August 2019 – Guyana Times International

‘First Oil on the horizon’

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 TIMES INT'L

…as Liza Destiny arrives in Guyana Director of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe has announced that Guyana’s first oil production vessel, the Liza Destiny, has arrived in the Stabroek Block. “This is a historic and momentous occasion for the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and all Guyanese. The FPSO’s arrival means that we are no more just talking about first oil. First oil is on the horizon. The Liza Destiny’s arrival means that our timetable has moved forward and, as a policy-related body, we are also called upon to…

Former US Congresswoman hopes Guyana’s elections date “will be set soon”

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 TIMES INT'L

Former US congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in her column for the Orlando Sentinel said on Tuesday that following the series of appeals and months of legal battles following the passage of the No-Confidence Motion in December 2018, setting the stage for future elections, hopefully, a date will be set soon. Ros-Lehtinen, a politician and lobbyist from Miami, Florida, in her column said that Guyana has roughly the population of her former congressional district, but noted that the size of the country’s population should not fool anyone. “Today it (Guyana) is on…

GECOM increases working hours for field staff

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 TIMES INT'L

…as H2H set come to a halt On the heels of a decision by Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh, to halt House-to-House Registration by Saturday, the Secretariat has decided to increase working hours for its staff in the fields. According to a statement from the Commission, staff will now have to work from 10:00h to 19:30h. Previously, enumerators worked varying hours based on which geographical region they were based and whether they worked on weekdays or weekends and holidays. For instance, enumerators working in Regions Two…

Tullow to push for Guyanese to be employed with company

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 TIMES INT'L

…after Ghana Exec touts job opportunities for countrymen in Guyana Tullow recently found oil in Guyana, but it was the Managing Director at Tullow Ghana Ltd, Ghanaian Kweku Awotwi, who was quoted touting the job opportunities that would open up for his fellow Ghanaians in Guyana. The British oil company is, however, affirming that efforts will be made to hire as much Guyanese as possible for its local operations. In an interview with this publication, Tullow’s Head of Communications, George Cazenove, when asked directly about Awotwi’s claims that half of…

Linden man, female accomplice to spend 3 years behind bars for robbery

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 TIMES INT'L

A Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) duo was, on Tuesday, sentenced to three years each behind bars by Magistrate Wanda Fortune after they were found guilty of robbery under arms. The sentences were handed down to 30-year-old David Crossman also called “Bling” of Stewart Path, Christianburg, Wismar, Linden, and 34-year-old Sharon Austin when they made their final appearance at the Linden Magistrate’s Court. The court heard that on September 30, 2018, while being armed with a handgun, the duo along with another unidentifiable male robbed Kriss Jinn of G$30,000. They…

Berbice farmers could lose G$600M to paddy bugs – RPA

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 TIMES INT'L

Rice farmers in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) could lose more than half a billion dollars from the current autumn crop. This is according to President of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA) Leeka Rambrich. On August 16, General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Nezam Hassan told Guyana Times International that the exercise of aerial spraying to combat the paddy bugs will commence in Region Six. This was after rice farmers had taken to the streets protesting and demanding that the GRDB conduct aerial spraying for the bugs…

Trinidad union leader to be charged with sedition

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 TIMES INT'L

President of the Public Service Association (PSA), Watson Duke, is to face a charge of sedition, National Security Minister Stuart Young has said. The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service has made no announcement regarding the charge against Duke, who had been in their custody since Monday assisting in the investigations into statements he is alleged to have made some months ago. But Young, speaking at a news conference here, said that he had been informed that instructions have been given by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution to…

“I had one goal and that was a better life for me and my child”

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 TIMES INT'L

-Toneisha Marie London By Lakhram Bhagirat Life is always going to throw us curveballs but what we do with those curveballs is going to determine our path. Knowing that she was destined for greater heights, Toneisha Marie London knew that she had to strategically deal with all the curveballs that life was throwing her way. Mere months before she was to sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations in 2017, the former Hope Secondary School student discovered that she was pregnant. Like every teenager who would have gotten pregnant,…

“One of a kind” dining hall opens in Berbice

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 TIMES INT'L

A sparkling new dining hall which equates to a scriptural one was on Sunday commissioned on the Corentyne by President David Granger. The new dining hall features royalty as the cutlery is covered in gold, so too are most of the utensils, walls and most of the internal architecture. Just as the curtains – they were custom made and imported from Israel. The dining hall is located at Philipp Village at Solomon’s Temple and was opened as part of the church’s 12th anniversary. Pastor Egbert Baggot told Guyana Times International…

This scaremongering by GECOM is patently and legally false and dangerous

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor, The Guyana Elections Commission continues to run daily and nightly advertisements calling on members to register in its current House-to-House Registration exercise, “even if they were previously registered”. The ad goes further: it threatens members of the public with criminal sanctions if they fail to register. This scaremongering is patently and legally false and dangerous. GECOM has no power to remove names of eligible voters by any device or subterfuge. The constitutional court has ruled that no person who was previously registered can be removed except on the…