Month: January 2018

Man to spend 15 years behind bars for 2008 Agricola robbery-murder

TIMES INT'L

Two weeks after being found guilty of murdering Melissa Payne during the course of a robbery at the Agricola Public Road on November 5, 2008, Jermain Savory was on Monday morning sentenced to 15 years in prison by High Court Judge James Bovell-Drakes. Despite the accused proclaiming his innocence, the 12-member jury unanimously found the 30-year-old father of one guilty at the end of the weeks-long trial in December. The State’s case was that Savory – in the company of at least one other person –murdered Payne after the woman…

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Eyewitness places accused soldier at the scene

TIMES INT'L

Days after Marcelle Collymore, the daughter of murdered housewife Donna Taylor testified that the accused Abiola Jacobs and her mother had a fight on the day of her mother’s demise, Police Superintendent Joel David confirmed that the accused informed him that she spoke with Taylor on the day of her death. The Policeman gave this evidence as he testified at the High Court before Justice James Bovell-Drakes on Tuesday where he also noted that the survivor of the attack; Samantha Sabbatt placed Jacobs at the scene of the January 31,…

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Integrating Guyana

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By Ravi Dev Politically, Guyana is a country like a bear caught in a trap, and can only eat away its trapped foot in a desperate attempt to free itself. And it is because leaders refuse to consider other forms of governance, such as federalism or consociationalism, which are more suited to Guyana’s history and sociology. When they hear the word “federalism”, for instance, most Guyanese think of Guyana being “divided”. But federalism — simply another way of integrating a country with “factions” – was first explored by the US.…

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A significant win for Guyana’s Jaguars

TIMES INT'L

Friendly wager on American football results in support of jaguar conservation in Guyana While American football may not be very popular in Guyana, some Guyanese were watching the outcome of last week’s first-round playoff game between the Jacksonville Jaguars (Florida, USA) and Buffalo Bills (New York, USA) very closely. In the spirit of friendly competition, and to celebrate both teams gaining NFL playoff berths for the first time in many years, the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens (Florida) teamed up with the Buffalo Zoo (New York) for a friendly wager with…

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CPL’s economic impact across region almost US$100M in 2017

TIMES INT'L

– Increased spending projected for sixth edition The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has announced the tournament’s economic impact across the region. The fifth edition in 2017, which took place between August 4 and September 9, created a total economic impact of US$ 95,122,465 across six nations in the Caribbean and in the USA. This figure has been arrived at by using organizer spend, visitor spend and media value and was calculated for Hero CPL by world-renowned researchers, SMG Insight. In addition to that economic impact figure the Hero CPL…

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137 Guyanese deported from US in 2017 – report

TIMES INT'L

A total of one hundred and thirty seven (137) Guyanese were deported from the United States of America (USA) in 2017, as compared to ninety three (93) persons who were removed and sent back home in 2016 for various criminal offences. This is according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations Report (ERO) for the fiscal year 2017. The report, seeks to summarize ICE and ERO activities for the previous year. With regards to the rest of the Caribbean region, Haiti saw five thousand, five…

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41 years jail for Brooklyn man who murdered Guyanese teen

TIMES INT'L

A 26-year-old East Flatbush man was sentenced to 41 years in prison for the 2016 shooting death of 16-year-old Guyanese emigrant Shemel Mercurius. Online news reports had said that the 16-year-old used her dying breaths to tell police that Taariq Stephens, was her attacker. According to trial testimony, Stephens pushed his way into a sixth-story apartment in Flatbush Gardens just before 6:00 pm on May 31, 2016, carrying a .40 caliber submachine rifle and shot her while she was babysitting her 3-year old cousin. Police subsequently kicked down the East…

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Parking meters return to Georgetown

TIMES INT'L

…more protests expected for project to be scrapped Smart City Solutions (SCS) and the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of the City of Georgetown have reached a new agreement under the controversial Parking Meter Project, which will now see persons paying G$150 per hour and G$800 for eight hours of parking in the city. This new structure was presented at a Special Statutory Meeting called to discuss the recommendations of the Parking Meter Renegotiation Committee, on Wednesday. “Pay for time instead of space was agreed to by both parties, thus…

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GDF rank denied bail over robbery charges

TIMES INT'L

An active Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Lance Corporal was slapped with a host of charges brought against him after he reportedly used an unlicensed gun to carry out a string of robberies on at least two victims in which over G$5 million in cash and valuables was stolen. The defendant, 21-year-old A Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown resident, Jamal Hazel was remanded to prison following his arraignment before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman on Tuesday and denied the robbery under arms and unlicensed gun and ammunition possession charges. According to the prosecution’s…

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“We believe in coalition politics”

TIMES INT'L

…Granger says in response to possible AFC’s breakaway Chairman of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), President David Granger has downplayed the Alliance For Change’s (AFC) announcement that it is contemplating breaking away from the governing coalition to compete in the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE). However, General Secretary of the People’s National Congress (PNC), the leading party in the APNU coalition, Amna Ally, has made a contrary statement explaining that the APNU is prepared to contest the LGE without the AFC teaming up to contest with one ticket.…

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