8 news
tuesday, december 10, 2013| guyanatimesGY.com
Sawmill supervisor’s alleged murderer appears in court
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he alleged murderer of a Land of Canaan, East Coast Demerara sawmill supervisor made his first court appearance on Monday in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry. Twenty-eight-year-old Raymond Shawn Tyson, of 43 Calidarran Road, Soesdyke, was not required to plead to the indictable charge, which stated that between May 27 and 28, at Land of Canaan, he murdered Kemraj Singh, also called “Tony” or “Fineman”.
Prosecutor Bharat Mangru told the court that Singh’s death stemmed from a previous disagreement. It was discovered by his employer that a BlackBerry Curve cellphone was stolen. The BlackBerry Messenger plan of the phone was activated and it was later discovered that the accused was in possession of the cellphone. Tyson was seen by his former reputed wife with the cellphone on May 28. He later pawned the phone to her sister who gave it to her husband. The phone was re-
trieved and the accused was arrested, questioned and denied killing Singh. He also refused to say anything about how he came to be in possession of the phone. Tyson was represented by Attorney Nigel Hughes, who claimed that his client was framed. The attorney said after his client terminated the relationship with his former girlfriend, she was not pleased. He, however, remained in the village and after the incident occurred, Tyson was not contacted by the police, Hughes added.
Tyson then went into the interior to work. Ten days after his return, he was arrested by a police officer who was allegedly seen with Tyson’s former lover. Attorney Hughes also alleged that his client’s friends were contacted, threatened, and intimidated by officers not to give evidence. He said that the ‘alibi witness’ has fled the village out of fear and asked that he not be interviewed by the aforementioned officer, but by another officer. The matter stands adjourned to March 3.
Lusignan woman remanded for narcotics possession
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37-year-old woman from Grass Field, Lusignan was remanded to prison after she appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Monday, charged for possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. Standing before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in Court One, Banmattie Persaud entered a not-guilty plea to the charge which stated that on November 30 at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), she was in possession of 12.330 kilograms of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit Special Prosecutor Oswald Massiah told the court that Persaud usually ships vegetables and fruits to Canada. During the month of November, she made arrangements with a shipper who she had used before to export some produce to Canada. She had asked him to uplift some of the produce from Bourda Market and she would acquire the rest, including boulangers from the East Coast Demerara and Berbice. It was then decided that they would both take what he had obtained to Timehri where they would
combine the two sets of produce to be shipped. At the airport, CANU ranks decided to do a 100 per cent check on the boxes, but by then, Persaud had left after paying her shipping fees. When the officer held up the first boulanger, the top came off in his hand and it was revealed that the inside of the vegetable was hollowed out and filled with a transparent bag of cocaine. Further checks were conducted on the rest of the boulangers and it was discovered that they all contained the illegal substance. The shipper was told of the suspicions and the entire
shipment was taken back to CANU headquarters. An investigation was conducted and the ranks were led to the defendant’s house, but she was not there. Five days later, a wanted bulletin was issued for her, and she was brought in by an attorney. Attorney Roxford Jackson made an appearance on behalf of Persaud. He told the court that she is the mother of three children and made a request for a trial date. The matter was transferred to the Providence Magistrate’s Courts where it will be heard before the magistrate there on December 11.
Eyew tness Kicking and screaming... T
...to be town clerk he administration of the city of Georgetown has to be one of the most labyrinthine and bizarre in the annals of governance. Right off the bat, there’s a Mayor Hamilton Green who’s been able to hold on to power for almost 20 years...even though the city has long gone to the dogs under his watch. As can be seen whenever it rains cats and dogs – as it did for a few hours last week. The said mayor has worked out a very simple strategy that protects him like Teflon to any criticism: just “blame the government”. One wonders why there’s any distinction between “central government” and “municipalities”. But the man knows the psychology of the voters... since they mostly support the opposition, his passing the buck to the government falls on fertile ground. He can then maintain his peripatetic lifestyle, advising cities across the globe on moral revival. The immorality of his presiding over a city drowning in filth obviously escapes him. The town council is cut from similar cloth...more concerned with securing their sinecures and perks rather than getting on with the business of the city. But what beats everything is the office of the town clerk. Now this is an official who’s appointed by the Local Government Ministry...and has clearly delineated duties and responsibilities. The Lord Mayor, not surprisingly, is not comfortable with the incumbent of this position – being that he or she is from the “enemy camp” as far as he’s concerned. Carol Sooba is certainly not the first town clerk that’s earned the mayor’s ire. Remember Beulah Williams? So we arrive at the present contretemps over who’s qualified or not to become a town clerk. After Sooba was once again selected, the City Hall Public Relations Officer (PRO) Royston King, who’s a sycophantic supporter of the Lord Mayor, is threatening to sue because he didn’t get the job. He’s not only going to sue the committee that vetted him, but he’s also going after his union. Seems they didn’t represent him vigorously enough. One wonders what the union could’ve done in a job interview. We wonder on what grounds he’s going to sue. That he was discriminated against as a male? This would be a nice twist to the unsavoury soap opera to which City Hall has been reduced. Surely, it couldn’t be “paper qualifications”, which seem to be the big objection against Sooba. One pretentious literary wannabe derided her “College of Preceptors” achievement. Seems that didn’t include “trigonometry and quadratics, dangling modifiers and ablative case”. Gasp!!! Without being able to deploy dangling modifiers, how the heck did she ever think she could be town clerk? ...for cricket stadium We’re really living in a surreal world. Look at the latest development in the Bourda brouhaha. The executives of the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) said they didn’t initiate discussions with the principals of the local Limacol Caribbean Premier League (LCPL) franchise on the development of their grounds to International Cricket Council (ICC) standards. But in the same breath they asserted the entire executive should’ve been involved. So, what is it? The executive didn’t initiate discussions? Or is it that maybe the entire executive wasn’t in the discussion? This is a horse of a whole different colour. But what makes the whole episode even more weird is even after the local LCPL franchise owner announced he wasn’t interested in going forward – because of the politics being played by some executives...the GCC is “still considering the proposal”. The shameful truth is they’re caught in the same web of lies they spun and now they want to extricate themselves. Do they really think they’ll drag the local LCPL rep kicking and screaming to an agreement? ...for transparency The local Transparency International marched Monday against corruption. We wondered if they marched against those accountants who blackmail companies into hiring them after scandalising them in the press.