Month: January 2018

‘They want people to give up hope and migrate’

TIMES INT'L

Opposition Leader Dr Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday urged scores of sugar workers and their families not to lose hope, but to continue to struggle alongside the People’s Progressive Party to secure the freedoms and gains which they have worked and toiled for over the past two and a half decades. Jagdeo, addressing a crowd at Enterprise Community Centre on the East Coast of Demerara, disclosed that the Government had begun unveiling parts of a systematic plan to undermine the support base of the Opposition with the aim of changing the…

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“Shine Buck” jailed for life for raping minor

TIMES INT'L

…“I see no basis for showing you mercy” – Judge tells accused Following a series of attacks on a young victim, Rohan Daniels, a logger, also known as “Shine Buck” was on Wednesday evening found guilty on two counts of sexual activity with a child family member by a 12-member jury at the High Court. The panel deliberated for about three hours and they were tasked with handing a verdict on four separate counts of child sex activity. An 11-1 proportion found him guilty on the first count and a…

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2 Guyanese among 46 arrested during immigration crackdown in NY

TIMES INT'L

Two Guyanese were among 46 foreign nationals taken into custody during a five-day operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in western New York, targeting at-large criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants, and other immigration violators. According to the ICE agency, one of the Guyanese is a 46-year-old female with convictions for forgery and larceny. She will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of her removal proceedings. The other Guyanese has been identified a 23-year-old male with convictions for driving while ability impaired and harassment, following his arrest for…

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‘Farewell party’ turns into deadly final goodbye

TIMES INT'L

…as 2 dead, 2 critical following accident What was a bittersweet celebration for four close friends turned into a final goodbye for two of them when they met their demise following an accident at Cornelia Ida, on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD) late Tuesday night. Twenty-six-year-old father of one, Romel Henry, of Lot 20 Second Street, Windsor Forest, WCD and 26-year-old route 32-minibus conductor, Doesh Sukhu of Lot 12 Gap Road, La Jalousie, WCD were both pronounced dead on arrival at the West Demerara Regional Hospital at around 00:30h…

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AFC Exec Member lands in trouble again

TIMES INT'L

…charged for assaulting plantain chip vendor Embattled Executive Member of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Abel Seetaram on Wednesday appeared at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court charged with illegally wounding his cousin, who is a plantain chip vendor. It is alleged that on Sunday, January 21 at Number 11 Village, West Coast Berbice, Seetaram wounded Nateram Rabindranauth. Magistrate Rhondel Weaver granted Seetaram bail in the sum of G$100,000 on the felonious wounding charge and ordered that he returns to court on February 7, 2018. It had been reported that the…

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A direct correlation between crime and unemployment in Guyana

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor, Wherever you go in the country and speak to business people, large and small, you will be told the same thing: business has slowed to a stop. Many small businesses have been closing their doors because of the fall in people’s purchasing power. This is a clear indication that the economy has stagnated and is even in decline. Thousands are losing their jobs daily. The current news reports are mainly focused on the tragedy of the sugar workers, thousands of whom have been sent home even without severance…

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Contradictions and inconsistencies in Govt’s public information policy

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor, “We expect ExxonMobil will try to rob us as much as they can, so it is now on us to figure out how best we can defeat them. It is a waste of time at this point saying that they can rob us. That is ABC. That is known. Let us start looking for solutions and safeguards. It is useful in this regard to point out the errors made by other countries and how we can be able to do better.” This quote is taken from the lead…

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Drama continues as NBS seeks to block former CEO from cashing G$59M cheque

TIMES INT'L

A few hours after issuing a G$59.3 million cheque to its former Chief Executive Officer, Maurice Arjoon, the New Building Society (NBS) said it would be taking steps to “safeguard the sum” since it was only issued “to avoid confrontation.” The Society, in a bid to prevent High Court Marshals from levying its assets, locked customers and staffers in its head office for over five hours. The standoff came as Arjoon’s lawyers secured a levy for G$59 million in compensation following his wrongful dismissal in 2011. NBS issued a three-page…

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Reintegrating deportees

TIMES INT'L

According to a recent US Immigration report, a total of 137 Guyanese were, for various reasons, deported from the USA in 2017. This, of course, is a significant increase when compared to the previous year (2016), which had seen ninety-three (93) Guyanese nationals being sent back home. With regard to the rest of the Caribbean region, Haiti saw five thousand, five hundred and seventy-eight (5578) of its nationals being deported in 2017. Similarly, that figure represents a massive increase when compared to 2016, when just three hundred and ten (310)…

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2018 LGE would confirm AFC’s “dead meat” status

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor, Khemraj Ramjattan had predicted before the 2015 national elections that his political party, the AFC, would become “dead meat” should it team up with PNC/APNU. Well, it subsequently contested the elections under the banner of APNU/AFC, and with active campaigning by the party’s leader, Ramjattan. Having teamed up with APNU, the AFC claimed that it brought in some 11% of the votes; and the AFC leaders and members were given some 40% of parliamentary seats and ministerial positions in the Granger-led government. The AFC faction was given large…

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