Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran over the weekends inspected three respective schools, namely CV Nunes Primary, Cotton Field and Johanna Cecila secondary schools on the Essequibo Coast to get a firsthand look at sanitary facilities and garbage disposal systems.

Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran

Accompanied by a high level team from the Health and Education ministries, Dr Ramsaran began his visit at the C V Nunes Primary School at Anna Regina, where he spoke to headmistress Sybil Brandon about the school’s sanitary facilities and garbage disposal system.
Minister Ramsaran, while in discussions with the headmistress, was told that the regional administration did some maintenance work on the sanitary facilities just weeks ago, and it is now in working condition. However, the minister still inspected the sanitary facilities and checked the water supply.
At Cotton Field Secondary School, the minister and team held discussions with Headmistress Paulline Davis on the school’s sanitary facilities and garbage disposal system. The minister also instructed that two abandoned outdoor wooden toilets be dismantled and the area cleaned up to avoid the breeding of mosquitoes.
However, Minister Ramsaran was not pleased with the way the school was disposing and burning the garbage in the compound. He instructed that the system be discontinued because it is breeding flies and mosquitoes.

A man was on Tuesday granted bail by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton for stealing $10,000 cash.
Shawn Lall, 34, a painter of Lot 174 BB Eccles, East Bank Demerara, made an appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to the charge of simple larceny.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge, which stated that on February 20 at Water Street, Georgetown, he stole $10,000 cash property of Abiola Nelson.
Lall was unrepresented and made an application for bail.
Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield had no objections to bail. The prosecutor was not required to present any facts to the court.
The magistrate in her ruling informed the court that the defendant would be granted bail in the sum of $20,000.The matter will be called again when the defendant will make an appearance in Court One on March 14.

Two persons were before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton on Monday for possession of narcotics, while one of them was found with a firearm and several rounds of ammunitions.
Linsley Charles of Lot 16 North Road, Bourda, Georgetown, and Winston Jones of Lot 52 Victoria Village, East Coast Demerara, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to the charge of possession of narcotics. However, Charles faced four additional charges: possession of firearm without being the holder of a license and three counts of possession of ammunition without being the holder of a license. Both men pleaded not guilty to the charge, which stated that they had in their possession 13 grams of cannabis.
Charles also pleaded not guilty to the charges which stated that he was in possession of five rounds of .38 ammunition, one 12 gauge cartridge and two rounds of .38 ammunition without being the holder of a license.
Charles also pleaded not guilty to the charge, which stated that he had in his possession one .38 Special Rossi revolver.
Prosecutor Jairam  Luckhai stated that on the day in question, the defendant along with four others were at a mining camp, and when they saw the police approaching them, Charles was seen by civilians pulling the firearm from his waist and throwing it to the ground. He added that based on information received, the police conducted a search on Charles’s belonging during which they discovered, the ammunition.
Prosecutor Luckhai objected to bail, in relation to the firearm and ammunition charges, on the grounds of the seriousness and prevalence of the charge.
The prosecutor added that if granted bail the defendant may not return to court when the matter is transferred to Bartica.
Prosecutor Luckhai also objected to bail on the narcotics charge, stating that whilst the offence is bailable, the defendant may pose a flight risk. The magistrate informed the court that the defendants were denied bail and the matter would be transferred to the Bartica Magistrate’s Court for February 24.

A teenager was granted bail on Tuesday by Magistrate Hazel-Octive Hamilton for stealing a gold chain.
Deon Granville, 19, a bartender of East Ruimveldt Squatting Area, Georgetown, made an appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to the charge of larceny.
The defendant was not required to plead to the indictable charge, which stated that on February 17 in Georgetown, he stole from the virtual complainant (VC), Marcia Williams one gold chain valued $65,000.
Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield objected to bail on the ground of seriousness and prevalence of the charge, stating that the stolen article was recovered on the accused after he was apprehended by public spirited citizens. The prosecutor added that the VC was sitting in a mini-bus when the incident occurred. Granville was unrepresented in court and made an application for bail.
The magistrate overruled the prosecution’s objections, and granted the defendant bail in the sum of $150,000. The matter was transferred to Court One for March 15.

A man and woman were granted bail by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton for assaulting and threatening each other. Lynden Roberts, 42, of Lot 42 Durban Street, Lodge, Georgetown, and Toniya Wickham, 38, of Lot 8 De Kinderen, West Coast Demerara, both appeared at Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday.
Roberts pleaded not guilty to the charge of threatening language, which stated on February 17 at Commerce and Water Streets, Georgetown, he made use of threatening language to Wickham whereby a breach of the peace was occasioned.
Meanwhile, Wickham also pleaded not guilty to the charge of abusive language, which stated that on the same day and location, she made use of abusive language to Roberts whereby a breach of the peace was occasioned. Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield had no objections to bail but asked that both parties undertake to keep the peace, since they both work in the same place.
Both parties gave the court the undertaking to have nothing to do with each other during the continuance of the proceedings.
The Magistrate then granted both defendants bail in the sum of $10,000 each. The matter was transferred to Court One for March 14.

The elderly man, Mobarak Ali who was viciously attacked by two pit bulls early Monday morning is on the road to recovery.
Ali was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital on Monday morning where his arms were operated on to repair muscular damage that was caused by the dog bites.

Mobarak Ali is recovering after surgery on his arms to repair tissue damage

“I am feeling much better, but it was so frightening,” Ali said. He noted that the two pit bulls appeared in front of him charging aggressively;  before he could run, they attacked aiming for his face and throat. Ali defensively held his arms up around his face and neck shielding himself from what could have been a fatal attack.The pit bulls continued to bite Ali on his back, stomach and shoulder before neighbours came to his rescue. Cowlin King rushed out of his home after hearing Ali’s screams, “I come out deh house and grab a piece of wood”. King also stated that he grabbed buckets of water from another neighbour which he threw on the dogs. Yet another one of the Ali’s neighbours, who did not want to be mentioned by name, grabbed a chain from the fence, but “the dogs finished with him and ran”.
King told Guyana Times that the dogs “had killed three dogs and cats already…they killed people’s pets”. Ali’s wife, Khairoon, stated that she went yet again to the Kitty Police Station to ensure that a complaint had been filed after being notified on Monday that no complaint had been brought to the station for the day. “I went to them again and told them what happened, and they said they would talk to the owner,” noted Ali’s wife.
She went on to tell this publication that the dogs have since been removed from the residence, but she feels like the owner was able to sell them or “he gave them away and they are dangerous so they need to be put down, not left to do this again”.
The dogs’ owner was unavailable to make a comment when this publication attempted to reach him multiple times. Although the dogs has exhibited aggressive behaviour in the past, Ali and neighbours all stated that they were usually in the yard except for the past few weeks when they were seen roaming the street at night. Ali was on his way to the Kitty masjid when he was attacked.
His wife said: “My husband has used this same route to go to masjid for over 40 years,” she went on to say solemnly, “I never thought something like this could happen to him.”
Ali’s wife noted that while her husband is doing very well, he is still in severe pain and doctors noted that he will need physiotherapy in the future.

– Minister Persaud at bio-safety workshop

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with the University of Guyana (UG) on Tuesday hosted a second training workshop on bio-safety.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud addressing the participants at the bio-safety workshop at the University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen Campus

Facilitator of the workshop, Fred Phillips, who is a specialist in the implementation of multilateral agreements, said that this project is designed to get participants reacquainted with bio-safety clearing house; giving them an insight on the state of bio-safety at the international level.
All the signatories to the Cartagena Protocol have to provide information about the state of bio-safety and laws in place or any decisions made regarding Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) or Genetically modified Organisms (GMOs).  “You will have your chance to make informed decisions on what happens in your territory based on what is happening in the rest of the world,” he told the participants.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud, who delivered the opening remarks, said that this kind of training is good for Guyana, noting that as a small country with resource constraints, significant efforts are being made to ensure that its capacity is being improved.
He pointed out that Guyana’s framework on bio-safety is very comprehensive in terms of preparedness and ensuring that the country’s obligations under the biodiversity conventions, moreso the Cartagena Protocol on bio-safety, are satisfied. “Guyana, under successive governments, over the years would have taken very bold steps whereby; we have demonstrated firm and strong commitments in terms of sustainable development and moreso, how we manage and utilise natural resources while at the same time safeguard our environment,” Minister Persaud said.
In recent times, Guyana has honed and reinforced this national commitment through the revolutionary Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which in a way, firmly commits the country at the national level complying with international obligations, while at the same time allowing for continued development without jeopardising the environment.
The minister explained that, “we live in a world where there are a lot of changes and where technology is being employed in all aspects of life, especially in the area of food production… but doing so in a way that it does not lead to other problems, such as importing GMOs that threaten our own biodiversity.”
As a country, Guyana has not yet defined its policy as it relates GMOs. It is still in the assessment stage and learning from the experiences of other jurisdictions, the approach that would best suit the country. He clarified that Guyana does not in any way want to be a “dinosaur” in this field; but rather, take a very cautious approach and the training that is being done at this workshop would enable the country to build the necessary capacity so that bio-technology can continue to be employed in various areas, especially at the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST), in a safe manner that does not compromise the country’s biodiversity.
“We are an economy that is in transition and whilst we are developing and expanding the traditional sectors of the economy, we are also looking at new areas of development… this would lend to the utilisation and would require us to enhance our bio-safety arrangements at the national level,” the minister said.
He added that in the Natural Resources Ministry itself, the utilisation of bio-technology whether in the area of mining or the petroleum industry, is becoming more necessary as the economy expands; hence the need to look for ways to ensure a safe transfer into local industries. In terms of legislation, Minister Persaud made reference to the Plant Health Act, Animal Health Act and Seeds Act, all of which were passed in the National Assembly during the ninth Parliament. These pieces of legislation incorporate features associated with enhancing bio-diversity.
The Animal Health Act provides for the control of the movement of animals into and within Guyana and to prevent the introduction and spread of animal diseases within Guyana and from other countries. The Seeds Act on the other hand, regulates the production, sale, import, export and quality of certain seeds for sowing and to provide for certification of seeds and related matters.
Meanwhile, the Plant Protection Act regulates the importation and exportation of plants, planting materials and objects derived from them, so as to protect them from the introduction of exotic pests and diseases to Guyana, and to control and eradicate diseases and pests within the country. “Whilst we may not have specific bio-safety legislation as it were, we have been updating legislation in the different realm of activities that can lend itself to the utilisation of bio-technology,” Minister Persaud said.
Guyana is one of 12 countries that is part of the Caribbean Regional Bio-Safety Project, where a substantial amount of work has been done in terms of legislation. This will continue because as the development advances, the opportunities and associated risks makes the utilisation of bio-technology very crucial; as such the country has to be prepared and ensure compliance with international obligations.
“I want to encourage you to make full use of the training and to ensure that the knowledge garnered here, will be utilised in our nation’s interest and to support the development of our country in a very sustainable way,” Minister Persaud said.

Opposition Leader David Granger has commended the board of management of the National Veterans Rest Home Inc, noting that the board has done well in improving the quality of life of former members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the People’s Militia and other disciplined services.  Granger was given a tour of the rest home by Guyana Legion Colonel President Carl Morgan, Board Chairman Colonel Randy Storm and administrator of the home, Margaret-Rose Arthur on Thursday, February 16.

Opposition Leader David Granger

The home located on Essequibo Street, Lamaha Springs, Georgetown, is aimed at providing comfortable accommodation and medical attention to 20 veterans. The two storey building was constructed at a cost of $70 million and contains administrative offices, a medical centre, living quarters for men and women, lounge, kitchen, laundry, dining room and storerooms. It is equipped with a lift and other modern amenities.
The idea for a veterans’ home was conceived by the Guyana Veterans Foundation, a registered trust since 1995.
It was only under former GDF Chief of Staff Brigadier Edward Collins, however, that two plots of land in the Joint Services Scheme were made available to the foundation a decade later.
The sod was turned on the defence force’s 40th anniversary in November 2005.  Construction began in 2006 with money raised from fund-raising activities, donations by military veterans, both local and overseas, veterans association in Toronto, Los Angeles and New York, annual donations from private individuals, institutions and corporations, the Royal Canadian Legion, the GDF and the government of Guyana.

First Lady Deolachmee Ramotar told hundreds of children of the Huist Diren Primary School to aim high and make a concerted effort to attend school regularly.
Ramotar echoed these sentiments at a party held for the children living within the Huist Diren community on the Essequibo Coast on Sunday.  Addressing the gathering of over 300 pupils, she told them that they can be whatever they want to be in the future once they set their goals and priorities right, noting that “most of Guyana’s leaders came from humble beginnings, the point is you don’t have to born in a rich home to be someone respectful and professional, you just have to study hard and be determined”.  The first lady also brought greetings on behalf of her husband President Donald Ramotar.

First Lady Deolachmee Ramotar surrounded by children

She said that the party was specially organised as a post Christmas and pre Mashramani fete with the aim of socialising with the children. She also took persons down memory lane, stating that the Huist Diren Primary School was the school she attended as a child and also taught as a teacher in her formative age as a teenager. She said she loves Essequibo and cherishes the memories and moments spent there.  The first lady said she loves children and will continue to serve in their interest.
Also as part of her visit, Ramotar took a walk around Huist Diren where she grew up as a teenager before migrating to Georgetown. During her tour, she socialised with residents where she shared some fond memories of her childhood days. She also visited the home where she was brought up and nostalgic moments flashed upon her as she became emotional. Ramotar chatted with her relatives for a while after which she left for the party. She later told the media that she is proud of Essequibo and the tremendous development that is ongoing. She said that she is impressed with her past school and the way the teachers are maintaining the classrooms. The first lady said too that she will try to partner with non profit organisation in reaching out to vulnerable children throughout Guyana.  Attending the party also was Food for the Poor (FFTP) Director, Leon Davis. A cultural programme was organised by the school for the first lady. Children from the school recited poems, sang songs and even danced with Ramotar. Ramotar also spent her time interacting with the children and sang their favourite songs and nursery rhymes. The children were also entertained by steel pan music provided by the New Opportunity Corps band. Gifts were also distributed to children at the NOC.

A police sergeant Monday night caused the death of a 68-year-old retired headmaster after running over him at the junction of a street in Charity.
Dead is Jonny (only name given), a retired headmaster of Charity Primary School. Police said an investigation has been launched into the accident which occurred around 19:15h. According to police, the sergeant was exiting a nursery school street trying to negotiate a turn to the left when he heard a sound. He immediately came out of his vehicle and saw a man lying lifeless next to his wheels.
Persons who also heard the sound quickly ran to the scene. An eyewitness told this newspaper that Jonny suffered massive head injuries. The witness said the retired headmaster usually would be on the road and described him as an alcoholic. Persons said that blood stains were on the street. Residents said the deceased was in the habit of loitering around the area.