Ganja purchase P

Ganja purchase arrangement ends in chopping incident

Aganja purchase arrangement has left a Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) man nursing chop wounds about his body.

Injured is Sunil Singh of Koker Dam, Fyrish, Corentyne, Berbice.

Police said that the incident occurred at about 22:30h on Friday evening. According to Police, Singh claimed that he was at home watching television, when he heard the suspect calling out for him requesting that he purchase marijuana for him, which he did.

Singh is alleging that as he was giving the suspect the marijuana, he was dealt a chop to his right shoulder and another behind his left knee.

The injured man, during the ordeal, managed to make his way to the Albion Police Station and was immediately escorted to the Port Mourant Public Hospital where he was seen, examined, treated and later transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital. Checks were made for the suspect to no avail. A probe has been launched.

(G9)

SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM Wales backlands’ residents appeal...

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He was employed there for 40 years until his services were terminated with the Estate’s closure. He, like many of his fellow villagers, took his severance payoff and decided to invest in some cattle.

He now has over 70 heads of cattle.

“Me say if we even get the one section for the cow we gon feel alright. The man finish plant that one side, the man move the fence and start plant on the back and when they reach out here the cow dem got to be on the road or something. We will have to sell out if we nah get place to put them because we can’t get the cow on the road,” the 60-year-old man said.

The residents are contending that if they can get a designated plot to rear their cattle then they would be able to sustain themselves in a community that provides no other opportunity for income generation.

Deplorable road

The community is accessible by two means – one is a boat from the East Bank of Demerara over the Demerara River and into the community and the other is by the dirt road. However, with Guyana in its official rainy season and the coconut developer using the road to move heavy machinery, the road is now impassible.

The only access for villagers is by boat to Land of Caanan, EBD, and then to the various places for business. This mode of transportation is extremely costly to villagers who already have limited access to resources.

“We have some serious damages to the road. This is the only access for the villagers in area by road if not it would be accessing boat to cross the river which would be a more costlier mode of transportation,” Khanai related.

Last year during the month of October, Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar along with the Regional Vice Chair Omesh Satyanand visited the community and was told about the state of the road.

“Since me father small he say this road a do. This area is Region Three and me a watch news me a see all over in Region Three them a do wuk with road but in this area them nah do nothing. Nothing nah do a dem area this,” Narine chimed in.

Reasha Teyjnarie is one of the teachers at the primary school in the area. For her, the biggest concern is the deplorable state of the road. She moved to the area just about five years ago after she got married.

“My main concern is the road. It is very difficult to walk the road when going to school. I am a teacher at the La Harmony Primary School and going down way back the road is way worse than here. It is taken over with tall grass and bamboos hanging over and it is very dangerous for the children walking to school,” the teacher said.

Clinton Day, another resident, said that he has been living there for over 40 years and has three teenage children, all in school. The road, for him, is the most pressing issue because it hinders cost-effective transportation.

Day owns his own boat so for him, the cost of going across the river is one that he does not immediately have to secure.

We are working on it

Agriculture Minister Mustapha said he has not been entirely apprised of the issue facing the residents but did commit to meeting with them. He reminded that the land the developer is occupying was given out by NICIL during the David Granger Government and that it is currently being reviewed.

“I know NICIL is reviewing that – we had a joint meeting - myself the AG and we spoke to the people them who received lands and we are reviewing the leases of the lands. I will be meeting with them (the farmers) shortly and I don’t have full knowledge on the current issues but if their livelihood is threatened then I would see how we can help through the various agency especially the Livestock Authority to work along with them to see how we can help the farmers continue their livelihoods,” Mustapha related.

When contacted, Junior Public Works Minister Indar told Guyana Times that he would have indeed visited the community late last year and listened to the concerns of the residents.

“I would have seen how the road is. It is slush and we had to use a tractor to get in there to share out some ration to the residents. I did hear what the residents want and they talked to me about doing the road and bringing electricity. I told them that I would look into it and we are doing that. My self and Minister Mustapha are working on it to get them some relief,” Indar related.

He further explained that in order to fix the road in the community, the Ministry needs to have an excavator remove the slush and reshape the road since it has been destroyed by the tractors going through there. Indar added that the trees that overhang the roadway would have to be removed since they accumulate and dispose of water, further worsening the condition.

“We are looking at the cost to do the project. The stretch of road is just over three miles so we have to look at that and then make a decision on the way forward,” he informed.

Meanwhile, a senior Government official told this publication that after the current administration took office an evaluation was conducted into the status of all developers occupying lands, which were granted via least under the APNU/AFC administration. While that evaluation has been completed the final process of balancing the investment made thus far versus the occupancy needs of local farmers is yet to be done. In this particular case, the official noted, the developer has made significant investment in the area already. This, the official said, will now have to be balanced with the occupancy needs the farmers living there.

Another section of the destroyed road

SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM Corriverton pensioner found dead in home

Dennis Seepaul, a pensioner who is said to be in his 70s of Lot 21 Rahaman Street, Rampoor Village, Corriverton, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), was found dead in his home on Saturday.

Police said the man might have died sometime between Friday at about 23:30h and Saturday at around 05:00h.

It was reported that Seepaul, who was an alcoholic, had complained on Friday of having cramps. He later retired to bed.

However, at about 05:00h the following morning, he was discovered lying motionlessly on his bed. The man was examined for marks of violence but none was seen on the exposed parts of his body.

Seepaul’s body was later taken to the Skeldon Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The body is presently lying at Anthony’s Funeral Home awaiting a PME.

More than a month ago, the body of 72-yearold Chandradat Jaikaran of Number 64 Village was also discovered by his neighbour, who went to check on him.

Jaikaran, who lived alone in a one-storey wooden and concrete house, was a known alcoholic as well and would usually be at home making a lot of noise while behaving in a disorderly manner.

On the day in question, his neighbour said that she heard him cursing as he was sitting on his stairway. Sometime later, the woman said the man became silent and she suspected something was amiss since he would usually be cursing and behaving disorderly for hours.

This caused her to investigate.

She took her torchlight and aimed the light in the pensioner’s direction. She saw him lying motionlessly in his yard with blood oozing from his mouth. An alarm was raised and the man was taken to Skeldon Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Dismiss APNU/AFC 2nd election...

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Thomas and Nurse named Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, David Granger – APNU/AFC, Horatio Edmonson – Federal United Party, Bharrat Jagdeo – People’s Progressive Party/Civic, John Flores – Liberty and Justice Party, Asha Kissoon – The New Movement, Vishnu Bandhu – United Republican Party, Adebin Kindi Ali – Change Guyana, Patrick Bourne – People’s Republic Party, Jonathan Yearwood – A New and United Guyana, Shazam Ally – The Citizenship Initiative, and Gerald Perreira of Organisation for the Victory of the People as respondents. The Attorney General Chambers also joined the proceedings.

During the last hearing on November 30, 2020, prior to the ruling, Trinidadian Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes (representing the interest of Vice President Jagdeo and the PPP/C) and Attorney General Nandlall, had argued that the late service of the petition to Granger served as grounds for dismissal.

Lawyers for the petitioners had asked the court to overlook the deficiencies in the service of the petition on Granger, who is the second respondent and Head of the APNU/AFC’s List of Candidates, hence, spare their petition from being tossed out.

They had also insisted that he was served on September 18 – in keeping with the statutory requirements. However, Chief Justice George had dismissed the petition on the grounds that it was not properly served to former President Granger.

Granger, who is also the leader of APNU/AFC’s List of Candidates and named as the second respondent, was served on September 25, 10 days after petition 99 of 2020 was filed on September 15 and five days outside of the legal timeframe outlined in the National Assembly Validity of Elections Act.

“As [a] consequence, the late service of Petition 99 of 2020 on the second respondent amount to non-service on him. This would lead to nullification of petition 99p2020 ab initio, more so as the court has to consider this status quo at the time of service and not the proceedings or position of a party or parties adopted thereafter. This is to say from the time petition 99p2020 was served out of time on the second respondent as a necessary party, it was a non-starter,” the Chief Justice had posited when she delivered her ruling.

Bandits armed with knives, cutlasses rob Craig residents

Acouple who hails from Craig, East Bank Demerara (EBD), is now traumatised after four bandits armed with knives and cutlasses broke into their home and robbed them of cash and jewellery on Friday night.

Investigations revealed that Zahir Narine and Bibi Khan were asleep at their Second Street, Craig home when they were awakened by a loud knocking on the front door.

As they ventured into the living room, the door was kicked open and the four masked bandits rushed in and relieved them of several items.

The men took $207,000 cash, one black Plum cellphone valued $15,000, one 5 pennyweight gold chain valued $50,000 and one gold coloured Samsung cellphone valued $48,000 – all amounting to a total of $320,000.

During the robbery, Narine received injuries to his forehead at the hands of the bandits.

The bandits then made good their escape on foot through the backyard of the victims’ residence.

Back in March, a 45-year-old man of Craig, EBD, was chopped to his head after armed bandits broke into his house and attacked him before escaping with cash and other items.

The robbery was committed by three perpetrators armed with a handgun and cutlasses.

Eyon Campbell, the victim, lives alone and on March 6, he secured his home and went to bed. He was later awoken by footsteps in this bedroom.

The man was subsequently confronted by the three assailants, who demanded cash and valuables.

Campbell handed over $350,000 cash but the bandits demanded more money. He reportedly told them he did not have any more, after which one of the armed bandits, in anger, dealt him a chop to his head and several lashes about his body.

The perpetrators proceeded to take one DVD player, one 42-inch Sony television and one black Samsung cellphone valued at $35,000 before making good their escape.