Month: December 2012

The mysterious killing of two American missionaries

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By Danielle Campbell The murdered American couple Even though the only clues to the killers’ identity are a pair of slippers and a tube of toothpaste, investigators are still unable to trace them. More than seven years have passed and police are also trying to find out if the killers of American couple, Richard and Charlene Hicks were indeed hired. On March 29, 2005, police in Lethem stumbled on the bodies of the American missionaries after responding to a report of fire at a San Jose Ranch in the Rupununi…

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West Dem GPL sub-stations now in operation

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Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, GPL Chairman Winston Brassington and CEO Bharat Dindyal at the Edinburgh sub-station where they got a closer look at the operating systems Residents in the West Demerara region will now experience an improvement in their electricity supply with the operationalising of two new sub-stations built by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc, with funds from government and a Chinese loan valued at US$42 million from the Import and Export Bank. On Thursday, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, along with GPL Chief Executive Officer Bharat Dindyal, GPL…

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Williams promises to speed up local government reforms

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A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament Basil Williams was voted in as chairman of the parliamentary special select committee to review legislation pivotal to the holding of local government elections. Acting Cabinet Secretary Gail Teixeira confirmed Williams’ appointment on Friday at the Office of the President. Teixeira noted that it was a necessary step in furthering local government elections. She continued that the special select committee was decided upon after Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud put forth the multiple local government bills concerning reform. Williams told Guyana…

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Bill to amend former President’s benefits unthinkable – Teixeira

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–smacks of vindictiveness, personal vendetta, observers say The opposition’s bill to amend former President Bharrat Jagdeo’s medical benefits is unthinkable and lacks moral decency, according to government’s chief whip, Gail Teixeira. Teixeira’s comments came after A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) parliamentarian Carl Greenidge, tabled a bill titled “Former Presidents Benefits and Other Facilities Amendment Bill 2012 – No 25/ 2012”, at a sitting of the National Assembly on the 17th December. “Greenidge brought a motion to cap the former President’s pension and benefits, and that motion was approved by…

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Wenches and darts

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Satiricus was titillated by the announcement that the upscale new mall on the East Coast would be getting a ‘real’ British pub. But it was not the promise of warm lager that titillated him – or tickled his fancy for that matter. It was the promises that ‘lovely lasses would be dressed in traditional wenches outfits’ that did the trick. Satiricus had seen enough movies of medieval England al la “Robin Hood etc – to need the dictionary explanation of ‘wenches’ – a young (especially buxom) peasant girl; a wanton…

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Uncouth and louche

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Politics trumps all There’s a lot of folks out there muttering ‘why can’t these politicians work together to build our country?’ Especially in this holiday season of (presumably) bonhomie and goodwill. Well, the story of what happened when the government – in an effort to ‘work together’ – invited Opposition Leader David Granger to deliver the ‘charge’ to the latest (and largest) batch of teachers ever graduated from the CPCE, will explain. Now – as everybody who’s been to a graduation from nursery school to medical school would know –…

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Political blindness

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AFC’s delusions The AFC, through one of its spokesman, Dominic Gaskin, reviewed his party’s performance (antics?) at a press conference. It tells a lot about the state of our press in Guyana when Gaskin was allowed to get away with the rubbish he spouted. Then again, maybe in this season of goodwill, they cut him a whole lot of slack. Gaskin defined the AFC as “the conscience of the nation”. God help us if this were to be so: we would have about as much conscience as Hitler on Jews.…

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Opposition playing politics with security forces – Rohee

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Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said the approach the combined opposition took at the last sitting of the National Assembly was expected. Speaking during a recent interview on the Current Issues and Analysis programme aired on TVG, the minister said the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) were selective as to what areas they would cut in the requests provided by each minister. Rohee emphasised that such actions prove that the joint opposition was using their one-seat majority to show that they “are in…

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Spite

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Stewing in envy On the last day before Christmas, Nigel Hughes decided to vent his spleen once again on former President Bharrat Jagdeo. He ranted and raved about ex-President Jagdeo’s house lot.  Poor fellow! He just can’t help it. Like Forbes Burnham, he’d plotted his career trajectory very early on. With the silver spoon pushed into his mouth – unlike Burnham – he’d set his sights even higher. “Senior counsel” was on his “to do” list – way before “President of Guyana”. Jagdeo burst his bubble: no SC for a…

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Guyanese women to have greater access to emergency contraceptives

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Maternal Health Services Director, Dr Janice Woolford Maternal and Child Health Services Director, Dr Janice Woolford has announced that the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has decided to make emergency contraceptives available for public distribution. Dr Woolford stated that the Maternal Health Department has recently been trying to promote emergency contraception as one of the main methods of family planning. She revealed that the GPHC has begun to distribute emergency contraceptives at the Accident and Emergency Unit, especially in cases of rape. According to Dr Woolford, the contraceptive prevalence rate…

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