Year: 2018

Marcus Bisram to be extradited to Guyana to face murder charge

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Guyanese Marcus Bisram is expected in Guyana to face a murder charge after he lost an extradition challenge in a New York court on Tuesday. Bisram is wanted in Guyana for the murder of a Berbice carpenter. District Judge, Kiyo A Matsumoto presided over the case on Tuesday, where she upheld that there was sufficient evidence for Bisram to be repatriated to Guyana. Judge of the Eastern District, Peggy Kuo had similarly ruled that the evidence was enough, and an extradition order was signed. On October 31, 2016, Faiyaz Narinedatt…

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NY Governor urges caution ahead of heavy downpour, flooding expected this weekend

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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has urged New Yorkers to prepare for heavy rain and thunderstorms that will be moving through the state starting Thursday afternoon and ending on Saturday, a release published on the Governor’s Office website stated According to the release, heavy downpours are possible and could cause flooding in low lying, urban or poor drainage areas. Rainfall amounts of 1.5 to 2.5 inches are expected Thursday through Friday in western New York and the Finger Lakes Region. This heavy rain will fall on already saturated soils. The rain…

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Region 2 rice farmers say Govt ignoring their cries for help

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Essequibo Coast rice farmers picketed Agriculture Minister Noel Holder as he commissioned a G$103 million pump station at Land of Plenty, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). On Monday, Region Two rice farmers demonstrated against Minister Holder at the commissioning of two new pumps installed at the Land of Plenty koker. As the Minister made his way to the pump station, rice farmers accused him of ignoring them. According to the farmers, several letters were dispatched to the Minister concerning the hardships they are facing in the industry, but they never received any…

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Months after, sections of rehabilitated WCD road falling apart

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Mere months after its official completion, a hole has developed on the Vreed-en-Hoop access road, West Coast Demerara, attracting urgent attention by contractors on Wednesday morning. When Guyana Times International visited the area, crew members from Jamaican Company ‘Surrey, Paving and Aggregate Company Limited’, who were responsible for the construction of the road had begun drilling holes to surround the sunken section of road, as they explained that they were conducting an examination to determine the reason for the sunken road. When contacted, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson said he…

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Life in Kwakwani

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By Lakhram Bhagirat Kwakwani is a picturesque logging community sitting along the Berbice River in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) with a population of just over 6000 residents who are the nicest people you will meet. The journey to Kwakwani is most breathtaking if one takes the bus, but you can also take a boat up the Berbice River to get there. The trip is somewhat of a long one, but with the right company, it can be a very fun one. A colleague and I left Georgetown sometime around 07:00h…

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Verna Hercules – the ever smiling plantain chip lady

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By Lakhram Bhagirat When life thought it had knocked Verna Hercules down, it was in for a surprise when like a phoenix she rose from the proverbial ashes and began soaring – not because she wanted to, but because she had no other choice since she is both mother and father to her four children. Verna tells me that she was born and raised in the riverine community of Ibini, Berbice River, but after she got married and had her four children, she moved upriver to the village of Kwakwani…

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Man charged for alleged rape of schoolgirl

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A 21-year-old man made an appearance in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Monday, and stood before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on a charge of rape committed on a 15-year-old schoolgirl. Mario Bruce is accused of engaging in sexual penetration with the child between August 21 and August 22, 2018, at Princes Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown. The accused was released on G$300,000 bail. The case was adjourned to November 12, 2018.

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Timehri man charged for killing ‘drinking buddy’

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A Timehri, East Bank Demerara (EBD) labourer was on Tuesday hauled before the court of law after he was slapped with a charge of murder. Phillip Solomon is accused of killing his “drinking buddy”, Vernon Cummings during an argument last week. It is alleged that the 41-year-old man murdered Cummings, also known as “Ervil”, on October 24, 2018 at Timehri. According to the prosecution’s case, the two men, who were both labourers, were at a wharf at Timehri, where they would normally consume alcohol together. However, on October 24, 2018,…

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The fall…

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…of Georgetown The Kennard CoI into the Town Clerk’s venality has ripped the scab off the sore that’s the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, and oh, what a stench is created by the pus oozing out like the City’s open sewer drains! Sale of City lands; rentals of City wharves; cooking (and stealing!) of the books; jobs and contracts for friends and relatives; featherbedding for the same; jet- setting lifestyle; unlimited vehicles and guards! Why, Georgetown had become the personal fiefdom of the PNC Mafia to rape and to hold!!…

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Guyana’s Opposition reiterates call for non-custodial sentences for small amounts of marijuana

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Following renewed calls by advocates for the unhindered use of small amounts of marijuana, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, has reiterated his Party’s support for non-custodial sentencing for possession of small amounts of the substance. During his October 18 address to the National Assembly, President David Granger attracted a group of protesting Rastafarian advocates who were demanding that Government overhaul its stance on marijuana laws, and many were calling for the full legalisation of the narcotic. However, when members of the press raised this with Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday…

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