Keeping you updated on current events... ONLINE DAILY NEWSPAPER
Thursday April 29, 2021
TWO SENIOR GUYOIL STAFF SACKED BK INTERNATIONAL CLEARS THE AIR ON LITTLE DIAMOND
ANOTHER GUYANESE BIRD SMUGGLER NABBED
MAN FALLS TO HIS DEATH
Thursdsay April 29, 2021
TWO SENIOR GUYOIL STAFF SACKED
With Guyana’s locally owned oil company under the microscope over the discovery of “massive corruption”, two senior members of the company
have been fired. This was revealed by President Irfaan Ali, who noted that due to an evaluation of the performance of some
staff, two members have been removed. His comment came during a press conference, this morning. Those two members
are identified as Chief Financial Officer/ Company Secretary, Shawn Persaud, and Board member, Akkani Blair.
BK INTERNATIONAL CLEARS THE AIR ON LITTLE DIAMOND
In 2017, BK International was awarded a contract for the construction of a sluice at Little Diamond. This structure was completed. On March 16, 2021, the consultants gave approval for variation works. The variation entails the construction of a clay embankment at a height of 17.5 meters Georgetown Datum (GD) south of the sluice. The variation order also approved the placement of Gabion Mattresses.
Caged boulders are being placed on the river shore to reduce the force of the tide against the dam. Prior to the recent high tides, the embankment was constructed to a height of 17.5GD. This embankment was still in place after the high tide which was 3.2 metres, the highest tide for this month of April. The work on the Gabion Mattresses was incomplete because of access to transport material to the site.
The material had to be procured and transported to the site using the access road which was also being rehabilitated. On April 12, 2021, a meeting was held with the Ministry of Agriculture where Chief Engineer attached to BK International, requested of the Ministry officials in the presence of several other contractors, approval to use the access road to take in the clay to raise the embankment. The Ministry informed
that it would consult with the Ministry of Housing to get permission to facilitate the use of the road. To this date, there has been no response from NDIA or the Ministry of Housing for any approval to use the road to transport material. The present situation at Little Diamond has been corrected. The contractor has modified the embankment from 17.5 GD to 19 GD which should safeguard against any future high tides.
The two men, along with Chief Executive Officer, Trevor Bassoo, who resigned following being sent on administrative leave, can
no longer conduct the business of Guyoil. The President has reiterated their removal is not related to any fraud but is based on the performance ratings. Based on such corruption, the President has insisted that they are corrupt following an audit of the company. He said that they would have inherited the mismanagement of fuel that has cost the company $300M and persons turning up to the fuel terminal without the permission of the company. The President has insisted that all the matters will be investigated by the Auditor General and the Police. Those Involved will be fire.
MAN FALLS TO HIS DEATH
Man falls to his death from Regent Street building A man working on a Regent Street building under construction plunged to his death this afternoon. According to reports, the man, identified as Lloyd Anthony Feroze called “Tony” fell some six stories off the Regent Street building. He was said to be in his 20s Reports are that it was just after 2 pm when vendors heard a loud noise coming from the construction site. The sound made people realize that someone had fallen. When they rushed to the site they saw a young man, gasping for air. An
emergency medical crew arrived on the scene and saw the young man with a bashed-in head and injuries about the body. While attending to the victim, the medical personnel noticed signs of life and quickly ushered the man to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The Guyana Police Force and Staff from the Ministry of Labour are currently probing the incident to ascertain what may have occurred that would have caused the man to fall. People in the area say that the building is being constructed by Glenn Lall who was not available for comment
RANK WAS KILLED AT LILIENDAAL
A Guyana Defence Force rank was killed at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara this morning. Dead is 26-year-old, Lance Corporal Lancelot Giddings from Tucville. Reports are that Giddings was riding his motorcycle when tragedy struck. Giddings was at the time-traveling
west on the Railway Embankment at a fast rate and collided with a man. That collision caused Giddings to lose control of the bike and he slammed into a car coming east along the embankment. As a result, both the pedestrian and Giddings
COVID death toll mounts
The Ministry of Health (MOH) regrettably informs that as of April 26, 2021, another person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has died. This takes the total
number of deaths from the pandemic to 287. The latest fatality is one 46-year-old male from Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne) who died while receiving care at our medical facility
were picked up and rushed to a nearby hospital, where Giddings succumbed to his injuries. Giddings was said to have been based at the Guyana People’s Militia at Base Camp Seweyo on the Soesdyke- Linden Highway.
ANOTHER GUYANESE BIRD SMUGGLER NABBED
Yet another Guyanese man has been caught trying to smuggle birds into the US. This time an individual, who was promised US$3000 after delivering the birds, was nabbed at the JFK International Airport with 35 live finches concealed in his suit jacket and beneath his pants legs. The new smuggler has been identified as Kevin Andre McKenzie. According to the US Customs Department, in the usual manner of smuggling birds, they were hidden inside hair curlers with a grill at each end to prevent it from escaping. While going through
customs, the birds were reportedly found in his jackets and part of his pants. After the discovery, McKenzie was questioned, and according to news coming out of the US, he admitted to having been paid US$500 upfront and was later going to collect the remainder of the money. With his confession, McKenzie was taken before the U.S. Magistrate James Cho in Brooklyn Federal Court, where he was released on a $25,000 bond, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. He is set to go on trial, later.
Finches are said to be high in demand in the US, as they carry a high price. Finches usually enter singing contests in Brooklyn and Queens and the finch that wins these competitions becomes valuable and can sell for more than US$10,000, It is also noted that although certain species of finch are available in the United States, species from Guyana are believed to sing better and are therefore more valuable. Finches, however, require a process like all other wildlife seeking to be imported. Smugglers neglect that process because of strict criteria.
They also detained a man identified as 41-year-old, Wesley Antonio Barry. In a statement coming from CANU, the ranks conducted a search yesterday afternoon at the
said location. During the search of the building and in the presence of the owner several packages containing what is suspected to be marijuana
were discovered. The drugs weigh over 56 pounds and were placed in 53 packages. Subsequently, the Owner was arrested, as the investigation continues
CANU MAKES CORRIVERTON DRUG BUST
Ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) have made yet another large marijuana discovery, this time in, Kingston, Little India #79 Village, Corriverton.
Guyana Post Tuesday April 27, 2021
Man rapes daughter for seven years, COVID-19 claims 52 lives to date in gets 28 years, 24 lashes
A man who raped his daughter for about seven-and-a-half years was jailed for 28 years and sentenced to 24 strokes of the cane on Monday. The 44-year-old Singapore permanent resident had also molested his daughter’s best friend when he came by to hang out with her. By his own count, the man had raped his daughter, now 13, between 10 and 20 times, and forced her to perform oral sex on him even more times. Both man and daughter cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity. Sentencing the man from the European Union, Justice Mavis Chionh noted four aggravating factors to his offence: the vulnerability of the young victim, the man’s abuse of his position of authority and trust, the premeditation, and grooming of the victim, and that the sex acts were unprotected. “I should add that the tenderness of the victim’s years and the pathos of her vulnerability are obvious from the (statement of facts). At the start …she was a young girl afraid of showering alone. At the tail end, she was by all accounts still a young
girl afraid to return to her room to sleep because she found the sounds of her room fan weird. “The greatest tragedy, in this case, is that she (was) robbed of her childhood innocence by her own father.” She noted that the prosecution told the court that even today, the daughter continues to write letters to her father to tell him that she loves him. “This is the other great tragedy in this case that the victim (was) preyed upon by the person meant to protect her,” she added. As for the mitigation, Justice Chionh took into account the man’s plea of guilt, which spared the victim the trauma of having to testify in court. She did not assign mitigating weight to the man being diagnosed with a pedophilic disorder or that he had no criminal history, given the lengthy period he had been abusing his daughter. His offences were committed from 2011 to 2019. The man earlier pleaded guilty to three charges of statutory rape of his daughter when she was between nine and 11 years old. Another 19 charges of a similar nature, such as sexually assaulting his daughter, showing
her pornography and molesting her friend, were taken into consideration for sentencing. His wife has since divorced him. The man worked as a product manager in Singapore and stayed in a condominium with his wife, their daughter, and her baby brother. The couple, who were married overseas, moved to Singapore in 2008. The man first sexually assaulted his daughter when she was between three and seven years old. After watching a television programme about people drowning while swimming, the girl became afraid of showering alone and took a shower with her father. At that point, the man developed a “sexual desire” to touch the girl. He realised then that he was a pedophile and there was “no turning back”. He continued abusing her for the next seven-and-a-half years, with the sexual assaults increasing in frequency after the family moved houses. He knew that the girl did not like the incidents as she would keep her face turned to the side when they happened, to avoid looking at him. He would go into the girl’s bedroom or ask her to enter his bedroom, before
locking the door and raping or sexually assaulting her. When the girl expressed reluctance, he would say it would only take a few minutes. The girl often felt she could not protest further as the man was her father, whom she should listen to. At times, the man would show her pornographic material from his phone or laptop. One of these was a child having sex with her father. He also molested his daughter’s best friend when the girl went over to play and watch movies. This girl stayed in the same condominium, and her parents regarded the man and his wife as “close friends”. He kissed this girl on the lips and told her to keep it a secret. Once, as the man, his daughter, and her best friend watched a movie in the master bedroom, the man molested both girls at the same time while lying between them. Eventually, this girl stopped going to the daughter’s house. The police eventually learned of the sexual assault after the second victim made a police report about the man’s inappropriate behavior. In June 2019, as the girl’s best friend was preparing to undergo her first communion in her home country, she was asked to confess her sins and revealed the man’s offences. She made a police report upon returning to Singapore. The man was then arrested. When settling the man’s affairs, his wife came across child erotica stories in his email inbox. The man had downloaded and sent these to himself.
April
…4 more deaths, whopping 152 new cases recorded
The Health Ministry on Saturday reported the death toll for the month of April as 48. On Sunday there were two more deaths. Since the pandemic started, Guyana has seen 286 persons succumbing to the virus. From 1760 swabs that were taken for analysis on Saturday, 152 persons tested positive for COVID-19. Now, the total confirmed cases are at 12,600 – 6364 males In the facilities, 16 patients are seeking treatment in the Intensive Care Unit, with 74 in institutional isolation and 11 in institutional quarantine. Another 1529 persons are in home isolation. Guyana has tested 117,000 persons thus far and some 10,702 infected persons have since recovered. New cases were detected across eight administrative regions with three in Region One (Barima-Waini); six in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam); 30 in Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara); 83 in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica); three in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 12 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); seven in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and eight in Region 10 (Upper
Demerara-Berbice). During an engagement on Saturday, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony reminded Guyanese to take their vaccines as it offers 100 percent protection against coronavirus deaths. Persons were also asked to encourage those within their neighbourhood and various social circles to get immunised. “It would reduce your possibility of getting into the hospital. It would reduce your possibility of getting into the ICU and it would prevent you from dying, which is very important. All the vaccines that are right now in use totally prevent people from dying from COVID. Let us remember that so we can persuade people to take this vaccine,” the health official positioned. He added, “The Government of Guyana has invested a lot of money to ensure that we procure vaccines for every single adult in Guyana… We have tied up some arrangements to ensure that everyone in Guyana would be able to get that COVID-19 vaccine. “That cannot be said for many countries. What we need to do is to ensure that people take the vaccine. It is of absolutely no use if we have these vaccines and we keep them in a room.”
Guyana Post Tuesday April 27, 2021
Mayor Narine requests Human Services Ministry immediate financial accepting WhatsApp calls assistance from Government
as proof of life for old age pensioners
The Georgetown Municipality is suffering under the management of the Government of Guyana, the Municipality is yet to receive its budgetary subventions of $10million for 2020 and $30 million for 2021. Meanwhile, two hundred million dollars is set to be handed by the Government of Guyana to employees working in an unproductive sugar industry. Guyanese heads of organizations, citizens of Georgetown and
across Guyana, and Guyanese within the diaspora all complain of the state of the city, especially where the collection of garbage and the rise in the spread of COVID-19 in the city. The City Markets need to be closed to facilitate deep cleaning for full sanitation to aid in reducing and spreading COVID-19 in and across the city’s shopping areas. The city sprays and fumigates the markets weekly to maintain a healthy environment
COVID death toll mounts
The Ministry of Health (MOH) regrettably informs that as of April 26, 2021, another person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has died. This takes the total
number of deaths from the pandemic to 287. The latest fatality is one 46-year-old male from Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne) who died while receiving care at our medical facility
and prevent the spread of COVID-19. It is now time for a deep cleanse of the Markets as the rise in the infection of COVID-19 and deaths is spiraling out of control. The Markets and the city environment need to be fumigated to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the city. The United States has warned its citizens on travel to Guyana because of the increasing number of COVID-19 infections and deaths.
The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security wishes to advise pensioners who have to provide quarterly Life Certificates to ensure continuous old age pension payments are deposited into their bank accounts can now make a WhatsApp video call to the Ministry to confirm proof of life. Currently, life certificates are signed and stamped by
either a Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, Commissioner of Oaths, Medical Practitioner, Head Teacher, Minister of Religion or a Manager of a Bank or Branch of a Bank and can be dropped off at any of the Ministry’s Offices countrywide or scanned and emailed to pension@mhsss.gov.gy. The Ministry, mindful of the need to be adaptable to this category of our elderly citizens, will
now be facilitating video submissions as proof that they are alive. Pensioners can video call our staff via WhatsApp 6621572 Monday through Thursday – 8:00 am to 4 30 pm and Friday – 8:00 am to 3:30 pm. Additionally, during the call, they would have to clearly show some form of valid identification, albeit National ID or passport.
COVID-19 claims 52 lives to date in April …4 more deaths, whopping 152 new cases recorded
The Health Ministry on Saturday reported the death toll for the month of April as 48. On Sunday there were two more deaths. Since the pandemic started, Guyana has seen 286 persons succumbing to the virus. From 1760 swabs that were taken for analysis on Saturday, 152 persons tested positive for COVID-19. Now, the total confirmed cases are at 12,600 – 6364 males In the facilities, 16 patients are seeking treatment in the Intensive Care Unit, with 74 in institutional isolation and 11 in institutional quarantine. Another 1529
persons are in home isolation. Guyana has tested 117,000 persons thus far and some 10,702 infected persons have since recovered. New cases were detected across eight administrative regions with three in Region One (Barima-Waini); six in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam); 30 in Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara); 83 in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica); three in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 12 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); seven in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and eight in Region 10 (Upper
Demerara-Berbice). During an engagement on Saturday, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony reminded Guyanese to take their vaccines as it offers 100 percent protection against coronavirus deaths. Persons were also asked to encourage those within their neighbourhood and various social circles to get immunised. “It would reduce your possibility of getting into the hospital. It would reduce your possibility of getting into the ICU and it would prevent you from dying, which is very important. All the vaccines that are right now in use totally prevent people
from dying from COVID. Let us remember that so we can persuade people to take this vaccine,” the health official positioned. He added, “The Government of Guyana has invested a lot of money to ensure that we procure vaccines for every single adult in Guyana… We have tied up some arrangements to ensure that everyone in Guyana would be able to get that COVID-19 vaccine. “That cannot be said for many countries. What we need to do is to ensure that people take the vaccine. It is of absolutely no use if we have these vaccines and we keep them in a room.”
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