January 2013 – Page 20 – Guyana Times International

Rejection of Gy$310M request “vindictive” – Revenue Head

January 4, 2013 TIMES INT'L

Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur, has called the move by A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) to deny the revenue entity, additional funds for its continued operations, “vindictive”. At the last sitting of Parliament, the administration through Finance Minister Ashni Singh, tabled a bill seeking to have the National Assembly approve an additional Gy$310 million to be allotted to GRA for regularising operations at its new location, CLICO building, Camp Street, Georgetown. The additional funds government sought were presented as part…

70 per cent of Guyanese jail population comprises youths – Erskine

January 4, 2013January 4, 2013 TIMES INT'L

By Tiffany Bowen The percentage of male juvenile offenders presently imprisoned for serious crimes has increased significantly, compared to the last three years. This disclosure was confirmed by Prison Director, Dale Erskine during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times International. According to Erskine, Guyana’s prison population is made up of 71.3 per cent of young offenders, who are either serving sentences or are on remand for allegedly committing very grave offences. This statistic, he pointed out, is worrying, and requires careful scrutiny, both by the prison’s administration and relevant stakeholders.…

Opposition’s pressure on gov’t bearing fruit – APNU

January 4, 2013January 4, 2013 TIMES INT'L

By Pushpa Balgobin The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) said it believes that the pressure the combined opposition has placed on the government is bearing fruit, but played down talks of moving a no-confidence motion against the government to force fresh elections. At a news conference at his office, Opposition Leader David Granger claimed, “The government is against the ropes… public support has drawn away from the People’s Progressive Party; there is no leadership, no movement towards national unity.” According to Granger, as a result of the current situation,…

Work commences on 1823 Monument despite protests

January 4, 2013 TIMES INT'L

Construction work on the 1823 Monument has started and is being built in honour of the slaves who were killed during the revolt. This is despite calls to have the monument erected at the Parade Ground, opposite the Promenade Gardens. The site that has been selected for the monument is located on Carifesta Avenue, opposite the Guyana Defence Force ground. It will serve as a base for the monument and a garden site. When Guyana Times International visited the area on Sunday, several construction workers were on site. Equipment and…

Raam Jhaat’s resolutions

January 3, 2013 TIMES INT'L

Truth be told, Satiricus had enjoyed the holidays a wee bit too much. OK, that wasn’t quite the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Satiricus was still nursing a throbbing head brought on by his excesses with the fellas on Christmas Eve. “Christmas comes but once a year,” he rationalised sub-vocally. “But does it have to leave like a hurricane?” he mumbled to himself. So here he was with the Raam Jhaat’s diary, which his wife’s niece (five times removed) had temporarily filched for his perusal. Maybe…

The opposition media

January 3, 2013January 3, 2013 TIMES INT'L

Mouth open Emile Mervin is one of those retired overseas Guyanese with too much time on his hands. He’s sold his soul to the AFC, and obviously from his scribblings, has a pipeline to the thinking of its top leadership. To keep himself busy he inflicts those interminable and tedious AFC gripes against the government in the spit press. One was tempted to say ‘polemics’ but he goes over the same ground so many times that his drivel becomes a literal vast and bare wasteland. But as we always insist,…

Foster families bring hope to shattered lives

January 3, 2013January 3, 2013 TIMES INT'L

By Danielle Campbell Six-year-old Shanae Trim hops onto the comforting lap of her mother and beams adoringly at the woman. The doting mother embraces Shanae and whispers into one of the child’s ears, indicating that the two share a very close rapport. At first glance, one would assume that Shanae and her mom are a happy duo in their average single-parent family. But Shanae lost her mother to childbirth complications and later made the discovery that her dad could no longer care for her, owing to his intolerable alcohol dependence.…

A lost year

January 3, 2013 TIMES INT'L

Missed opportunities We’ve made it to the end of the year. That’s not a feat to be scoffed at considering what this nation had to face from the arrogant overreaching of the opposition. The year had started with so much hope. The people had spoken and given the opposition control of the National Assembly and the PPP, control of the executive. You’d have thought it was a golden moment to move from the politics of conflict to the politics of dialogue, wouldn’t you??? The president certainly thought so. In a…

Unbridled attacks on Jagdeo reflective of opposition’s bitterness

January 3, 2013January 3, 2013 TIMES INT'L

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo The continued unbridled obsession by opposition members, backed by the principals of the Stabroek and Kaieteur newspapers, on Bharrat Jagdeo, has resulted in several inaccurate and vindictive articles attacking the former president, leading many in civil society to conclude that they are hinged on personal vendettas and envy, and aimed at destroying Guyana’s path of continued development. Kaieteur News publisher Glenn Lall has led the way in the continued malicious and personal attacks on the former president and members of his family. Lall has published daily…

Jealous man charged with killing step-nephew

January 3, 2013 TIMES INT'L

A man, who allegedly stabbed to death his step-nephew while he was sleeping next to his girlfriend, was Monday arraigned on a charge of murder. Facing the capital charge is 36-year old Roy Lewis of Glasgow Housing Scheme, East Bank Berbice. He was not required to plea to the indictable charge. He is accused of murdering his brother’s stepson, 18-year old Devon Da Silva also known as Devon Lewis on December 27 at Sister’s Village, East Bank Berbice. After allegedly killing the youth, Lewis ingested a poisonous substance to commit…