr Hubert Daisley, hired by the woman’s family. He failed to show up to be cross examined by Gangadin’s lawyer, Bernard De Santos. The matter is…

Read More

200,000 die yearly from drug abuse – UN report

TIMES INT'L

Some 200,000 people die yearly from drug abuse, a new World Drug Report released on June 23 said. It added that while global markets for cocaine, heroin and cannabis declined or remained stable, the production and abuse of prescription drugs and new synthetic drugs rose. The flagship report was launched on June 23 at the United Nations headquarters by Secretary- General Ban Ki- moon; Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); Joseph Deiss, President of the General Assembly; Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the…

Read More