Carl Greenidge has not been fired

The government has refuted reports indicating that President David Granger, has fired Foreign Secretary, Carl Greenidge.

However, Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, sought to clear the air by categorically stating that Greenidge was not terminated, “What has happened was after the election, the President has to make a determination as to what his cabinet would look like and who will be his ministers,” Harmon stated, explaining further that it was merely routine.

“It is a procedural matter after an election to bring to an end the engagement of all of those persons; be it advisors or be it a minister,” DG Harmon stated.

He said after such an exchange, persons were then invited to meet with the President to submit their proposal and for open discussions.

The Director-General noted that letters were already dispatched to some persons however, the situation following the elections caused some delays.

“With the recount of Region four,  the President was unable to complete sending off letters to all the persons,” Harmon said.  Adding that there is no attempt to single out those persons who have received letters thus far.

Carl Greenidge has also served as Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Mazaruni prison escapee recaptured

The Guyana Prison Service has reported that Mazaruni prison escapee Christopher Punch was recaptured by members of the Guyana Prisons Service on April 14

In a press statement released on Thursday, the Prison Service disclosed that Punch escaped while at labour at the Mazaruni Prison farms on February 29.

On April 14, he was “recaptured at 04:00 hrs at the corner of Norton and John Streets and has since been handed over to the prison authorities.”

Charges will be instituted departmentally as soon as he is reviewed and cleared by the medical department for COVID-19, after the 14 days segregation from the general population, the press release stated.

Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels congratulated the members of the prison service for their vigilance.

 

Another COVID-19 recovery recorded

The total number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Guyana has risen to 57 as of April 16, 2020.

Of these 57 cases, 42 are active cases with Guyana having recorded six deaths and nine recoveries including one today.

This was disclosed by Public Health Minister Hon. Volda Lawrence in the daily update to the nation.

To date, a total of 260 persons have been tested with 206 of those testing negative.

Fourteen persons are in institutional quarantine while the 42 active cases remain in isolation.  Four persons are housed in the COVID-19 ICU at GPHC.

Globally, WHO has recorded 1, 914, 916 confirmed cases with 123,010 deaths.

While in the Region of the Americas there are 673,361 confirmed cases with 27, 336 deaths.

The Health Minister drew attention to the fact that most of the persons who have tested positive are men.

She also noted that in the over-50 age group men and women are equally affected by the virus while in the 30-40 age group the ratio of those testing positive when comparing men to women is 4:1.

Citizens are asked to always practice social distancing in the workplace, public spaces, and while using public transportation to reduce the spread of the coronavirus diseases.

Mother of two stabbed to death by the father of her children, her mother who came to her rescue was also stabbed several times

Dead is 21 year old Vanessa Benjamin of Lot 301 Ithaca West Coast Berbice.
The woman was stabbed multiple times about her body by the father of her two children at her mother’s home on Thursday afternoon.

The man also attacked and stabbed her mother, Debra Anibal who came to her rescue, before turning the weapon on himself in an attempt to take his own life.


According to a police report,  all three persons were rushed to the Fort Wellington Public Hospital where Vanessa Benjamin was pronounced dead on arrival, while Debra Anibal was treated and transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital and admitted. Her condition is listed as stable.

The suspect was also transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital where he is receiving  medical attention under police guard. His condition is also listed as stable.

The police say the suspect is a 24 year old Labourer from #30 Village West Coast Berbice.
This newscast understands that the couple had separated recently and the man turned up at the woman’s home yesterday. An argument erupted between the two which eventually turned violent.
Police investigations into the matter are ongoing.

GECOM chair to decide on timeframe for national recount

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, will on Friday announce her decision on the timeframe to be utilised for the national recount of the March 2, 2020 votes.

Taking into consideration proposals put forward by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, government-nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander and opposition nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj, Justice Singh’s decision will pave the way for the process to move forward.

On the table is the five-station proposal by the CEO, which takes into account the key role the high-level five-member CARICOM team will be playing in the process. His proposal also suggests two hours allotted for each of the 2, 339 ballot boxes.

The proposal by Commissioner Alexander suggests that the process can be completed using six to eight workstations, utilising one and a half hours per box.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Sase Gunraj’s proposal of 20 workstations each, is also seeking to utilise one hour per ballot box for the process.

The time spent on a ballot box will determine how many days the process will take to complete.

“If the exercise was to take two hours per box, it would require 64 days. If it were to take 1 and a half-hour, the process would take 48 days. If it were to take one hour, it will be 32 days,” A

No official date set for reopening of schools amid COVID-19 concerns

Schools across Guyana remain closed as the Ministry of Education reassesses its decision to reopen on April 20, in light of the recent increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The Ministry currently is formalising a new plan that would keep students, teachers and other stakeholders safe.  The decision on the way forward will be made by the National COVID-19 Task Force in conjunction with the Education Ministry.

Schools have been closed since March 16 and to ensure that learning still takes place at all levels has made available academic material on its website, the Guyana Learning Channel, NCN Radio, Radio Mahdia, Bartica, Essequibo, Mabaruma, Lethem and Radio Paiwomak.

Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry is encouraging parents and students to continue taking advantage of the learning platforms made available to them.  She also disclosed that the Ministry will be working on ways to support more vulnerable students.

Since the decision was made to close schools in the interest of Guyana’s children, students set to sit major examinations have had those tests postponed.

There is no official date set for the National Grade Six Assessment.  The Caribbean Examination Council via a virtual press conference in March had announced the postponement of CSEC and CAPE, offering alternate solutions to ensure that students can matriculate.

The deadline for School-Based Assessments has been extended by 30 days while candidates would only be required to sit a General Paper 1 examination.

CARICOM member states whose students also sit the CSEC and CAPE examinations are working on the way forward for their schools.

The Jamaican Ministry of Education, Youth and Information had initially announced the reopening of school on April 22 while Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago the Hon. Dr. Keith Rowley said he does not see the possibility of Trinidadian schools reopening this academic year.

Other countries project that their schools may be closed for the rest of the academic year as the global pandemic continues to spread.

Police destroy 18K marijuana plants in Berbice river

Approximately 18,000 Marijuana plants were destroyed in the Berbice river during a narcotics eradication exercise.

The exercise was conducted by a gazetted officer and ranks of the Guyana Police Force on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, in the Berbice River.

According to a release from the Guyana Police Force, during the operation, approximately eighteen thousand plants ranging between one and six feet in height were destroyed.

The Narcotics eradication exercise was conducted at Gatetroy and Bartica villages. Several acres of cannabis cultivation with makeshift tents and more than fifty kilograms of processed cannabis were destroyed.

The operation lasted for more than ten hours and no one was arrested.

7 new COVID-19 cases; total now stands at 55 confirmed cases

The total number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Guyana has risen to 55 as of April 15, 2020, representing a sharp increase.

Of these 55 cases, 41 are active cases with Guyana having recorded 6 deaths and 8 medically cleared recoveries.

This was disclosed by Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud in the daily update to the nation.

As of April 15, 2020, a total of 250 persons have been tested with 195 of those tested returning negative.

Another 25 are in institutional quarantine and 41 in institutional isolation by the Public Health Ministry.

Five persons remain in the COVID-19 ICU at GPHC.

Globally, according to WHO there are 1, 844, 863 confirmed cases with 117, 021 deaths.

In the Region of the Americas there are 644, 986 confirmed cases with 25, 551 deaths.

Citizens are asked to always practice social distancing in the workplace, public spaces, and while using public transportation to reduce the spread of the coronavirus diseases.

Dr. Persaud reminded that there are no vaccines nor WHO-approved medications to treat the Coronavirus disease, instead, the medical personnel will treat patients according to the symptoms they present.

Labourer charged with murder of Corentyne Surveyor

By Farah Bates – Fifty-three – year- old Latchman Looknauth of Haswell, Port Mourant was on Tuesday charged with the murder of 44- year – old Mahendra Mangru, a Land Surveyor of Ankerville, Port Mourant.
Looknauth appeared  at the Whim Magistrates’ Court where the charge  of murder was read to him by Magistrate Renita Singh via Skype.
It is alleged, on April 7th that Looknauth killed Mangru following an altercation.
Reports are that the Labourer went to the home of Mangru requesting payments for a job he had done, after Mangru refused to pay him an argument erupted,  Mangru then dealt a chop to Looknauth’s head.
A scuffle ensued and Looknauth then bit Mangru on his right hand close to his thumb and as a result Mangru dropped the cutlass. Looknauth then pushed Mangru to the ground and walked away.
Following the altercation Looknauth sought medical aid at the Port Mourant Public Hospital and then subsequently made a report to the Whim Police Station.
Mangru was in an unconcious state when he was picked up by a neighbor and taken to the Port Mourant Public Hospital. He was later pronounced dead on arrival.
 The Post Mortem examination which was conducted on Mangru’s body revealed the cause of death as a fractured spine as a result of blunt trauma.

Technical assistant killed in road accident

An accident on the Good Hope Public Road, East Coast Demarara has claimed the life of 32-year-old, Rakesh Singh and injured his friend Kelron Benjamin, 24, who is now hospitalized with injuries to his head.

Kelron was the driver of motorcar, PJJ 675 while Singh was an occupant sitting in the front seat of the car.


According to a police report, the motorcar driven by Benjamin was proceeding west along the carriageway at a fast rate when it collided with a cow.


Due to the impact, both Benjamin and Singh sustained injuries about their bodies, however; upon arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Singh was pronounced dead and Benjamin was admitted.

Singh resided at Number 45 village on the Corentyne and worked as a Technical Assistance at the Skeldon Estate.