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Two miners die after mining pit collapses at Madhia Aug 17, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Two miners were killed on Friday after a mining pit collapsed at a back dam at Mahdia, Region Eight. Dead: Imran Blake Dead: Sherwayne Joseph Dead are Sherwayne Joseph of Moruca, North West District, Region One and Imran Blake. The miners were reportedly buried alive around 02:30hrs on Friday, while working in the pit. Relatives were left in a state of shock after receiving the tragic news. Blake is said to be 19-years-old. Melisa Samantha Blake, his aunt in a Facebook post said, “I keep asking why my nephew, you only turn Nineteen a couple weeks ago son.” She continued, “God please give us the strength to face this especially my sister and dad”. Related Similar Articles

Bandit allegedly shot while trying to rob money changer Aug 17, 2024 News The area where the masked men shot at the moneychanger Kaieteur News – One of two bandits was shot on Friday while attempting to rob a moneychanger at the corner of America Street and Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown. Reports are that masked bandits on a motorcycle attacked the moneychanger, Terrance Dean around 12:00hrs. He reportedly ran into a nearby store, J’s Outlet, to hide from the bandits and they fired shots behind him but the manager of the store returned fire and one of them was shot but managed to escape with his accomplice. Kaieteur News was initially told that it was the on-duty security guard that shot at the bandits but police found out that it was the manager who returned fire. Kaieteur News’s reporters were at Georgetown Magistrates’ Court when they heard gunshots at midday. They reportedly “peeped” through the window and saw people running for cover. The reporters ventured to the location to find out what transpired and learnt that it was an attempted robbery of the moneychanger. When Kaieteur News arrived on the scene, police were already there. The victim was still inside of a closed J’s Outlet, hiding. Police opened the shutters of the building assuring the victim and others inside that it was safe for them to exit. The victim, visibly traumatised, came out of the building and began to share his story with onlookers and other reporters at the scene. Dean said the masked men approached him on a motorcycle saying, “Shoot he and kill he.” “I get rob the 27th of last month of GYD $900,000”, he said while explaining that it could be the same bandits who had robbed him before. After hearing the men say, ‘Shoot he and kill he,” the moneychanger ran for his life. Dean ran into the nearby store but the men followed him and began firing several shots. Dean told Kaieteur News that shots were returned from inside the store, resulting in one of the masked men being shot by the store’s manager. However, the injured bandit still managed to escape the scene with his accomplice. Meanwhile, a security guard stationed at the High Court, recalled seeing the men speeding along Charlotte Street on a motorcycle. When Kaieteur News left the scene, police ranks were still conducting investigations. In a statement later released by police, investigators confirmed that one of the suspects is under police guard at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Police were able to locate him in the critical bay at the GPHC after he fled the scene. He had reportedly sustained a gunshot wound to his left lower abdomen according to police. Police identified him as Elijah Martine commonly known as ‘Swine’, a 23-year-old unemployed man of C-Field Sophia Georgetown. Martine had reportedly gone to the GPHC for treatment and police stationed there had questioned him about his injury but he chose to remain silent.  According to police, Martine and an accomplice had attacked a 51-year-old moneychanger Dean at the corner of America Street and Avenue of the Republic. One of them fired shots behind Dean as he ran for cover inside of J’s Outlet store. Police said that a 33-year-old security guard on duty at the time drew his weapon – a Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol-to fend off the shooter but the suspect ended up taking away his weapon. Police continued that the store’s 29-year-old manager saw the security guard being held at gunpoint and drew his licensed weapon to protect that individual. He reportedly discharged the round that struck the suspect in his stomach. The suspect, according to police, ended up dropping his weapon and running out of the store with the security guard’s weapon before making good his escape with the accomplice along Charlotte Street, Georgetown. Detectives who arrived at the scene recovered the dropped firearm along with multiple 9mm spent shells. They also obtained footage from nearby security cameras and are currently reviewing them. Meanwhile, at around 13:20hrs, detectives received information that one of the suspects was hospitalized at GPHC. He and his accomplice were both dressed in blue jumpsuits at the time of the robbery. (Shania Williams and Celina Nathu) Related Similar Articles

Court rules Photographer Keron Bruce is ‘Mudwata’ Aug 17, 2024 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News – Ordered to pay that $3M fine or spend 6 months in prison  Kaieteur News – The Diamond/ Golden Grove Magistrates’ Court on Friday ruled that photographer Keron Bruce is ‘Mudwata’, a cartoon character that has been vocal on social media and ordered him to pay a $3M fine within one month or spend six months in prison. Photographer: Keron Bruce Bruce was charged in 2022 with using a computer to embarrass and humiliate local journalist Leroy Smith, the proprietor of Big Smith News Watch. The photographer of 295 Soesdyke Back Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce. The charge stated that on January 25, 2021, at Soesdyke, EBD, Bruce used a computer system to disseminate information about Smith, knowing same to be false. Smith contended that the information subjected him to public ridicule, contempt, hatred, or embarrassment. Bruce, who was represented, pleaded not guilty to the charge and was initially granted $100,000 bail. Related Similar Articles

Govt.’s 10% proposed salary increase to teachers is insulting – PNC/R Aug 17, 2024 News Kaieteur News – The People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) on Friday described the government’s proposed 10% salary increase for teachers as insulting. In a statement to the media, the Opposition party said that it is in full support of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) rejection of the proposal. The statement said that, “The PNCR fully supports Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and all teachers in rejecting the PPP government’s insulting proposal of 10% salary increase for 2024, 8% for 2025, and 9% for 2026. Jagdeo’s claim that the union’s rejection results, from GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald’s attempts to derail the union politically is politically hypocritical and comical. It is the same Jagdeo in 2018 who, as opposition leader, stated that teachers should be given 40% – 50% salary increases for the year. Now that the PPP is in government, with access to vast oil resources, its hypocrisy is on full display in its treatment of the nation’s teachers with its meaningless proposals of 8% – 10% salary increases.” The party is of the opinion that “undoubtedly, any sober and fair-minded Guyanese will realise that the PPP would much rather feed corruption than add value to the lives of our teachers as the cost-of-living has skyrocketed far beyond what a mere 10% can compensate. We therefore believe that GTU’s counter-offer is reasonable and affordable.” Furthermore, the party said that as the next government, it intends to ensure that “the teachers receive compensation retroactively and that all public servants enjoy livable wages across the board. The nation’s human resources are our most valued asset, and as the next government, our policies will reflect that.” As the negotiations surrounding a pay hike for teachers continue, steps are reportedly being taken for the Government to come up with more than the 10 percent increase it is currently offering. General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Coretta McDonald told this newspaper recently that with bigger budgets annually and several supplementary budgets, the teachers are sure that the government can cater to a feasible salary increase for teachers. She reminded that when the joint service and nurses received increases, teachers’ increases were lumped together with other public servants. Last week, Kaieteur News reported that the leadership of the GTU appeared to be divided on its position on the Government of Guyana’s new proposal of 10% salary increase retroactively for 2024. The new proposal also entails 8% for 2025 and 9% 2026. This publication was informed, the GTU President Dr. Mark Lyte had circulated a statement to the general membership of the Union stating that the General Council met on Friday and accepted the Government’s revised proposal. The statement said, “Colleagues, good morning. General Council met yesterday and made a decision to accept MoE’s revised offer of 10, 8, 9 % for the three-year period with the caveat that should public servants get more than our offer, the difference will be given to teachers. These direct financial benefits will be added to other indirect financial ones outlined in the other areas of the agreement. The union wishes to have some of these benefits rolled out in the month of September.” Lyte had told the membership he intended to sign the agreement on Monday. “Hence, an early date of signing would be beneficial to our members. Towards this end, GC was asked to engage our members by region, branch, small group, etc., so as to update members. These engagements are expected to unfold today and tomorrow so that on Monday, we can sign the agreement. Four officers (President, 1st and 2nd VP’s, and GS) will attend the signing session at 09:00hrs on Monday at MoE’s Boardroom. We are aware that what is agreed was not what was requested,” Dr. Lyte said in the statement. However, a few hours after Lyte’s statement was issued, McDonald disseminated a statement of her own expressing disgust with the decision taken by Lyte. “Colleagues good afternoon. This issue is one of grave concern to our members who have entrusted confidence in us, as such it is our responsibility to engage our members and not the GC Reps. I am unable to wrap my head around the reason we keep shying away from our members. When we wanted their votes, we went out there to meet them and at this time, we should give them the respect. We have a Zoom platform that their dues pay for, let’s use it and lay on the table the issue that is before us,” she said. McDonald said, “As the elected General Secretary, I disagree with the position that is being adopted at this time for several reasons…” Related Similar Articles

New PSA finalised; companies ready to pay signing bonus – Minister Bharrat Aug 17, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Following the closure of the recent bid round to auction off eight oil blocks offshore Guyana, Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat told the media at his mid-year press conference on Wednesday, that the government has finalised the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), and the six companies that were awarded have indicated that they are ready to pay their signing bonus and move ahead. “That PSA has been finalized, I am happy to say that with no changes to the fiscal terms. With no changes to the fiscal terms and you know the new fiscal terms it is 10% royalty; it is 10% tax; it is 65% cost recovery as against 75 and it is the 50/50 profit sharing. So the 50/50 remains the same, 10% royalty, it is 10% tax, 65% cost recovery, meaning that we will get more upfront than the Stabroek agreement where it is 75% and we get more on the back end,” he told reporters. The minister said that “every single one of those six companies, its six companies, eight blocks because two companies had bid for two. Every one of those six companies have submitted their applications to us, we have given them the PSA, they are currently reviewing that with the intent to sign and all of them have indicated that they are ready to pay their signing bonus. You know for the shallow water it’s $10M USD and for the deepwater it’s $20M USD.” While he admitted that the bid round took longer than expected due to challenges faced before and during the process including other countries having their bid round as well. He noted that the time frame also had nothing to do with the technical staff at the ministry but it was “mainly because we had to work with the bidders, some of them especially the locals were looking for international partners, they were looking for investors, they were looking for operators.” Minister Bharrat said, “So we had to work with them. A few were ready but we cannot do a separate PSA for every different company. We had to finalize one PSA that can be used for all the companies. You can’t get a PSA to suit every other company that would bid, so a few bidders held up the others because we wanted to finalize one PSA that we can use.” He emphasized that even though changes were made to the PSA until it suited every single company, the fiscal terms underwent no changes. The minister explained that efforts were made to sort the work programme with the new companies. “The work programme may differ for some companies and that is where we had to iron out a few issues especially with the penalties because you will know in the new PSA, the penalty is very heavy. That’s if you set a work programme for $300M and you cannot fulfill that then you pay us 50% of it, it is a steep penalty. So we had to work through a few of those issues without changing the fiscal regime,” the Natural Resources Minister said. Additionally, the minister assured that as soon as the companies sign the PSA and pay the signing bonus, it will be made public. “So with regards to the bid round, I am happy to say that we are moving forward with that but I know it has taken longer than it should have,” he told reporters. Related Similar Articles

Bids open for procurement of bucket seats for new sport grounds Aug 17, 2024 News, Sports Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport is looking for suitable contractors to procure and install bucket seats at sport facilities in Regions Two and Ten. This was revealed at the recent opening of tenders at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office. The ministry is seeking contractors to procure bucket seats for the Anna Regina, Mackenzie and Bayroc grounds. Thirteen contractors have bid for the contract.The ministry was allocated approximately $8.8 billion this year to execute its programmes and projects. Below are the companies and their bids: Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport Procurement & Installation of Bucket Seats Lots 1-5. Construction of Façade and Finishing Work to Table Tennis Training Facility National racquet Centre. Supply and Installation of Air Conditioning Units (Lots 1-3). Chambers of the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) Design and Supervision of the Construction of the New Main Office of the DPP. Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Supply and Commissioning of a Type III ambulance. Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development Electrical Upgrade of Mabaruma Regional Hospital Powerhouse and Network. Related Similar Articles

Father of three on $500,000 bail for thieving cash, television, and other items Aug 17, 2024 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News Kaieteur News – A father of three, was granted $500,000 bail on Friday after he was charged with two counts of simple larceny. Brental Charles at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court Forty-year-old, Brental Charles, appeared before Magistrate Annette Singh at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer to the two charges. The first charge alleges that Charles on August 14, 2024 at Brickdam Stabroek, Georgetown stole $2,200,000 in Guyana currency from Dukesh Dudnauth. Charles, who is allegedly no stranger to law, was caught on CCTV entering Dudnauth’s car and taking the money while it was parked near Starr Computers. Dudnauth reported the theft to the police immediately after discovering the money missing upon returning to his car. Subsequent investigations by police led to Charles’ arrest. Charles pleaded not guilty to this charge. The second charge states that on Thursday, August 1, 2024, at New Market Street, Georgetown, Charles allegedly stole a television valued at $100,000, three amplifiers worth $300,000, four speaker boxes valued at $68,000, and $10,000 in cash, totaling $478,000 in Guyanese currency, belonging to Sadiqqi Wahab. CCTV footage captured Charles taking the items from Wahab’s minibus while it was parked outside the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Represented by attorney-at-law, Yuborn Allicock, Charles also pleaded not guilty to the second charge as well. The defence argued that Charles was not a flight risk and had no similar cases pending in court. The prosecution objected to bail, stating that Charles had similar offences while adding that the CCTV footage will be disclosed at the next court hearing as a part of the evidence. Bail was set at $300,000 for the first charge and $200,000 for the second, with reporting conditions imposed. The matter is adjourned to September 13, 2024, for further proceedings. Related Similar Articles