2012 – Page 167 – Guyana Times International

“We cannot have rapid economic development without energy” – President

April 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Officials of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) on April 2, escorted President Donald Ramotar on a tour of three of the generating stations critical to the delivery of electricity on a daily basis to the Demerara grid. According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), visits were made to the Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara, and the Kingston Wärtsilä power plants and the Sophia Sub-station, with Chief Executive Officer Bharrat Dindyal, GPL’s Chairman Winston Brassington and board members among others elaborating on their functions. The tour was one which…

March 2012 Kali Bharat Yatra Tour of North India a success

April 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

By Dr Tara Singh “The most fantastic experience I’ve had in India was at the conduct of the Ganga Aarti on the bank of the Ganges at Haridwar. That was unbelievable. At Mathura, Lord Krishna’s birth place, I grabbed some soil and brought it with me to the USA. Another memorable experience was when Lake Persaud and I attended a typical Hindu wedding in a village called “coolie” in Rajasthan. There was where Amitabbh Bacchan made the movie coolie. The wedding hosts asked me to sing and they enjoyed it…

Guyana Model Search and Designer Portfolio back with a bang

April 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

After a two-year hiatus, the popular television reality series is back. In the wake of the increased global attention being given to the creative industries, and fashion- related enterprises gaining much media exposure, the show is a welcome return to TV. National Communications Network (NCN), one of the companies partnering with the creators of this showcase of young and upcoming talent, looks forward to its airing. Producer Sonia Noel recently back from stints as guest judge on Mission Catwalk – the Caribbean equivalent of Project Runway, spoke excitedly about the…

Deportee reintegration programme failed to take root – U.S. ambassador

April 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

The U.S.-backed International Organisation for Migration (IOM) programme to help resettle criminal deportees in Guyana did not produce the desired results, United States Ambassador to Guyana D Brent Hardt said. “The programme took a while to begin and they just didn’t take root as we would have liked them to,” Hardt told Guyana Times International in a recent interview. In June 2008, Guyana signed a cooperation agreement which allowed for the (IOM) to implement immigration programmes in Guyana. The programme, which was deemed a pilot and received funding from the…

Mountebanks

April 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Amountebank is a swindler and a charlatan. Originating in the American West, it described those who sold quack medicine from the stage. David Hinds, who has lived for decades in the American west, and would be very familiar with the term, is a mountebank of the first order. The quack medicine he sells purports to solve the political problems of Guyana. In his latest quack offering he begins portentously: “For any society to advance it has to settle a fundamental question – who governs?” Is this guy for real? So…

Suriname insurance giant opens branches in Guyana

April 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Suriname’s largest insurance company, Assuria NV launched two insurance services in Guyana last Saturday, Assuria Life (GY) Inc and Assuria General (GY) Inc – the first transborder financial services venture between Guyana and Suriname. President Donald Ramotar and Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh were among those in attendance at the launch at the Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown. The head of state, who joined Assuria NV Suriname Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stephen Smit in toasting the business’s entry into the market, said Assuria’s actions could only aid the further promotion of regional…

Prisoners flee Leonora lock-up while officers sleep

April 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Acting Police Commissioner Leroy Brummel said investigations have been launched into the escape of two prisoners from the Leonora Police Station on Sunday, April 1, and a similar incident in Berbice last week. “We cannot let this become prevalent,” Brummel told junior officers at the opening ceremony of the Junior Officers’ Course number 22 held at the Police Annexe at Police Headquarters, Eve Leary on Monday. He said that two on-duty police officers, one a corporal and the other a constable, were asleep when the two men escaped. “They grabbed…

Chinese firm buying gov’t ‘s GT&T shares for US$30M

April 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon said that government is selling its 20 percent shareholding in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT &T) Company for US$30 million to an Asian Chinese enterprise. The decision was made on Wednesday, April 4 during a Cabinet sitting. Dr Luncheon said that the decision was taken following analysis of the trends of the stock markets. He said that consideration was also paid to the historical trends of the shares. The party to which the shares are being sold had conducted due diligence…

Budget facilitates continuation of hinterland development

April 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

The transformation of the economic and social landscape of the hinterland is set to continue as reflected in the 2012 Budget presented under the theme “Remaining on Course, United in Purpose, Prosperity for All”. The budget presented by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh last Friday outlined continued hinterland interventions in health, education, water, electricity among others. Education Over Gy$ 1 billion has been allocated to sustain the National and Hinterland School Feeding programmes, even as the school uniform support is set to continue. The hinterland will benefit from the Gy$…

David and Khemraj overdose on “souriee”!

April 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

De opposition behaving like “bling bling” after de budget presentation. “Souriee” is de other name fuh “bling bling”. It gat certain characteristics that does mek yuh mouth long and sour up. David look like he had a overdose when he was commenting on de budget. As usual, de opposition does “play” de same “record” every budget day, which only gat one tune; “budget disappointing”. People want fuh know which budget de opposition was listening to, if at all dem was listening because at de same time West Indies, surprisingly, was…