Chronicle Weekend Roundup with Telesha Ramnarine

Monday, 26th

Nations University launches Alumni Association
NATIONS University, in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Business , has launched its first ever Alumni Association. Nations University has, for approximately four years, been offering an internationally recognised Master’s in Business Administration programme through the AIB. With close to 50 successful graduates to date, the institution thought the time opportune to begin developing a productive and functional Alumni Association.

Strange woman kidnaps young baby in broad daylight
A BABY boy, merely nine days old, was allegedly kidnapped, leaving his parents who reside at Number 60 Village, Corentyne, worried. According to a relative, a woman named Bibi, from Nickerie, Suriname, befriended the child’s mother, Pinky, while the latter was in hospital awaiting delivery.“Since then, she has been around to see the baby rather often. The woman was nice; I can’t even tell you how this happen,” the woman said. On the day of the kidnapping, Pinky had gone to the market in the company of the kidnapper, and had asked the woman to hold the child. “In two minutes, the woman disappear!” the woman reported. Pinky and her husband, Ravikant Vistonauth, can be reached on telephone numbers 676-5348 or 338-1289.

Marriott investors named : …Republic Bank confirms financing
ATLANTIC Hotel Inc. (AHI) and Republic Bank Ltd have announced the completion of the financial arrangements by Republic Bank for a syndicated borrowing of US$27M in debt financing for AHI. This is for the construction of the Marriott operated hotel and the shell of an entertainment complex in Kingston, Georgetown. The principal investors in AHI (Marriott Hotel Guyana project and Entertainment Complex) are National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL) and British Virgin Island (BVI) registered ACE Square Investments Ltd. ACE Square Investments Ltd. will acquire 67% of the equity of AHI for US$8M. As required under the Hotel Management Agreement between Marriott and AHI, Marriott has consented to the transfer of the controlling interest of AHI from NICIL to ACE Square Investments Ltd.

New farmers group formed in Pomeroon
SIXTY-FOUR farmers at Unity, in the Lower Pomeroon River, have formed themselves into a group with the objective of working together through the Guyana Agriculture Producers Association (GAPA) to put some 190 acres of virgin land under cultivation to boost production and contribute to the national ‘Grow More Food’ drive. A representative of GAPA on the Essequibo Coast, Mr. Dawood Khan, said the targeted acreage will be divided into five-acre plots to benefit 38 families in the area who will each get one plot.
He said each family would live on the land while cultivating it.

Tuesday, 27th

Frustrated man languishes in hospital two months
TWENTY-NINE-year-old Reyon Fraser of Des Kendren, West Coast Demerara has been languishing on a bed in the Georgetown Public Hospital ever since March 27, when a motor car driven by Moses Looknauth of Parika, East Bank Essequibo, ploughed into him on the public road at Meten-Meer-Zorg, causing him to sustain severe spinal injuries, injuries to the head, and multiple compound fractures to the upper and lower right leg. With steel implanted in his upper leg, he remains on the bed (due to spinal injuries), and continues to agonise in pain whenever he is touched. He literally reeks of pain and self-pity, and is literally ‘pining away’ from his condition. But incredibly, the motorist responsible for his debilitating condition allegedly continues to drive his vehicle every day, without even once visiting the individual he had almost written off, or enquiring about the man’s welfare from his frustrated and grieving relatives.

Man stabbed in neck by workmate
GOLD MINER Sadeek Muhammed, 27, of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, who was stabbed in the neck at Bartica, Region 7, two Saturdays ago, has suffered considerable nerve damage, and is unable to move his right leg as he remains stricken in bed in the Male Surgical Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital, where doctors are working assiduously to repair the damage. Muhammed spent two months working dedicatedly on his first trip to the gold mining interior, but came out to Bartica on Saturday, May 19, only to encounter what almost cost him his life. Muhammed would like the police to know that he is warded in the Male Surgical Ward of the GPHC, and would like to give a statement on the matter.

Opposition ‘no’politics in Parliament hampering progress
THE politics of “no” has characterised the 10th Parliament, according to President Donald Ramotar, who added that this stance is hampering and undermining progress and, more importantly, the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill. Speaking at the National Park on Sunday night, during the 48th Independence anniversary celebrations, he said, “How can we speak about fighting corruption and narco-trafficking and refuse to pass the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) and CFATF (Caribbean Financial Action Task Force) compliant bill?” According to him, the combined Opposition’s blocking of the bill has exposed Guyana to being blacklisted by the international community, as well as all the consequences that will follow.

Wednesday, 28th

COI hears State arranged a “hospitable scene” where Rodney was assassinated
UPON resumption, the Commission of Inquiry into the death of former historian/politician Dr. Walter Rodney, heard how the state had arranged for a more “hospitable scene” by removing armed guards and a mobile police outpost around the prison area where Rodney was assassinated. This was done so that when Rodney was assassinated, it would say that he was planning to bomb the prison
Eighty-nine-year-old Eusi Kwayana, one of the founders of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) who now resides in San Diego, California, United States, so testified. In the days leading up to Rodney’s death, Kwayana said all of the guards as well as the police outpost had been removed. Elements of the State and the security force therefore were in expectation that something was about to happen, Kwayana said. “If this was true, then this tied the State in to the crime because the State had been instructed to arrange a more hospitable scene, to make it more inviting for the bombing,” Kwayana remarked.

Tuschen gets $98.8M nursery school
RESIDENTS of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo and surrounding communities welcomed the commissioning of a spanking new, state-of-the-art nursery school built at a cost of $98.8M. Architecturally, the building is the first of its kind in the country, built specifically with all the necessary amenities to accommodate nursery-age children. Funding for the school was made possible through the Caribbean Development Bank’s Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF). Prior to the construction of the school, nursery-age children were housed at the Tuschen Primary school. The school currently has an enrolment of 180 students.

Prisoners at Leonora Magistrate’s Court protest as case put off
QUICK response by ranks at the Leonora Police Station and the Leonora Magistrate’s Court averted what could have been devastation for contiguous West Coast Demerara communities and embarrassment for the Guyana Police Force. Several high profile prisoners who had their matters called in the Leonora Magistrate’s Court began protesting after the magistrate informed them that their matters had been put down for another date. This publication was informed that the matters were put down because of the time of the day and the amount of matters the magistrate had to preside over. The Guyana Chronicle was informed that after the prisoners had been told that their matters was not going to be heard, they began ranting and raging, causing the security in and around the court to be beefed up and the police to clear the court premises of other persons.

Thursday, 29th

N/A man charged with murdering estranged teenage lover dies in prison
Robert Sandy, 48, of Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, who was charged with the murder of his estranged teenage lover, has died in the New Amsterdam Prison. He was charged with the murder of Onika Greaves on May 19 and the court had remanded him until June 9. The man died while he was in prison. He had consumed a poisonous substance after he stabbed his girlfriend. They had a young child together.

Police narcotics officer remanded on drugs-related offenses
Ian Johnson, 24, an officer of the Guyana Police Force attached to the Canine Section of the Criminal Investigation Department Narcotics Branch, and stationed at the Ogle International Airport, appeared in court with two drugs charges and was remanded to prison until June 13. He pleaded not guilty to having 5.574 kilograms of cannabis and 2.286 grams of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. Anastasia Latoya Crawford, 19, of Lot 29 Fort Street, Kingston, was also remanded to prison in relation to the same drug bust. A third individual, Mark ‘Polo’, is now wanted in connection with this crime.

Two cases of Chikungunya detected in Berbice
THE Ministry of Health has confirmed two cases of Chikungunya in the Canje, Berbice area. A team has been dispatched to the area and will be conducting fogging exercises over the next two weeks. The two cases, a toddler, and a woman said to be in her 40s, are from Cumberland and Canefield, Canje, Region 6. The discovery was made last week after some 30 samples were sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency in Trinidad for testing. The Ministry has since decided to heighten their vector control exercise in the Berbice area.

Friday, 30th

Guyana further blacklisted
GUYANA has been blacklisted internationally following the country’s referral to the Financial Action Task Force by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF). CFATF said as a result of not meeting the agreed timelines in its Action Plan, it recognizes Guyana as a jurisdiction with significant AML/CFT deficiencies and the CFATF considers Guyana to be a risk to the international financial system. “Members are therefore called upon to implement further counter measures to protect their financial systems from the ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks emanating from Guyana.”

Police prevent convicted wife killer from taking death leap
JUSTICE Navindra Singh has sentenced wife-killer Kevin Verwayne to 78 years’ imprisonment after an Assizes jury found him guilty of murdering his 20-year-old reputed wife, Suzy. In an apparent suicide bid, the 25-year-old labourer of Pouderoyen, West Bank, Demerara, attempted to leap from the court’s gallery to the ground 40 feet below, but his attempt was foiled by Police. One day in March, 2011, Kevin, who normally used to threaten his lover that he would take her life for being unfaithful to him, hired a taxi and took her to a canal at Houston, EBD. On their way, he reminded her of her deeds, then he hugged her by the neck and jumped into the canal with her, where he kept squeezing her neck and holding her beneath the water until she became lifeless. Thereafter, he placed some trash over her body and left for home, where he told his relatives what had happened.

Green Climate Fund ready to receive contributions
THE Green Climate Fund (GCF), a global initiative established to channel billions in new finances to developing countries like Guyana, last week concluded discussions on all the elements which needed to be put in place before it could receive contributions. Executive Director Ms Hela Cheikhrouhou said the fund is now ready for business. Agreed to by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UFCCC) in 2010, the role of the fund is to make a significant contribution to the global efforts to limit warming to two degrees centigrade (2°C) by providing financial support to developing countries to help reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change.

Saturday, 31st

Guyanese security guard wins US$3M New York lottery jackpot
A U.S.-based Guyanese working as a security guard at the Rockefeller Center in New York, who bought a scratch-off lottery ticket on his lunch break, has won the US$3 million jackpot. According to an NBC news report, lottery officials said Rafik Sulaiman, a 58-year-old father of three and immigrant from Guyana, bought the US$10 ticket from a vending machine at a Pronto Pizza on 48th Street in Manhattan, New York. Sulaiman, who lives in Astoria, finished his work day and went home as usual. He said he has not decided what he will do with his winnings, a lump sum payment of more than US$1.5 million. He isn’t quitting his job, though.

Evil spirit forces Guyanese family out of St. Lucia home
APPARITIONS of a black male figure, scratching and tapping sounds, a croaking frog, doors opening and closing, whispers and knocking all sound like scenes from a Hollywood horror movie, but this scenario is happening in St. Lucia. About three weeks ago, a Guyanese family was forced to flee their unfinished three-bedroom house in Bisee, Castries, by what they describe as an “evil spirit”, which has not only possessed their 16-year-old son, but has no intention of leaving until all members of the family are killed. In an interview with St. Lucia News Online (SNO), 36-year-old Paullet Adolphus said religious leaders have told the family that the evil entity was “planted” at the residence by someone or some persons.

Rodney wanted to remove PNC Gov’t from office
THE Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (COI) heard that the deceased politician was resolute about his declaration of removing the People’s National Congress (PNC) Government, led by Prime Minister Forbes Burnham, from office. When this suggestion was made by PNC Lawyer Basil Williams, Co-Founder of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and friend of Rodney, Eusi Kwayana, agreed under cross-examination. Kwayana, 89, who now resides in San Diego, California, United States maintained that Rodney had no propensity to violence, even as Williams continued to make this suggestion to him. Williams reminded Kwayana of Rodney’s speech on one occasion where Rodney said everything Burnham touched turned to shit. Kwayana also agreed that Rodney referred to Burnham as King Kong who would attract worldwide audiences if he was place in a zoo.

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