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A 19-year-old employee of the Ministry of Public Health was today released on $50,000 bail for stealing drugs from the facility Ministry’s Bond at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.

The young man, Daquan Griffith appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court where he denied the charge of simple larceny.

The prosecutor told the court that the on May 17 at the Materials Management Unit Bond, Griffith stole 4 boxes of on call plus blood glucose test strips, value $20,000 property of the Ministry of Public Health. Griffith an employee of the Public Health Ministry for the past to years will return to court on June 2.

The police in a release said the 23-year-old constable was riding his motorcycle on the Borlam Public Road when he collided with pedestrian Youlander Collins.

The two were rushed to the New Amsterdam  Hospital but Constable Yasin died this morning while Collins was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, she is said to be in a stable condition.

According to the police,  27-year-old Collins, a patient of the Fort Canje Psychiatric Hospital stole the pedal cycle from the institution and was pushing it along the public road at the time of the accident.

Police Commander of ‘B’ Division Ian Amsterdam said it was a sad day for the force.

Motorbike racer, Stephen Vieira, was arrested by the police last night and handed over to CANU, moments after he arrived on a Fly Jamaica flight from Jamaica. Canu officials said a lawyer was at the airport, waiting to accompany his client to CANU’s Homestretch Avenue headquarters.

Vieira was fingered in the multi-million dollar cocaine in Lumber bust at Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, on Friday.

Two opposition members of parliament and several former government officials were among several persons called in for questioning by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) in relation to a multi-million fraud at the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRBD).

The investigation according to reports was directly linked to the misappropriation of millions of dollars from the Petrocaribe fund.

Those called in for questioning were: PPP Members of Parliament Nigel Dharamlall and Dharamkumar Seeraj, who is also head of the Guyana Rice Producers Association; former GRDB head, Jagnarine Singh, former Deputy General Manager, Ricky Ramraj; former chairman of GRDB, Badrie Persaud and former Deputy Permanent Secretary (Finance) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Prema Roopnarine.

Earlier this year SOCU raided the headquarters of the GRDB where several documents were seized.

 

The body of a 28-year-old man was Wednesday morning discovered with a gunshot wound to his head, in Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Georgetown.

The man has been identified as Roy Roland of Cemetery road.

Residents in the area said from all indication it appears that the man’s body was dumped at the location by the perpetrators.

Business people, sugar workers, their union GAWU, PPP supporters and their families protested this morning the possible closure of the Rose Hall Estate.
The protest was by the far the biggest statement made to get GUYSUCO and Government’s attention to the hardship the closure will create on the lives of those who depend on the industry for a living. Some protestors are calling for a rethink of government’s decisions.

The government brought its White Paper to parliament to debate the state of the struggling sugar industry. Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder told the National Assembly that the sugar industry now lags behind mining, construction and the rice industry in its contribution to the nation’s economy. Since taking office the government has already pumped $32 billion dollars into the struggling sugar industry and said some decisions have to be made over the industry’s future. It was revealed that the administration plans to keep Albion, Blairmont, and Uitvlugt.

Most of the workers said the sugar industry was their only source of employment. Some workers have been employed between 10 to 30 years.

But while Guysuco is the country’s largest single employer, the minister of Agriculture noted that there has been a sharp decline in the number of workers employed by the industry from 2006 to 2015.

In addition to that, the Sugar corporation is some $82 billion dollars in debt.

 

Grant said her son has been a serving member of the GDF for the past four years and never had any brushes with the law.

 Guyana Defence Force Private Shaquille Grant was Monday (15th May) charged with the murder of Sophia bread vendor, Andre Alexander.  The young man appeared in the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Zamillia Ally-Seepaul Monday afternoon to answer the indictable charge.

The charge read that on May 5 at ‘C’ Field, Sophia he murdered Andre Alexander in the course of carrying out a robbery.

 

The 20-year-old of 345 Section ‘B’, Turkeyen was not required to plea to the charge. The prosecutor told the court that the file has been seen to the Director of Public Prosecution and requested  a month for the report on the file.

 

It is alleged that on the day in question at around 20:30 hours, the deceased who is a bread vendor, was at his stand with his wife when Grant and another man rode up on a motorcycle, shot him to his chest, relieved him of an undisclosed sum of cash then made good their escape on the said motorcycle. Magistrate Ally-Seepaul remanded Shaquille Grant until June 8.

Outside of the courtroom family members were distraught and said the man was innocent of the crime. Georgeanna Grant said her son has no reason to be involved in criminal activities.

 

Alexander was shot while he was making change for two men pretending to be customers at his ‘C’ field Sophia outlet.

 

He was rushed to the Georgetown Public hospital where he died while receiving medical attention.