Monday, 4

Guyana set to become upper middle-income country
BRITISH High Commissioner to Guyana, James Quinn, says that while Guyana has enjoyed nine years of consecutive growth, it should not become complacent, urging the country’s leadership to build on the gains it has made. Guyana has over the past eight years enjoyed an annual growth of over four per cent.
Speaking at the launch of the sixth edition of the Guyana Business Magazine, High Commissioner Quinn said Guyana, a lower middle- income country, is set to overtake Belize and move into the upper middle- income category. This, he said, is a significant development, but it is important that Guyana continues on the upward trajectory, creating more wealth and encouraging more investment into the country.

Six children successfully complete heart surgery at GPHC
SIX OF the 18 children who were scheduled to undergo heart surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), through support from the International Children’s Heart Foundation (Baby Heart), have successfully completed the procedures and are recovering. Two of the six children have already been sent home, while another eight are scheduled for surgery in the new week. The Baby Heart Foundation is a non-profit organisation that travels around the world to assist in paediatric cardiac surgeries, and at the same time train local health practitioners in this regard.

Andrew “Six Head” Lewis dies in accident
ANDREW Lewis, 44 years, popularly known as “Six Head,” was killed at Friendship, East Bank Demerara, after he was knocked off his pedal cycle by a dark grey Toyota Premio motorcar, PNN 596, that was approaching from behind. According to a report, “Six Head” was heading to a roadside water coconut stall at Friendship where he regularly goes to chat with friends. One woman even went close to the body after he was pronounced dead at the hospital and claimed that she heard him breathing and that he was still alive. The woman spread that information with those present at the hospital and pandemonium broke out. Relatives began pushing their way into the hospital and overpowering the staff of the facility. Persons forcefully took possession of the body, wheeled it out of the hospital on a stretcher and placed it in the back of a Fielder Wagon which sped off to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Tuesday, 5

President Ramotar calls on Enmore to be part of another historic struggle
“OUR independence struggle had its beginning in Enmore and you have a powerful history, a proud history, a history of struggle and a history of achievement. It is you and Enmore who charged Dr. Cheddi Jagan and led him to the direction he took,” said the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) presidential candidate, Donald Ramotar. And the incumbent Head of State, at a public meeting at Robert’s Square, Enmore, called on the residents to be part of a historic struggle once more. “Now, so many years later, we are again at a crossroad that will decide whether we go forward or backward,” he said.

GECOM is the only entity legally mandated to provide the final official election results
THE brouhaha related to a social media post made by member of the political Opposition, James Bond, has been answered by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). GECOM said the duty of declaring the final official results of the 2015 General and Regional Elections rests exclusively with the Guyana Elections Commission. Any other information provided by any source(s) other than GECOM must not be considered as legitimate or valid by the citizenry. GECOM wishes to advise the public that only official elections results announced by GECOM are to be accepted. Any other claims to results would be spurious and unofficial.

East Canje businessman dies in fire at furniture complex
BERBICE businessman Ayube Hamid died when his furniture complex at East Canje, along with two neighbouring homes, was gutted during an early morning fire. The properties which included Hamid’s Furniture Factory, his storage bond, his home, and a Bedford truck, together valued millions of dollars, went up in flames moments after a worker discovered fire in a paint pail just after 07:30hrs. Sixteen persons are now homeless following the tragedy, while 20 factory workers are now on the “bread line.” Incidentally, the 58-year-old Hamid had been owner of the Home Line Furnishing chain stores located at Reliance, East Canje; Chapel Street in New Amsterdam; Rose Hall, Corentyne; and Rosignol Village, West Coast Berbice.

Wednesday, 6

OP-ED: The Caribbean needs radical thinking and bold actions
Stunning beauty, vibrant cultures and strong human capital are some of the defining characteristics of the Caribbean. And in the past decades, the Region has seen encouraging progress in economic and social development in key areas such as education, health and private sector growth. Recent figures from the World Bank show a historically high number of reforms aimed at improving the business environment, with 50 percent of economies in the Region implementing policies to help local entrepreneurs.

Jagdeo warns… APNU ‘majority’ myth will only instigate violence
THE Alliance For Change (AFC) is a dead party, and those who would have voted for that party in 2011, being misguided by former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) members Moses Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan, are now being called upon to “return home,” as a vote for the coalesced APNU+AFC is in fact a vote for Opposition Leader Brigadier (rtd) David Granger. This is the message of former president Bharrat Jadgeo on the campaign trail. Along with Dr. Peter Ramsaroop, himself a trained economist, Jagdeo has also been speaking to the fact that the APNU majority, as touted by its leaders, is in fact a myth.

IMF projects… Guyana’s economy to grow 3.8 per cent this year
THE confidence expressed by foreign investors in the economy and prudent management noted by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, has been attested to by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Fund, in its latest report, has projected Guyana’s economy to grow 3.8 per cent this year, the third highest in South America behind Bolivia 4.3 per cent and Paraguay 4 per cent. And in 2016, the local economy is expected to experience a 4.4 per cent growth, second only to Peru, whose economy the IMF projects will grow 5 per cent.
Thursday, 7

Nadira Jagan-Brancier throws support behind PPP/C
MERE days after her brother Joey Jagan endorsed A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) alliance, his sister Nadira Jagan-Brancier is calling on the electorate to vote for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).In a terse letter published in the Stabroek News, Jagan-Brancier said contrary to rumours, she is not in support of the APNU+AFC Alliance. “It seems that there have been rumours that the children of Cheddi and Janet Jagan are supporting the APNU+AFC Coalition. I do not!” the daughter of the former presidents said.
APNU+AFC will destroy rice again
APNU+AFC has presented a plan for rice. It is another recipe for disaster. Unlike sugar where it presents no plan in its manifesto, it has actually presented some specific proposals for rice. But these proposals present a recipe that will paralyse the rice industry once again, just as they did in the 1970s and 1980s.The APNU+AFC manifesto proposes to farm out rice research to CARDI. It completely ignores the Rice Research Centre at Burma. The Rice Research Centre at Burma has evolved under the PPP/C as a rice research centre of international standard, led by Guyanese scientists.

Guyana’s laws preclude statistically valid exit polls – Hunt
THERE is no statistically valid way, given Guyana’s legal framework, to conduct an exit poll according to the United States of America Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires, Bryan Hunt. “I think that is tremendously dangerous in the Guyanese context to claim that they know what the results were either on Disciplined Forces Day or on elections day,” he said in a televised programme, “News in Conversation,” aired on the National Communications Network (NCN).Hunt made it clear that anything other than what is officially released from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) falls into the realm of speculation.

Friday, 8

Norway pays over $8B to Guyana
TOTAL payments from Norway now stand at a whopping $38B, with another $8B being the latest payment Thursday under the Guyana-Norway forests and climate- change partnership, the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) agreement. President Donald Ramotar, via a public missive made the disclosure and underscored the fact that Norway’s move is a clear indication that it is willing to pursue a second agreement up to 2020.“[This is] a policy that only the PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party/Civic) supports in Guyana. And all Guyanese should feel proud that we have earned the most money from a forest partnership in the world, after Brazil, money that is being directly spent on the people.” he said.

Offshore Guyana… Esso Exploration strikes oil!
ESSO exploration well, the Liza-1 on the Stabroek Block, using the drill-ship, “Deepwater Champion” located approximately 120 miles offshore Guyana, has encountered hydrocarbons. This is according to Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Mr. Robert Persaud, during an interview reflecting on the performance of natural resources and environmental sectors. Minister Persaud, however, pointed out that it is too early to confirm whether there are commercial quantities of hydrocarbons, specifically light crude. Crude oil, commonly known as petroleum, is a liquid found within the Earth consisting of hydrocarbons, organic compounds and small amounts of metal.

68 members on US Embassy Observer team
A TEAM comprising 68 members representing the Georgetown-based United States Embassy will be deployed as Election Day observers across Guyana, except for Region 2 (Pomeroon/ Supenaam), according to its Head of Mission, Bryan Hunt. “By the end of this we should have a fairly good view on the electoral process,” Hunt said. Guyana, he said, is unique when it comes to the role of electoral observers, in that there is a desire to have 100 per cent coverage of all its polling stations, a desire endorsed by political parties as well as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Saturday, 9

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrives
FORMER United States (U.S.) President Jimmy Carter arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, Friday in advance of the May 11 General and Regional elections. President Carter is co-leading the Carter Centre’s 100th election observation mission, which features a team of more than 50 observers and is co-led by Dames Audrey Glover of the United Kingdom and Billie Miller of Barbados. This is the Carter Centre’s fourth election observation mission in Guyana.

Shocking arms find at city wharf – 23-yr-old Buxtonian in custody
THE Guyana Police Force has reported that during the clearing of a cargo consignment at the GNIC Wharf in Georgetown by Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) officials, a cache of arms and ammunition was found comprising two (2) AK 47 rifles, four (4) 40 pistols, eleven (11) 9mm. pistols, fifteen (15) extra magazines for the firearms, 489 various calibre rounds for the firearms and a body- protection vest.
Police took into custody a 23-year-old construction worker of Buxton/Friendship, East Coast Demerara after the very frightening discovery was made in a shipment that was posted to him by someone from a United States of America address. Jamal Murphy was arrested after he showed up to receive the consignment.

US pleased with GECOM’s readiness- Bryan Hunt
UNITED States Chief of Mission, Charge d’Affairs Bryan Hunt said his Government was pleased with the level of preparation put in by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) ahead of Monday’s historic National and Regional Elections. Speaking with reporters at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, the senior United States embassy official explained that the preparations have been excellent. “From the perspective of the United States Government, the Guyana Elections Commission has done an excellent job in putting together the necessary logistical preparations,” Hunt told reporters.

END