admin

Civil Society Groups call on the Govt. to adopt a more dignified approach to resolving future industrial disputes Jun 23, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Several civil society groups have called on the Government to adopt a more dignified and legally defensible approach to resolving future industrial disputes. A joint statement signed by  the General Workers Union (GWU), Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), Guyana Organization of Indigenous People (GOIP), Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Red Thread, Policy Forum Guyana (PFG) and Transparency International Guyana Inc (TIGI) called on the Government to make the necessary changes. The statement comes 24 hours after the Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) and Ministry of Education have announced on Friday that they agreed to end the ongoing teachers’ strike and teachers are to return to the classroom on Tuesday. The groups said that although the strike is now called off, they are still concerned with what they described as the “callous and discriminatory manner” in which the negotiating processes was prolonged. The groups noted that “Prioritizing dealing directly with teachers rather than their trade union does not bode well for the future of constitutional protections for collective bargaining agreements.” “This year marks 148 years since the signing of the Compulsory Education Bill which set the nation that would become Guyana on a path to almost universal literacy by the time of Independence. Our concern with the experience of the strike reflected an indifference to the long- and short-term costs to teachers, students, families, the education system and the society as a whole,” the groups noted. Additionally, the civil society organizations said Government’s refusal to accept the High Court verdict on the legitimacy of the strike along with threats to appeal to the case at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) were delaying tactics to drag things out that risked poisoning long-term relations between Ministry and unions. “Such delays, moreover, benefit from social media’s hollowing out of our capacity to focus on an issue for any length of time. Further, they noted, the proposal to pay the fees of students who enroll in private sector education insinuated an assault on public education in general, a form of corrupted power versus ‘the people’. “The fundamental concern compelling our statement is to constrain Government coldness to human suffering when addressing political issues,” the group added. In addition to the costs to the society, the groups believe that the long strike impacted what are known in the profession as ‘non-academic standards’.  These standards include such things as class size, sanitary facilities, laboratories and sports facilities. Along with dilapidated structures compromises on these standards further eroding morale of teachers. Moreover, the groups believe that the strike graphically highlighted the uneven impact on teachers in rural and urban area. Related Similar Articles

Bandits rob Cornelia Ida family at gunpoint Jun 23, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Three bandits all armed with guns on Friday invaded the home of a Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara (WCD) family and robbed them at gunpoint. Police did not say what time of the day the bandits attacked but said that they assaulted one of the family members and fired off their weapons before escaping with $150,000 and a cell phone worth $60,000. According to reports reaching Kaieteur News the men entered the house through an open door and held all the occupants at gunpoint.  The owner of the home screamed for help but one of the bandits lashed him in the head with his gun in a bid to keep him quiet. The gunmen then fired two shots before leaving the house with the loot. They made good their escape in a car that was waiting outside of the family’s home. The owner of the home was taken to a private clinic where he was treated for an injury to the head and sent away. Investigations are ongoing. Related Similar Articles

Minibus driver robs miner after beating him with cutlass Jun 23, 2024 News Kaieteur News – A minibus driver on Friday reportedly broadsided a gold miner with a cutlass at Four Corner, Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD) before robbing him of $150,000 and his cell phone valued at $60,000. Police identified the victim as Devon Williams of Friendship Squatting Area, EBD. Investigators reported that Williams was a passenger in the man’s bus heading from Georgetown to his home in Friendship. When they arrived at Four Corner, Williams and the bus driver got into an argument. The driver reportedly stopped the bus and armed himself with a cutlass. He then pulled Williams out of the bus and broadsided him before taking his money and phone and driving away. A report was made to the police and the bus driver was subsequently arrested. Related Similar Articles

Fisherman drowns in Essequibo River Jun 23, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Police believe that a fisherman whose body was on Saturday found floating in the Essequibo River might have drowned on his way home to Winiperu Village, ReGion Seven. The dead man was identified as 43-year-old Courtney Benn. Investigators said that the man might have drowned some time after 10:00hrs on Thursday. Reports are that Benn left his home around 06:00hrs Thursday to check his seine in the Essequibo River.  Between 07:30 and 08:00 hrs, he was seen selling fish at Ovin Hubert’s shop on Sherima Landing. Benn then headed to another location at Sherima Landing where he was seen consuming high wine for approximately 45 Minutes. The last time he was seen alive was paddling his wooden boat towards Winiperu Village but he never made it home. His relatives went in search of him on Friday and at around 08:10 hrs they found his boat drifting near the village. His belongings were in the boat but he was nowhere to be seen. On Saturday, his body floated in the Essequibo River. Police are awaiting the results of a Post Mortem Examination to determine his cause of death. Related Similar Articles

New $14.5M water ambulance commissioned at Orealla / Siparuta Jun 23, 2024 News Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony on Saturday handing over the new $14.5 million water ambulance to residents of Orealla/ Siparuta, Region Six. Kaieteur News – The community of Orealla / Siparuta, Region Six on Saturday received a new $14.5M water ambulance from the Ministry of Health. The commissioning of the ambulance follows the destruction of a previous watercraft by fire earlier this year. Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony told attendees that the government used additional funds to customize the ambulance to cater to the needs of the residents of the two communities. The new ambulance is set to enhance the capacity to transport critical patients from the remote communities to the Skeldon Regional Hospital for specialized care and treatment. On March 11, it was reported that shortly after a patient was taken to the Skeldon Hospital, the water ambulance caught fire while in the Corentyne River. At the time, the ambulance was transporting nine passengers and was en route to Orealla. Luckily, swift action from the occupants of a nearby boat ensured that there was no loss of life. One passenger was reportedly injured. Related Similar Articles

Fire of unknown origin guts Weldaad house Jun 23, 2024 News Scenes from the fire in Weldaad, West Coast Berbice. Kaieteur News – Fire of unknown origin destroyed a two storey wooden and concrete house at Weldaad, West Coast Berbice (WCB) Saturday afternoon leaving a family of eight homeless. The fire reportedly began at 15: 50h. Kaieteur News understands that not all of the occupants were at home at the time of the fire. A neighbour said she heard other neighbours shouting and rushed to see what caused the commotion was about. “I run out and I see the whole top part in fire, it was almost completely burned by the time I reach over. The neighbours were trying to out it with some buckets, because the fire service didn’t reach as yet,” the neighbour said. Kaieteur News understands that an elderly woman was in the house at the time the fire started. The woman reportedly told neighbours that she is unsure of the cause of the fire but noted that the fire started in a room at the back of the house and quickly spread to the rest of the building. Neighbours told Kaieteur News that the house was destroyed quickly and though the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) was summoned, when they arrived the building was completely destroyed. Residents tried to save the building by forming a bucket brigade but their efforts were futile. There are no reports of injuries. The GFS is said to be conducting investigations. Related Similar Articles

GPL to spend $200M to upgrade national grid – Jagdeo Jun 23, 2024 News Kaieteur News – The Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) intends to spend approximately $200 million to upgrade the national grid, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced last Thursday. Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo The Vice President was at the time speaking at a press conference held at the Office of the President. He was asked to provide an update on the additional 30MW of power the government intends to acquire in a similar arrangement with the Turkish Powership – Karpowership – contracted by the government to supply Guyana with some 36 megawatts of electricity for two years. “So the existing system now we have to look at that with all that new power in the place, (that) we have grid stability to transmit and distribute the power. So they have come up and they have gone to tender for about $200M of work to upgrade the grid, put in more transformers, change out the lines and stuff like that,” Jagdeo said. The Vice President explained that the updating of the national grid will ensure that the country has a more stable distribution system. “If we can integrate the 30MW… so for example they are now working, I think Cummings would be awarded a contract to do a $5M upgrade from Kingston to Sophia so if you bring the power there now… if you bring additional power to Kingston you can’t take it to the sub-station at Sophia because that one line is not adequate to take the power there so it’s where you can integrate the power to,” he added. Kaieteur News recently reported that at Thursday’s press conference, the Vice President also announced that the government will soon go to the National Assembly, before recess, to seek an additional US$66M to subsidize the GPL. Jagdeo boasted that the government has absorbed the price increases that would have ordinarily been imposed on consumers due to the increase in the price of fuel. “So the price of fuel went up from $70 dollars that we were budgeting; now, we are paying one $105 maybe $110 per barrel…” Meanwhile, the Department of Public Information (DPI) reported that with the power ship supplying 36 megawatts of electricity to the national grid and the Gas-to-Energy project set to come on stream in 2025, adding approximately 300 megawatts of energy, the government is keen on ensuring that the national grid is fortified to manage the surge of electricity that will be utilised to meet the heightened demand. “We have to look at the existing system [to ensure] that with all that new power now, we have grid stability to transmit and distribute the power…If we can integrate the 30 megawatts…we could have brought in the bigger power ship, which is nearly 80 megawatts of power, and connect it here at Kingston, but the lines can’t transmit it, so we had to take it to Berbice and hook it there, and then bring back the power to Demerara.” Related Similar Articles