July 28 – August 2, 2014

Monday 28

Rigging, Chaos at Congress Place
– Gates closed to voters
THE massive gates of Congress Place, the Sophia headquarters of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) were closed to many party members – several of whom were from Region 10 – even as the voting for new leaders was underway. The locked-out members raised concerns over what they dubbed a “rigged” process to ensure that the incumbent party leader Brigadier (rtd.) David Granger remained in power. Additionally, voting was delayed for several hours due to complaints over the delegates’ list.

Storm destroys buildings, uproots trees and power poles in Linden
A FREAK storm of considerable violence descended on the Upper Demerara mining town of Linden and by the time it had passed, some thirty minutes later, several buildings — including the Linden/Mackenzie Sports Club and numerous homes — had been destroyed; and GPL power poles and numerous trees had been uprooted, disrupting electricity to extensive parts of Linden. A resident who made telephone contact with this newspaper said she was walking home when she heard turbulent winds coming; and although terrified, she managed to save herself by lying flat on the ground and embracing for dear life anything she could wrap herself around.

55 females among 120 students Graduate from GSA
A BATCH of 120 students, including 55 females, graduated from the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) at the institution in Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara. Of the 120 graduates, 22 were from GSA Essequibo and 98 from GSA Mon Repos, while 55 were females. This year, the Chief Executive Officer’s prize went to Hussain Ali. The graduates, during their tenure at the institution, pursued diploma and certificate programmes in agriculture, animal health and veterinary public health, fisheries studies, forestry and for the first time, agro-processing. This is the institution’s 50th anniversary (1963-2013) and graduation exercise.

Tuesday 29

Police investigating Congress Place shooting

CRIME Chief Leslie James has confirmed that the Guyana Police Force has launched an investigation into the shooting incident that occurred at Congress Place during the final day of the PNCR’s 18th Biennial Congress that sent supporters and delegates scampering for cover amid the chaos. Several unconfirmed reports, including from PNCR members who attended the Congress, indicate that the shooter is a member of PNCR Leader David Granger’s security detail.
Police raid thriving ganja business at Stanleytown

ACTING on intelligence received, ‘D’ Division police swooped down on a residence at Stanleytown in the process disrupting an apparently lucrative business that grows and sells the illicit drug marijuana (cannabis sativa)to persons within and outside of that West Bank Demerara community. A man whose name has been withheld was arrested as the police confiscated several cannabis sativa (marijuana) plants which were at nursery stage and, significantly, removed two marijuana plants measuring approximately four and two feet respectively.

Guyana, Japan explore investment opportunities

PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar joined other CARICOM Heads of Government in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago for a meeting with Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. This was the First Summit meeting of CARICOM Heads of State and Government and their Japanese counterpart and took place as the countries are celebrating, in 2014, CARICOM-Japan Friendship Year, to mark 20 years since their first formal engagement in 1993. The discussions centred on the vulnerabilities faced by CARICOM members toward achieving sustainable economic growth, strengthening the relations between Japan and CARICOM at the bilateral level and enhancing cooperation at the multilateral level.

Wednesday 30

Sooba denies saying Chase-Green is gay

ACTING Town Clerk Carol Sooba has maintained her position that she did not directly relate to any news medium that Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green is “gay.” But she disclosed that she Chase-Green acts in a vulgar manner at statutory meetings. The Town Clerk emphasised that she, in a laughing tone, uttered the words that she is “fearful that the Deputy Mayor might be attracted” to her. This, she said, was apparently taken out of context by some media operatives who related that she said that the Deputy Mayor is “gay.”

Gunman shoots, robs minibus passenger near home in Plaisance
TWENTY-YEAR-OLD Dexter Carr was a front-seat passenger in minibus BRR 4735 en route to Georgetown from Plaisance and seated next to 39-year-old Bernadette Campbell. According to Carr, as the vehicle exited Plaisance at Victoria Road and turned west onto the Railway Embankment Road, a passenger exited the bus, went to the front seat where he was sitting and fired three shots at Campbell and robbed her. Unfortunately, one of the three bullets intended for Campbell grazed Carr in the abdomen. A senior police official told the Chronicle that the named gunman has been on the police radar for a very long time, but he has always managed to elude capture.

Ex-cop goes on trial for allegedly performing sex act on child

FORMER policeman Shawn Edinboro, called ‘Christopher’, appeared before Justice Rishi Persaud at the Demerara Assizes and pleaded not guilty to having committed a sex act on a child of tender years on April 22, 2012 at Drysdale Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. A jury has been empanelled to try Shawn Edinboro for the offence. Prosecutor Ms Mercedes Thompson is expected to call witnesses in support of her case.

Thursday 31

Division widening in PNCR ranks

WHILE returned leader David Granger appears to be pouring cold water on the extent of the division within the ranks of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), several long standing and ordinary members have signalled their intention to resign from the party following its 18th Biennial Congress. The Congress was marred by allegations of rigging and boisterous protests organised and led by its Linden constituents. The Congress degenerated to its lowest of lows with party members allegedly being abused by the faction who supported Granger and his clan of hand-picked executives.

Guyana, US reach ‘agreement in substance’ on FATCA

FINANCE Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh has announced that the Government of Guyana has, in substance, concluded with the Government of the United States of America an intergovernmental agreement for the implementation of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). As a result of the achievement, Guyana is now listed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as one of the jurisdictions treated as having an inter-governmental agreement in effect. The conclusion of the agreement comes after several months of review and negotiations between the US and Guyana authorities on the text of the agreement, and will see the two countries concluding a Model 1 reciprocal agreement within the coming months.

Loner found dead in Mon Repos yard

“DADO,” only name given, was found dead in his Block 8, Mon Repos, ECD yard. Believed to be in his mid-forties, ‘Dado’ had reportedly been having issues with his wife, whom he had abandoned with their four children in Berbice to start a new life in Mon Repos, where he had lived alone at Block 8, according to his neighbour. “The man had come to Mon Repos and live after he and his wife was having problem,” the neighbour disclosed. “He used to live alone and was a drunkard, but he was a hardworking man and love to help out,” the neighbour said.

Friday August 1

Home Affairs issues new requirements for passport applications

THE Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) said with the introduction of the machine-readable passport system, there was a requirement by the Ministry that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) would implement an arrangement whereby members of the public applying for passports for the first time would present to the Immigration Department birth certificates that were issued not more than six months prior to the date of the application. Unfortunately, this arrangement was not implemented by the GPF, as required by the MoHA. Cognisant of the concerns of members of the public, the MoHA, along with the GPF, has reviewed the entire system pertaining to the issuance of passports. Persons applying for passports are asked to submit the passport application form, the birth certificate, one passport –size photograph and a fee of $4,000.

GT&T launches innovative MMG ‘shop n go’ service

FOLLOWING the successful launch last year of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) Company’s Mobile Money Guyana (MMG), the telephone company has launched the second phase of this service called “Shop n go.” This means that GT&T’s customers will now be able to pay for their goods and services at a wide range of places, from supermarkets, service stations, hospitals, pharmacies, restaurants, to hardware and general stores and boutiques etc.

Minibus driver stabbed to death in passenger row

ROUTE 44 minibus driver Gavin Fiffee, a 30-year-old father of two and of Plaisance, ECD was stabbed to death during an argument and subsequent fight with another bus operator over passengers. An eyewitness who was on the park told the Chronicle that she saw the other man stab Fiffee several times, causing him to fall to the ground. “People (were) trying to part them but they didn’t want to stop. When I see the other man with his weapon, I stay far because I didn’t want to get involved. After he stabbed the man several times, people on the scene then rushed him to the hospital” the eyewitness said.

Saturday 2

Husband who allegedly infected wife with HIV gets thrashing

A FATHER of two young children on the Essequibo Coast was recently given a sound thrashing by his brother-in-law for allegedly inflicting his 21–year-old wife (the assailant’s sister) with the deadly HIV/Aids virus. Reports are that the young couple, parents of two little children, is currently suffering with poor health and cannot work because of the disease. The husband, who is very weak, was recently subjected to a severe thrashing at his home by his brother-in-law who, according to reports, stamped him several times in his frail chest during the beating, while several residents of the area watched helplessly. Residents in the area are calling for the police to launch an investigation into the sick man’s assault, and for help to be given to the young couple and their two little children.

Eight-year-old Linden boy drowns in Katapuli Creek 

EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Kasszel Harlequin of 2409 Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden perished in the Katapuli Creek in Bucktown, Linden, during an Emancipation Day outing with his mother, Alice Harlequin, and other relatives. Reports are that the child was playing with other children in the shallow part of the creek, but somehow ended up in the area of deep waters. A family member got him out of the water and he was rushed to the Wismar Hospital in Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice), but was pronounced dead on arrival there.

Motionless body on C/tyne H/way…

THE orphaned 17-year-old Haresh Roth, whose motionless body was found along the Number 66 Village thoroughfare succumbed as a result of cerebral haemorrhage and multiple injuries, according to the findings of an autopsy conducted by Dr Vivikanand Brijmohan at the Skeldon Hospital on the Upper Corentyne Coast in Berbice. Incidentally, in 2003 Walter Roth, father of the deceased, was murdered a short distance from where his son’s body was found, and nobody was ever held culpable for the offence. Besides that, his mother Hemwattie set herself ablaze a year after her husband’s death, probably because she had been unable to deal with the challenges of raising her five children alone.