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  • Sonia Parag ready to bring ‘fresh energy’ to communities as new local gov’t minister

    Sonia Parag ready to bring ‘fresh energy’ to communities as new local gov’t minister

    new Minister of Local Government and Regional Development on Tuesday night and she says she is ready to bring fresh energy in her new role.

    Parag, during an interview with the News Room on Wednesday, explained that many of the programmes and plans of the Local Government Ministry were rolled out immediately once the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government took office in 2020.

    So for her, a huge undertaking is to guarantee that those plans and programmes continue to be implemented so that communities all across the country can benefit.

    “So it’s a continuation but maybe with a bit more energy, maybe with a bit more vibrancy.

    “… Look, we are dealing with communities. They want to be able to have good roads, they want to be able to have electricity, they want to be able to have water, they want to be able to have good schools. Health centres and a good quality of life.

    “So the programmes that are continuing as well as the new ones coming on board, we will be pushing in these communities to better the quality of life for all Guyanese,” she explained.

    The Local Government and Regional Development Ministry is responsible for guiding development in communities, promoting participation among local government bodies and generally, all matters relating to community development.

    Minister Parag said the Local Government Ministry may also focus on new infrastructure projects meant to help residents.

    Parag joins Anand Persaud at the Ministry. Persaud served as the Minister of Local Government since June 2023 following the resignation of Nigel Dharamlall.

  • GCB buoyed by representation on regional, international cricket circuit

    GCB buoyed by representation on regional, international cricket circuit

    Members of the successful Guyana Under-13 squad upon arrival in Guyana. The players are flanked by Head Coach Ameer Rahaman (right), Assistant Coach Kumar Bishundial (second right) and Manager Rayon DeCosta (left) at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport, Ogle (Photo: News Room/Kirth Cadogan/August 9, 2023)

    FEMALE CRICKET

    West Indies Women’s Tri-Series team in January, 2023

    • Shemaine Campbelle
    • Cherry-Ann Fraser
    • Sheneta Grimmond
    • Shabika Gajnabi
    • Kaysia Schultz

    West Indies Girls Under-19 World Cup team in January, 2023

    • Ashmini Munisar (Captain)
    • Releanna Grimmond

    ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in March, 2023

    • Shemaine Campbelle
    • Shabika Gajnabi

    West Indies versus Ireland series in June-July, 2023

    • Shemaine Cambelle
    • Cherry-Ann Fraser
    • Shabika Gajnabi

    Caribbean Premier League (Women) in August-September, 2023

    • Shemaine Campbelle (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
    • Cherry-Ann Fraser (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
    • Sheneta Grimmond (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
    • Shabika Gajnabi (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
    • Ashmini Munisar (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
    • Kaysia Schultz (Guyana Amazon Warriors)

    West Indies Women Tour of Australia 2023 in September-October, 2023

    • Shemaine Campbelle
    • Shabika Gajnabi
    • Cherry-Ann Fraser
    • Ashmini Munisar

    West Indies Women ‘A’ Team Tour of Pakistan in October-November, 2023

    • Mandy Mangru
    • Nyia Latchman
    • Sheneta Grimmond
    • Ashmini Munisar
    • Cherry-Ann Fraser
    • Shabika Gajnabi
  • Minibus operator files $35M lawsuit against State for wrongful arrest, imprisonment

    Minibus operator files $35M lawsuit against State for wrongful arrest, imprisonment

    An Industry, East Coast Demerara (ECD) minibus operator has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Guyana Police Force and by extension the State, for his unlawful detention and imprisonment in October 2023 in relation to a case of mistaken identity over monies owned for a battery.

    Through his attorney, Dexter Todd, Richard Rodney, who was kept in custody for four days, is deeming the actions of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) as “unlawful.”

    In a statement, Dexter Todd and Associates Law Firm said Rodney filed the legal action on January 3, 2024, seeking in excess of $35 million in compensation from the State for his unlawful arrest, detention and imprisonment without any “proper” investigating or “logical” cause.

    According to the statement, Rodney was intercepted during a Police road block in the vicinity of Sugrim Singh Road, East Coast Demerara.

    At the time, Rodney, who was driving his minibus, was told by the Policeman to “get out the vehicle” and was subsequently informed that an arrest warrant was issued for him for monies owned for a battery.

    “Mr. Rodney was taken to the Sparendaam Police Station by the police officer who went into a room and brought out an arrest warrant for damage to property in which the defendant on that warrant was sentenced to six months in prison by the magistrate. Mr. Rodney indicated to the officer that he was not that person; neither does he live at the address stated on the warrant.

    “He further showed the officer his driver’s license and indicated that they should do proper investigation to know who they are looking for as that person is not him,” the lawyer’s statement explained.

    Rodney’s pleas fell on deaf ears and he was informed that he would be required to spend six months in prison.

    “Mr. Rodney was arrested and later that evening taken to the Cove and John Police Station where he was placed in the lock-ups. The next morning Mr. Rodney’s hands and feet were shackled and he was subsequently taken to the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court where the issue of the battery was settled.

    “However, Mr. Rodney was then taken to the Sparendaam Police Station where he was again shackled. He told the station Sergeant there that they have the wrong person but she refused to listen and even told him that he should serve his time and let his family fight his case after that. They further refused to call the complainant to verify if police had indeed arrested the right person,” the statement detailed.

    As such, Rodney was escorted to the Lusignan prison to serve the sentence.

    “Mr. Rodney told his story to multiple officers, including senior Prison Officer Mr. Charles, who did some investigation of his own and unearthed that indeed Mr. Rodney was who he said he was and not the person the police should have arrested,” the statement noted.

    And after a series of back and forth, Rodney was released from Police custody on October 4, 2023.

    This means that Rodney was released after spending four days behind bars.

    “On Friday October 6, 2023 at about 7pm Mr. Rodney was collected from the prison and taken to the Brickdam Police Station by the police where he was made to give a statement and then subsequently handcuffed again and later placed in the lock ups of the Brickdam Police Station.

    “On Saturday October 7, 2023 he was taken to the Criminal Investigation department office at the Brickdam Police Station then to the Lusignan prison then to the Brickdam Police Station again and thereafter back to the Lusignan prison with the correct person.

    “At about 2pm on Saturday October 7, 2023 Mr. Rodney was taken by the police onto the Mon Repos Public Road, East Coast Demerara where he was then released from custody,” the statement explained.

    The lawyer said all of this could have been avoided if a phone call was made to the virtual complainant in the matter or if the information provided by Rodney were verified.

    “It was not until the prison service got involved that the truth of the story was unearthed and the Guyana Police Force realized they had imprisoned the wrong person,” the statement noted.

  • Siraj, Bumrah bowl India to victory in record time

    Siraj, Bumrah bowl India to victory in record time

  • Pakistan snare Warner, Khawaja on rain-hit second day

    Pakistan snare Warner, Khawaja on rain-hit second day

  • Five homeless after electrical fire destroys Meten-Meer-Zorg house

    Five homeless after electrical fire destroys Meten-Meer-Zorg house

  • Young mother fearful for her life after allegedly beaten 30 times by partner

    Young mother fearful for her life after allegedly beaten 30 times by partner

  • Essequibo man shot multiple times during robbery

    Essequibo man shot multiple times during robbery

  • Burke’s charges are for extortion not because he’s a gov’t critic- Nandlall

    Burke’s charges are for extortion not because he’s a gov’t critic- Nandlall

    Rickford Burke was recently served with a defendant summons at his New York residence, two years after two wanted bulletins were issued for him.

    As a result, the Guyana Police Force and by extension, the government, has come in for heavy criticism from the main opposition party, who alleged that it is a move to silence Burke, a staunch critic of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government.

    But Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC, deems these assertions falsehoods.

    “Nobody is charging Burke for being a critic. We have many critics against the government.

    “Burke is being charged for committing a criminal offence – extortion,” Nandlall clarified.

    In September 2022, the Police said Burke was wanted for “conspiracy to commit a felony to wit publication of defamatory libel in order to extort money.”

    Burke was implicated by two reporters – Gary Eleazar and Alex Wayne – who were arrested during a sting operation.

    The reporters were interviewed by detectives and they detailed the plan to extort a businessman in exchange for having an article removed from Guyana News Network, GNN, an online outfit known to carry libellous and slanderous articles against individuals. The reporters implicated Burke as the person behind GNN.

    SUMMONS PROPERLY SERVED

    Another falsehood the AG sought to dismantle was the claim that the summons was not properly served on Burke in New York and it constitutes a descent into dictatorship.

    “Burke is accused and charged with two serious criminal offences and now served summons to appear in court so he can defend himself.

    “If the trial went on without him being served and denied an opportunity to defend himself and have a fair trial, those would constitute a miscarriage of justice and can lend to the allegation of authoritarianism,” the Attorney General reasoned.

    “Here the State is bending backwards to ensure that the defendant is made aware of the charges and the proceedings and notified of his court date so that he can make himself present either personally or through representative to ensure his interest is protected,” he added.

    Nandlall further reasoned that none of the arguments put forward points to any express provision in law that prohibits the service of the summons outside of Guyana.

    “Has an offence been committed within the jurisdiction within Guyana? If yes, then the Guyana Court has jurisdiction to try the offence.

    “If the court has jurisdiction to try the offence, then wherever the defendant is, the court has the power to bring the defendant before it.”

    Nandlall further noted that the offences for which Burke was served with two summons are indictable offences and a reliance on the Summary Jurisdiction Magistrate Act to demonstrate that it was wrongly done is not accurate.

    The law that applies is the Criminal Law Procedure Act, specifically Chapter 10:01.

    And it reads: “48. Every magistrate may issue a summons or warrant as hereinafter mentioned to compel the appearance of an accused person before him for the purpose of preliminary inquiry, in any of the following cases:

    “(a) if the person is accused of having committed in any place whatever an indictable offence triable in Guyana, and 1s, or is suspected to be, within the limits in which the magistrate has jurisdiction, or resides or is suspected to reside within those limits; or

    “(b) if he, wherever he may be, is accused of having committed an indictable offence within those limits, or on any journey during any part of which he has passed through them; or

    “(c) if he is alleged to have anywhere unlawfully received property which was so unlawfully obtained within those limits as to render him liable for an indictable offence.”

    This, according to Nandlall, is the law that applies as he debunked the arguments, both legal and layman, that reprimands the move.

    “You can’t commit an offence against the laws of Guyana and think the law would be so impotent that we can’t try you.

    “That you can just stay out the country… the arms of the law are very long, the process may be a slow one but it is a sure one,” Nandlall contended.

  • Failure to pay NIS deductions to the scheme is a criminal offense – Nandlall reminds employers

    Failure to pay NIS deductions to the scheme is a criminal offense – Nandlall reminds employers

    A landmark case in local courts has sparked new debate over employers’ deductions of their employees’ contributions to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and instances of a failure to pay over those deductions to the scheme.

    And though already in the public domain, Attorney General Anil Nandlall has used the occasion to remind employers that while they are allowed to make NIS deductions from their employees’ salaries, a failure to pay over those monies to the NIS constitutes a criminal offense.

    “Because we know, we know that many employers are deducting NIS from employees but are not remitting those payments to NIS and that is an offense.

    “A criminal offense under the laws,” Nandlall said during his Tuesday night ‘Issues in the News’ commentary on his Facebook page.

    In November 2023, High Court Judge Damone Younge ordered NIS to pay 60-year-old Shariff Zainul his old age pension after it was found that he had worked with Toolsie Persaud Limited (TPL) for several years and that contributions had been taken from his salary for social security.

    The issue is that the NIS has now appealed the ruling, refusing to make the payout to Zainul on the insistence that his employer, Toolsie Persaud Limited (TPL), never remitted those contributions to the scheme.

    While some have said the appeal is shocking, the AG fears that if the ruling stands, it will open the floodgates for suits against the scheme, a situation that can lead NIS to bankruptcy.

    In the first instance, Nandlall confirmed that the appeal was not filed by his Chambers.

    Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC

    “The issue as I understand it and the reason or the filing of the appeal has very little to do with monies awarded to individuals.

    “The issue is that the employer was not made a party to proceedings. The gentleman sued NIS only and did not join Toolsie Persaud Limited in the proceedings.

    “The NIS records show no remissions were made by the employer to NIS,” Nandlall said in support of the appeal.

    Zainul had records that he produced to the Court to establish that deductions were made from his wages/salaries.

    Nandlall insisted, however, that the NIS records do not establish that those deductions were paid over.

    “…and that is the problem with the case.”

    “If this decision is allowed to go unchallenged then it opens the floodgate where everyone will sue NIS and not their employers and NIS will have to pay although NIS did not receive any remissions of the payments made by the employee to the employers,” Nandlall explained.

    Further, Nandlall insisted and rejected criticism that NIS was refusing to pay the man’s entitlement.

    He said: “It’s about every employee whose payment was deducted but not transmitted to NIS… they too will have a claim and NIS will have to pay moieties it never received.”

    This the AG regarded as a serious problem, one that could bankrupt the NIS and believes this is a good enough reason and consideration that caused the appeal to be filed by NIS.

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