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Church caretaker busted with cocaine after leaving church is on bail Jul 05, 2024 News Kaieteur News – The 48-year-old vendor and church caretaker who was caught with cocaine and cannabis in April was on Thursday placed on $500,000 bail. The accused, Sheldon Browne of Lot 64 Cross Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, appeared in court to answer to two possession of narcotics charges. He was arrested on April 26, 2024, after he was found in possession of 2,943 grams of cannabis and 2,301 grams of cocaine. After spending over a month on remand, Browne was finally granted bail on Thursday. During his second court appearance before Principal Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, Browne’s lawyer, Stacy Goodings, successfully secured $250,000 bail for each charge. The lawyer told the court that at the time of the incident her client was exiting a church with four other members when police approached him, inquiring about a person of interest. Browne, only knowing the individual by a nickname, was apprehended and taken into custody. The attorney said too that at her client’s first appearance before the court; it was during an ‘Eye in the Sky’ operation when her client was accused. However, the police presented no footage as evidence. In light of this, Goodings argued for bail noting the absence of video footage, that her client lives with relatives, has proclaimed his innocence, and that he is not a flight risk. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor disclosed that on the date and time in question, Browne was standing across from his home. The police escorted him over to his house and conducted a search in his presence. During the search, police found several cardboard boxes mounted on each other which revealed a portion of cannabis and cocaine. After hearing both sides, Magistrate McGusty granted Browne bail on condition that he reports to the Brickdam Police Station every other Friday. Matter was adjourned and he is scheduled to return on July 24, 2024. Browne was charged with drug trafficking in 2015. Related Similar Articles

NGSA 2024: Significant increase pass rates recorded in English, Math and Social Studies Jul 05, 2024 News The Graph showing the overall performance across subjects for 2024 Kaieteur News – There has been a significant increase in English Language, Mathematics and Social Studies at the 2024 sitting of the National Grade Six Assessment, the Ministry of Education announced on Thursday. Dr. Nicole Manning, Director of Operations, Examination Services disclosed that for English, there was an overall increase in the percentage of candidates scoring 50% and above, marking the highest achievement in the past five years. The number of candidates receiving a zero decreased, while those receiving full scores increased from 61 to 72. The overall grades for English also saw an increase from 64.47% in 2023 to 66.79% in 2024, compared to 61.22% in 2020, 65.71% in 2021, and 64.75% in 2022. Similarly, Social Studies there was significant improvement in Social Studies with 62.88% of candidates scoring above 50%, compared to 58.57% in 2023. The number of candidates receiving full marks in Social Studies increased from 17 to 52, and there was a reduction in candidates receiving zero. However, Dr. Manning stated that there was a slight reduction in the percentage of candidates scoring 50% and above in Science, along with a decrease in the number of candidates receiving full scores. The percentage of candidates achieving 50% and above was 55.11% in 2023, which declined to 54% in 2024. On a positive note, Mathematics demonstrated an increase in performance, the Director of Operations, Examination Services stated. The percentage of students scoring 50% and above rose from 39.47% in 2023 to 40.36% in 2024, marking the highest achievement in the last five years. Although there was a slight reduction in the number of candidates receiving full marks in Mathematics, there was also a decrease in students receiving zero. Meanwhile, Dr. Manning noted the inclusion of Spanish papers for candidates taking the Spanish cohort was significant, emphasizing the importance of ensuring that all students are included in the examination process. She added that this reflects the commitment to the principle of “No child left behind.” In total, for Spanish students, 116 sat the examination for English, 105 wrote Science, 109 wrote Social-Studies, while 93 wrote Mathematics. English ranked the highest in overall performance for 2024 with a total of 66.79%, while Mathematics ranked the lowest with 40.36%. Social-Studies secured 62.88% and Science 54%. The improved results in English, Mathematics, and Social Studies indicate progress in academic performance and reflect the ongoing efforts to enhance education in Guyana, the Ministry of Education said. Related Similar Articles

Guyana will not be an ATM for anyone – Jagdeo Jul 05, 2024 News Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo Kaieteur News – Vice President (VP) Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday said that Guyana will not be an ATM for the Caribbean or anyone as a result of its newfound oil wealth, but investment from Guyana’s sister states is still welcome. The Vice President was responding to a question about whether he thinks Guyana may one day be the ATM and financial capital of the Caribbean. “…It’s disparaging of the Caribbean people to think too that they would see us as an ATM,” Jagdeo said in his response while making it clear that he does not believe the Caribbean people are looking at Guyana this way. “…I think they’re not. They just want to, and they should be able to, invest here and share some of the prosperity too. So that’s how I see it evolving in the future as we go forward,” the vice president said. While Jagdeo is open to his government allowing Caribbean nations to cash-in on some of Guyana’s oil wealth he noted that the people of Guyana must benefit first. “You know I think we have to ensure that our own people are prosperous first, here in Guyana, wherever they live -in the most remote parts of the country, every Guyanese- that’s the first order of business,” he said. He added too that Guyana is presently not making enough from its oil revenue to splurge now. “We have to manage this wealth and we can’t splurge now when we don’t have money as yet, but later it’s going to get better”, the VP reminded. To further enforce his point Jagdeo gave an example of how much oil money funded the 2024 trillion dollar budget.  “The GYD $1.1 trillion budget that we have, less than 30% is funded from all the oil money that we got for last year.” Nevertheless, Jagdeo noted that Guyana still has a responsibility to lend a helping hand to its neighbours in the Region when needed because they too have assisted Guyana in the past especially during the 2005 flood. “…And then we have to be generous to people in our region too and people who suffer calamities around the world,” Jagdeo said before lauding his previous government’s assistance to Haiti during its catastrophic 2010 earthquake when the country was not yet producing oil. “We gave Haiti, in proportion to our GDP, more than any country in the world, and we didn’t have oil money at that time,” he said. According to Jagdeo Guyana had made a donation of US$1M. (Darren Hinds) Related Similar Articles

Constitutional Reform Commission still to begin work three months after installation Jul 05, 2024 News Members of the CRC with President Ail following the swearing in ceremony on April 3, 2024. Kaieteur News – The work of the Constitutional Reform Commission (CRC) is yet to begin its work, three months after members took their oaths of office before President Irfaan Ali. Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Ganesh Mahipaul revealed in a Facebook post on Tuesday that since swearing in, Commissioners on the CRC have not met. Mahipaul, who is also a commissioner on the CRC, told Kaieteur News in a subsequent invited comment that not only has the CRC not met but its members have been left in the dark about the reason for the delays. He noted: “Since, we took office to now there has been no meeting, no email, no form of communication whatsoever to the commissioners to tell us what is going on so we are at a loss to know where we stand…” During the interview, Mahipaul emphasized that the work of the CRC should be handled with more alacrity given its importance in addressing fundamental rights, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, electoral reforms, and bolstering integrity in public office. The Opposition MP pointed out that efforts to bring about constitutional reform had already faced notable delays for over a decade. “In fact, it [constitutional reform] was on the manifesto of both the People Progressive Party Civic and was also in the manifesto of APNU AFC [A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance for Change] Party. You would recall that the APNU AFC began some work along the lines of constitutional reform while in office with the then Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo,” Mahipaul said. Giving a timeline of efforts to bring about the constitutional change, Mahipaul noted that after several failed attempts, in 2022 legislation was finally passed in the National Assembly for the formation of this Constitutional Reform Commission. The law also mandated the commissioners to go ahead begin the process of constitutional reform. However, the CRC commissioner noted that a year elapsed before work towards putting together the constitutional reform commission started. “There was no move towards appointing commissioners. However a year ago the commissioners were appointed and retired Justice Carl Singh was appointed the chairman,” Mahipaul added. According to the Opposition MP, at the time that the appointment was made by President Irfaan Ali, the commissioners were given the impression that the work of the commissioner would start soon. Given the delays and lack of explanation to the commissioners for the delays, Mahipaul opined that the Government may not be taking the issue of constitutional reform seriously. “I reached out to the Chairman for an explanation for the delays but to no avail…However, I am of the opinion that the government is equally culpable for not taking steps to ensure the commission is functioning.” He continued: “The PPP/C may proffer that there is a Chairman to the Commission and the Chairman has to act but at the end of the day, the Chairman is a creature of the President by virtue of his appointment…So the situation begs the question how important really is constitutional reform to the government.” Meanwhile, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, who is also a member of the CRC explained that while he cannot speak to the reasons for the delays, he can only dispose confidence in the efforts being made to ensure that constitutional reforms becomes a reality. “I was a delegate of the President tasked with a responsibility by his Excellency to constitute the Commission, to make the seat of the Commission available, to furnish and equip the seat of the Commission so that it can conduct its affairs, and to ensure that the members of the Commission were appointed and took their oath of office. I have discharged those functions,” the Attorney General said on his weekly programme Issues in the News. Related Similar Articles

Four days after PNCR internal elections Jul 05, 2024 News PNC/R Returning Officer, Vincent Alexander Central Executive Committee votes still to be determined from 1300 ballots cast   Kaieteur News – Four days after the Peoples National Congress (PNCR) held its internal elections, the party is still to determine the votes for its Central Executive Committee (CEC).  The votes will be determined from 1300 ballots which were cast. This is according to a statement issued by the PNCR’s Returning Officer, Vincent Alexander. Alexander in his statement noted that there has been some public anxiety about the apparent delay of the announcement of the results of the recently held elections for the members of the CEC of the PNCR. “This anxiety” he explained has over shadowed the fact that the results for the executive officers, namely the leader, Chairperson, Vice-chairpersons and Treasurer were promptly released after midnight on Sunday. He noted that the PNCR 2024 internal elections, procedures and instructions provided for the announcement of Results “not later than 24hrs after the count.” However, he said that the count for the CEC members required the examination of approximately 1300 ballots, each bearing 59 candidates, in order to determine which 15 of those 59 candidates obtained the highest number of votes across those ballots. According to Alexander, the duration of this exercise while being quite time consuming has also been influenced by the CARICOM Day holiday and the availability of the unaffiliated ballot attendants, only in the evenings. Notwithstanding, he said the count will be completed on July 4 and announced today. Added to this Alexander said that his firm VA & Associates is proud to have been chosen to conduct the PNCR internal elections for the second consecutive occasion. “We are even more proud of its transparent and open conduct of the elections, in a country where elections are associated with notoriety,” Alexander stated. Related Similar Articles

Miss India Guyana pageant set for coronation on Sunday Jul 05, 2024 News Kaieteur News – The Miss India Guyana Pageant will this Sunday crown a new Queen and celebrating seven-years as a pageant franchise in Guyana. Although the franchise has been in operation for seven years, Sunday will be the fifth edition of the pageant due to a two-year set-back during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This year’s competition, according to a statement issued by the Miss India Guyana Franchise, promises an exhilarating lineup of contestants vying for the coveted title. The pageant organisers invited all Guyanese to join in celebrating Guyana’s rich cultural heritage and witness the crowning of the next Miss India Guyana. The founder of Miss/Mrs./Teen India Worldwide, Dharmatma Saran, will also be visiting Guyana this weekend for the coronation Saran was recently honored with the Community Service Award from the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) for his significant contributions to women’s empowerment and cultural exchange. Saran’s presence at Sunday’s coronation, according to Miss India Guyana, underscores the global significance of the event. As the Miss India Guyana franchise prepares for coronation day it reflected on a brief history of its journey to 2024. “In 2018, Hashim and Melicia embarked on a transformative journey with the acquisition of their second international franchise, heralding the launch of the Miss, Mrs., and Teen India pageants,” the organisers stated while recalling that the Miss India Guyana inaugural year had set a precedent with remarkable triumphs. They noted that participants of the inaugural year Shoshanna Ramdeen and Shivanie Latchman were successful  in the first Miss and Mrs. India categories, respectively and one of them went on to represent Guyana well in Mrs. India Worldwide. “Shivanie Latchman made history by becoming the first Guyanese to secure a Top 5 position in Mrs. India Worldwide, paving the way for future achievements by Rashena Hanif, Kistal Inshan, and Yashmini Sarjoo, who further elevated Guyana’s reputation on the global stage of pageantry,” stated the Miss India Guyana franchise said. It also reflected on its perseverance during the COVID-19 Pandemic to achieve even more success in when it 2022 and 2023 after a two-year break. In 2022 Maya Persaud became the third Guyanese to enter the Miss India Worldwide Top Five in three decades. The success continued into 2023 with another successful contestant from Miss India Guyana pageant, Reanna Aarkhan securing a coveted Top 5 placement in the Mrs India Worldwide category and Netu Lall’s exceptional performance earned her the title of Miss Teen India Worldwide 1st Runner-Up. “The pinnacle moment arrived with Aruna Sukhdeo’s historic win as the second Guyanese to claim the prestigious Miss India Worldwide title in 31 years, solidifying Hashim and Melicia’s position as trailblazers in global pageantry,” Miss India Guyana said. Related Similar Articles