Monday 24
Unlicensed driver dies after crashing sister’s car
AUTO electrician, Kevin Sackichand, 21 years, of Lot 214 De Willem, West Coast Demerara succumbed following an accident at Zeeburg Public Road, also on the West Coast Demerara. Father of the deceased, Rampersaud Sackichand, called “Papso,” told the Chronicle that his daughter, Melissa parked her seven-month old, Toyota Fit outside their residence. She had left the key in the house and unknowingly Kevin took it and left in the vehicle for an unknown destination with a cousin, Udesh Kissoon, 24 years, who is hospitalised nursing severe injuries to his head and body.

President declares open New Amsterdam Citizens Bank
CITIZENS Bank Guyana officially opened its doors to residents of New Amsterdam in Berbice Sunday as President Ramotar noted: “This shows that we are not talking about no-confidence, but about confidence in our economy.” Eton Chester, Managing Director of Citizens Bank Guyana, speaking at the opening ceremony said: “Our decision to have a branch in New Amsterdam was one that was strategically planned, keeping in mind our continuing expansion plan so as to serve a wider customer base.”

Remand prisoner hospitalised after attack by high profile inmates – report
CHARLES Stoby, 26 years, of Kasbah, Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara, who was on remand at the Camp Street prison is now warded at the Georgetown Public Hospital suffering a broken right hand, multiple chops to the head and left shoulder as well as both legs. Stoby suffered the injuries when he was allegedly attacked by a group of about five high profile prisoners in jail. Stoby was on remand for robbing someone of $25,000. However, he said that strangely he was thrown into a cell that is intended for high profile prisoners on capital charges only. He said they probably beat him because they had objections to him being among them, and felt that the authorities would then remove him.

Tuesday 25
US$41,000 CPGI projects commissioned in Canal Nos.1 & 2
THE US$41,000 Canal Polders Green Initiative (CPGI) project was commissioned by Local Government Minister, Norman Whittaker and CARILED representatives. Whittaker plugged the initiative as a great achievement. “Guyana is heavily dependent on agriculture both as a source of food and also a source of income and a source of revenue for the country,” the Minister said, adding that “our focus over many decades has been what we call the traditional crops: sugar [and] rice.” He added: “But our Government determined many years ago that it is not the best thing to put all your eggs in one basket.”

Sugar production now stands at 199,000 tonnes
THE sugar production target for 2014 is likely to be met, according to GuySuCo Human Resource Director, Mr. Jairam Pitam, who added that production stands at 199,000 tonnes. He also told this newspaper that last week’s torrential rains caused some estates to lose three days but operations have resumed. “We did not have any losses in terms of the actual crop, what we lost was three days, three opportunity days, but operations have resumed and we are hoping that once the weather holds harvesting will continue and we will be able to meet the target,” Pitam said. The overall target for 2014 was moved from 216,000 tonnes to 219,000 tonnes. The first crop was successful, surpassing the 75,000 tonnes target, bringing in about 80,000 tonnes.

GECOM’s seventh registration cycle set for December 1
THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has indicated that its 7th Cycle of Continuous Registration commences on Monday December 1, 2014. And the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has made clear its support for the Commission’s plan in which persons will be allowed to register for the first time, conduct transfers and make changes to their registration details. The ruling party, in a statement said, “The PPP fully supports GECOM’s plans to conduct the 7th Cycle of Continuous Registration commencing on Monday December 1, 2014, and continuing for three months. On several occasions, the PPP had made it known to GECOM that it has information indicating a large number of persons who are still to conduct transactions, enabling them to be correctly listed on the Voters List.

Wednesday 26
Jealous lover convicted of murder – jailed for 83 years
JEALOUS lover, 24-year-old Michael Persaud called ‘Mikey,’ was convicted of the murder of Maduri Padumdeo called ‘Sharda,’ at the Demerara Assizes and sentenced to 83 years in prison by Presiding Judge, Justice Navindra Singh. Following the jury’s unanimous verdict and before imposing sentence, Justice Singh told the accused, who walks with a limp, “You have shown no remorse. You did not tell the family you are sorry. You did not tell your five-year-old son (who was present in court) you are sorry. Throughout the trial you have been talking about something nasty. You seem to have a fantasy. And it is ironic where you will be going for a long time.” ‘Mikey’ was on trial for the December 2011 murder of his then 21-year-old reputed wife, ‘Sharda’, of Lot 8 Sophia, Greater Georgetown.

GWI starts countrywide disconnection of defaulters on Dec. 1
THE Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) said it will begin its annual countrywide disconnection exercise for unpaid water service charges on December 1. According to Customer Services Manager, Jeannette Thomas, there was a significant response to the company’s ‘Free Pass’ promotion in which disconnected customers were offered free reconnection.“In excess of 2,000 customers countrywide responded to our ‘Free Pass’ promotion,” Thomas said. “However, there are some customers who refused to make contact with our Customer Services offices to settle their arrears. Hence we are forced to execute our annual disconnection campaign to remove the services of those customers who simply refuse to pay for their service.”

Mahaicony man found dead with chop wounds – suspect in custody
A SUSPECT is in police custody following the death of Neeraj Michael called ‘Buckie’, 19, of Champagne, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, whose body was found in the Mahaicony River with suspected chop wounds to his head. The police reported that Neeraj Michael was at a function at Hyde Park, Mahaicony River, on November 25, 2014, when he had a misunderstanding with some persons. Police said he later left among other persons in a boat, during which it is suspected that he was chopped with a cutlass and thrown into the river.

Thursday 27
Counterfeit drugs, cosmetics – on local market
MEDICAL drug importers and other stakeholders participated in a one-day conference that focused on sensitising importers and the general public on the issues of substandard, spurious, falsely-labelled, falsified and counterfeit (SSFFC) drugs. The conference was held by the Government Analyst – Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation, at Cara Lodge.
Director of the GA-FDD, Marlan Cole, stated that in less than a year, they have encountered a high amount of reported incidents where persons allegedly fell ill after the use of a particular drug or medicine and cosmetics also.

Five Guyanese forced to live, work in Suriname
A JOINT investigation is underway by law enforcement authorities in Guyana and Suriname following the reported case of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in which five Guyanese were trafficked to the neighbouring Dutch-speaking country and forced to work under harsh conditions on a farm, without pay. Details regarding the allegations of trafficking were obtained during that interview and a report was submitted to Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The report to Guyana’s Foreign Ministry included details provided by the individuals about their passage to Suriname, the known name of the alleged perpetrator and where they were located since they arrived in Suriname.

Diamond resident shot at ‘Turning Point’
RANDY Welch, 34, of Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, was shot and injured when he was confronted by two men in the city. Welch was at ‘Turning Point’ in Tucville, Georgetown, when two men approached him, one of whom discharged a round from a firearm that hit him to his right foot. Welch has been admitted to Georgetown Public Hospital for treatment.

Friday 28
Ombudsman either ‘ignored’ or ‘disregarded’ sub-judice principle
THE Ombudsman, Justice (rtd) Winston Moore, has publicly admitted that the controversial 25-page report on a $69M fraud case at the New Building Society (NBS) in 2006 was leaked.
However, Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, maintains that the primary issue revolves around whether or not the former judge “ignored” or “disregarded” the sub-judice principle, given that the matter is currently attracting the attention of the High Court. The report addresses what has been termed by the Ombudsman as “wrongful” fraud charges against the NBS former Chief Executive Officer, Maurice Arjoon and two former senior managers, Kent Vincent and Kissoon Baldeo. The fraud was said to have been committed in late 2006.

More than 500 students graduate from the GTI
WITH the pride of 63 years of excellence behind them and a pass rate of 61 percent in one of the nation’s most prestigious technical institutes, more than 500 students graduated from the Government Technical Institute (GTI). “Across the industrialised and developing world, economic growth is increasingly linked to skilled training necessary to raise labour productivity and average labour standards,” said GDF Chief of Staff Brigadier, Mark Phillips, who delivered the feature address to the graduates.

Eighteen-month-old child severely burnt with rice mar
AN 18-month-old child of Walton Hall on the Essequibo Coast was severely burnt after he accidentally pulled down a bucket with hot rice mar. According to reports the child, Avishka, known as “Alex” was playing by himself when he saw the bucket and pulled it down. Reports said that his grandmother had just strained mar from a pot of boiling rice into a bucket when the child pulled it over on himself, inflicting serious burns on his belly, feet and hands. The child was said to be wearing pampers at the time and that saved him from further burns.

Travelling exhibition on ‘Heritage’ launched at National Museum
THE Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports launched a ‘travelling exhibition’ at the National Museum. Since 2010, the IIC in partnership with Newcastle University, UK, and the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) implemented a project titled ‘Encompass – An International Diamond of Cultural Dissemination, Capacity-building with countries from the North, East, South and West’. The project is focused on heritage management and preservation in Guyana (North Rupununi), Kenya (and Anglophone Africa), China (Hainan Province) and in the UK (Newcastle).

Saturday 29
Nagamootoo pledges to work with APNU against PPP
EXECUTIVE Member of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Mr. Moses Nagamootoo, on Tuesday, made it clear that his party will work with the main parliamentary political Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), against the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government.
“We have decided to work with APNU and all other patriotic, political, business, labour, religious, human rights, women, youth…in a broad fight against the PPP minority regime,” Nagamootoo said during a news conference.
Since the 2011 elections campaign, AFC has been working with the APNU when they campaigned in traditional PPP areas to take away votes from the ruling party.

Ombudsman says Kaieteur News’ headline was ‘extremely unfair’
THE Ombudsman, Justice Winston Moore yesterday criticised Kaieteur News for its “extremely unfair” headline regarding his controversial 25-page report on the criminal charges brought against three former New Building Society (NBS) employees, following a $69M fraud case at in 2006.
The embattled local daily on November 13 published an article on the report under the headline ‘Explosive Ombudsman report…Jagdeo ordered dismissal of NBS boss…because he refused to lend US$10M for Berbice Bridge’.
“I saw the headline referring to the former President firing someone over the Berbice River Bridge and I thought that it was unfair because when you read the report it is what Mr. Arjoon is alleging…in my opinion it was an extremely unfair headline,” Moore said during a press conference held at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street.
He stressed that he made “no such finding” in his report and used the opportunity to stress the need for media houses to respect the principles of the profession.

Traffic restriction on Vlissengen road bridges at Crown and Lance Gibbs Streets
FOLLOWING a recent traffic improvement study, the Guyana Police Force and the Ministry of Public Works advise that effective December 1, 2014:• The Vlissengen Road Bridge at Crown Street will be ONE WAY EAST BOUND; and • The Vlissengen Road Bridge at Lance Gibbs Street will be ONE WAY WEST BOUND.
As a result, south bound traffic on Vlissengen Road that wish to access Queenstown will no longer be able to do so by turning right on the Bridge at Crown Street but rather must do so at the next bridge, that is, at Lance Gibbs Street. Likewise, north bound traffic on Irving Street and east bound traffic on Lance Gibbs Street that wish to access Bel Air will no longer be able to do so at the Bridge at Lance Gibbs Street. These measures will help to reduce congestion, conflicts and delays at the Crown Street and Lance Gibbs Street bridges and provide for safer road traffic operations.
Motorists are asked to be vigilant and look out for the No Entry and No Right Turn signs.

DVD vendor gets 108-month sentence for multiple offences
RONLEE Rampersaud, 25 (no address given) was sentenced to 108 months for robbery under arms, discharging a loaded firearm and attempting to commit a felony. The convict who is a DVD vendor pleaded guilty to five charges, before Magistrate Judy Latchman. For similar charges committed on October 22 last, he was also sentenced to 36 months imprisonment each, which will run concurrently.
In addition, he was also sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment on the robbery under arms charge. Each of the 36 months’ jail term will run consecutively, which amount to 108 months imprisonment.

Trio robbed by armed bandits at Pouderoyen residence – on arrival from CJIA
POLICE are probing an incident of armed robbery committed on a trio who had just arrived in Guyana and had travelled from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) to their home at Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara. Rabindranauth Sukha, 58, Balram Singh, 53, and Indira Singh, 58, were attacked and robbed by two men armed with handguns after they had arrived in a car PPP 1862 and were at the gate of their residence. They were held up by the two suspects, who relieved them of the motor car, US$8,000, two cell phones, their suitcases and other documents before escaping with the car.

WCB man suffers gunshot injury to face
FORTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Lester Cummings of No. 8 Village, West Coast Berbice sustained a gunshot injury to his face when a gunman in process of carrying out a robbery opened fire on Cummings at his home. Cummings was aroused from sleep by a man armed with a handgun, who demanded cash and jewellery. The man discharged a round which hit Cummings to his face before he escaped. Cummings was admitted to the New Amsterdam Hospital for treatment.