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The sum of $7.3 billion will be spent to build more than 160 roads in communities across Linden, Region Ten (Upper Demerara- Berbice).

While providing an update on the works ongoing to develop the region on Tuesday, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill said currently 29 of those roads are under construction.

More than 100 more will be built in Mackenzie and Wismar.

“I can tell you every road in Linden will be done. They all cannot be done at the same time.

“Based on my record, there are about 100 roads in Mackenzie and 65 in Wismar to be completed, which gives a total of 165. When you add the length of all of these road together, it will be 47,949 meters.

“To do all the roads, it will cost us close to $7.3 million,” Edghill said during an appearance on 104.3FM radio programme on Tuesday.

He also said that priority is being given to small contractors, coming out of the communities.

“Last year we preserved work for small contractors and we were able to give 89 persons contracts to execute in various parts of Linden. We are going to do that again this year,” he said.

Additionally, Edghill said works on the Wismar Bridge have commenced.

In fact, he said the contractor is in the process of establishing a temporary structure from which they will operate, and store their machinery.

While this structure is being built, Edghill said traffic will still be facilitated.

The project, according to Edghill, is likely to be completed before its timeline.

President Ali had previously announced that once completed, commuters will not pay any toll to cross the Wismar Bridge.

The post Over $7B to be spent on road works in Linden- Edghill appeared first on News Room Guyana.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand on Monday told the News Room that the government will meet with officials of the University of Guyana (UG) later this week to discuss the upcoming graduation ceremonies and funding for the institution.

This meeting follows an announcement by President Dr. Irfaan Ali that tuition fees at the university will be abolished from January, 2025.

“We are meeting with the university within the next couple of days to determine how we can move forward sensibly and in the interest of all but we are not going to be shaken from the path of delivering free university education which people in this country asked for and we delivered,” Minister Manickchand said.

UG, in a statement, said it supports the tuition-free agenda but noted that tuition fees usually cover a lot of the university’s operating expenses.

For the past four years, UG added that in support of the anticipated free tuition, it has allowed many students to attend and complete their studies without fully paying fees.

“The government has been clear we are going to offer free tuition, I understand why free tuition might cause nervousness in political quarters that are not associated with the government, because that is a very popular programme.

“I think that is unfortunate because anything that develops our young people should be embraced by all,” Manickchand noted.

On October 10, President Dr. Irfaan Ali announced during a special address to the 12th Parliament of Guyana that starting January 2025, tuition fees will be completely abolished at UG.

This initiative is set to benefit about 11,000 current students and will cost about $8 billion.

In addition to the abolition of tuition fees at UG, President Ali on October 16, announced the abolition of tuition fees for all government and technical institutions, including the Carnegie School of Home Economics and the Guyana School of Agriculture.

The tuition fees at these institutions will also be eliminated starting in January 2025.

The post Free UG: Gov’t to meet with university administration this week appeared first on News Room Guyana.

Athletes and officials gathered at the National Stadium, Providence, on Sunday afternoon ahead of departure for the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) 2024, set for October 24-26 in French Guiana.

The Guyana contingent was given a send-off by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr., who wished the athletes well and urged them to use the IGG platform as a stepping stone to greater things in their careers.

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr. makes a point to the athletes in the presence of Director of Sport Steve Ninvalle (left) and Assistant Directors of Sport Melissa Dow-Richardson and Franklin Wilson (Photo: News Room/Avenash Ramzan/October 20, 2024)

Minister Ramson Jr. told the young athletes that government is making a significant investment in their lives by enabling their participation in crucial age-group events like IGG.

Labelling them the premier sportsmen and women in their respective disciplines at this level, the minister said it is important they are afforded the opportunity to grow and excel through rivalry with their counterparts from French Guiana and Suriname.

WATCH: Minister Ramson Jr. gives charges to athletes 

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Scores of current and past students of Queen’s College gathered at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown for a special assembly commemorating the institution’s 180th anniversary.

Past and present college members sang their Latin school song, cheered as they saw the flags of each of the 10 school houses, and immersed themselves in the celebration of the school hailed as Guyana’s premier secondary school.

Queen’s College students celebrated the school’s 180th anniversary at a special assembly on Monday (Photo: News Room/ October 21, 2024)

Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali joined the special assembly and acknowledged the foundation the institution set for many. It is no secret, he said, that the students of the college all possess a streak of excellence.

Even so, he urged all persons to embrace the core values they hold dear. Those values include a sense of humanity, tolerance, togetherness and equity.

Queen’s College old students celebrated the school’s 180th anniversary at a special assembly on Monday (Photo: News Room/ October 21, 2024)

“If all of us, collectively, across the country live these values then imagine the different country that we will be in.

“… In my humble view, staying true to the tradition of this institution and the value system of this institution is by honouring it, and the only way you can go out of it is by living it every day,” the Head of State said.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali at the Queen’s College special assembly on Monday (Photo: News Room/ October 21, 2024)

He also told the QC gathering that they should support others, in every facet of life.

For his part, he said the government is striving to guarantee that all schools are equipped with much-needed resources so that children everywhere can benefit. Dr. Ali explained that more schools are being constructed across the country to guarantee equal access to learning.

Beyond that, he said schools are being modernised and benefitting from trained teachers.

Education Minister and Alumna Priya Manickchand also spoke of the government’s aim to equip all schools with much-needed resources.

For her, it is very possible to make students at all other secondary schools as successful as those from Queen’s College once they are provided with adequate tools for success.

The Queen’s College week to activities continue all week, culminating in a grand gala on Saturday night.

The post ‘Embrace your values, support others’ – President Ali says at QC celebrated 180th anniversary  appeared first on News Room Guyana.

Navindra Latchman, a 28-year-old taxi driver of Queenstown, Essequibo Coast was charged for attempted on Monday.

Police Headquarters reported that Latchman, called Rocky, was arrested on October 15 after he attempted to murder Akeelah Maynard. Details on the incident were not provided.

He appeared at the Charity Magistrate’s Court on Monday before Magistrate Tamieka Clarke. The charge was read to him and he was not required to plea.

Latchman was remanded to prison until November 7, 2024.

The post E/bo taxi driver, 28, charged with attempted murder  appeared first on News Room Guyana.

Two men- Jerry Anderson and Raphael Watts- were arrested on Monday after Police nabbed them with an unlicensed firearm and ammunition in the vicinity of the Timehri bus park in Georgetown.

Police Headquarters reported that the men were arrested during an intelligence-led operation.

A black Nisan Juke (#PZZ 4712) was intercepted by Police at about 10:30 hrs. Watts, a 37-year-old gold miner from Zeelugt Housing Scheme, was in the vehicle with Anderson, the driver.

A search was conducted, which led to the discovery of one 9mm pistol along with one magazine and ten 9mm rounds of ammunition.

Both men were taken to the Brickdam Police Station, where they are assisting with the ongoing investigation.

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The Government of Guyana (GoG), through the Ministry of Natural Resources, is pleased to announce the award of contracts, through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), to market Guyana’s share of crude from the three (3) Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels as follows:

• BB Energy Trading Limited – Liza Unity and Prosperity FPSOs
• JE Energy – Liza Destiny FPSO

The international firms have been selected, following a competitive procurement process that commenced in September 2024 and saw twenty-seven (27) bids being submitted to NPTAB.

In keeping with the Request for Bids, the evaluation was on a lots basis where the most substantially responsive bidder in relation to the combined lots was determined in keeping with the evaluation criteria.

The combined premium per barrel to be received by the GoG from these two companies for the crudes from these three FPSOs amounts to US$1.85, reflecting a substantial 93% increase compared to the US$0.96 premium secured in the previous period (20232024).

The duration of this contract will be for twelve (12) months commencing in 2024 (Press release) 

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The Congo Nya Cultural Foundation in Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, Berbice, started 43 years ago by the late Ivelaw James, known as ‘Brooks.’

And it is still buzzing with activity today as his son, Lij James, has taken up the mantle of ensuring the skills taught there are passed down to young children.

Starting up a drumming school about a year ago, James was at this year’s Berbice expo at Rose Hall, playing his drums and encouraging young ones to come for a free, on-the-spot crash course.

His intention is to do all he can to preserve the Guyanese culture and bring back old folk drumming.

“The foundation started in 1981 by my dad and I have been playing as a kid coming up and it’s been passing from generation to generation. We incorporate the Guyanese culture, mixed with a little of African, and we blend it and it’s like a Guyanese fusion. It’s local folk songs with the drums,” James related in an interview with News Room on Sunday at the expo.

Sponsored by the Small Business Bureau this year, James is also into handmade craft and had his items displayed at the expo. Meanwhile, he continued to entertaining passersby with his drumming.

“At the expo, you have the opportunity to learn to play the drum without coming to a drumming school. It’s like the drumming school coming to you. Kids can come and play with the group free of cost,” he said.

The drumming school he started up has 17 students at the moment, ages five to 15 years old. “I realised that the culture is dying out, so I am trying to bring it back to people; bring back the Guyanese, old folk drumming back to them,” he shared.

“I love doing this. I was born into it and I am passionate about it. Whatever I have in me I bring it out in the drums,” he added.

The post Stanleytown man ‘upbeat’ about keeping culture alive appeared first on News Room Guyana.

The Guyana Chess Federation’s junior chess teams are heading to French Guiana from October 24th to 26th to participate in the 2024 Inter Guiana Games.

The female team includes WCM Aditi Joshi, Ciel Clement, Kaija Clement, and Italy Ton-Chung, while the male team features CM Sachin Pitamber, Alexander Zhang, and Omar Shariff.

Due to last-minute opt-outs, Kaija Clement will fill in on the female team, leaving the male team one member short.

The teams are led by Coach Roberto Nero, alongside officials Tanya Clement and Archana Joshi.

The athletes will compete in various sports, including chess, alongside athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, futsal, swimming, and table tennis.

The National Sports Commission arranged travel and uniforms for the 140-member contingent, which met with the Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr. who encouraged the athletes to stay safe and enjoy their time in French Guiana.

The games aim to strengthen relationships among French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana, with Guyana set to host the IGG in 2025.

The contingent will arrive in Cayenne on October 22nd for the opening ceremony, with competitions concluding on October 26th.

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Jos Buttler’s return as England white-ball captain has been delayed by at least three more matches, after he was ruled out of next week’s ODI leg of their tour of the Caribbean due to his long-standing calf injury.

Buttler, 34, has been plagued by the injury for four months, and has not played a competitive match since England’s elimination from the T20 World Cup, with their semi-final defeat to India in Guyana in June.

He missed the entirety of Manchester Originals’ Hundred campaign, and then withdrew from the T20I and ODI series against Australia in September as well.

According to the ECB, he has now suffered a “slight setback” in his rehabilitation, and will consequently fly direct to Barbados ahead of the five-match T20I series, which begins on November 9.

In Buttler’s absence, Liam Livingstone has been named as England’s ODI captain. It will be his first opportunity in the role, with Harry Brook – Buttler’s stand-in in the ODIs against Australia – currently in Rawalpindi preparing for the third Test against Pakistan.

Michael Pepper, the Essex wicketkeeper-batter, has been added to the squad as cover, although the selectors had always intended to add two extra players to the tour, depending on the team selection for the third Test in Rawalpindi. Jordan Cox, England’s spare Test batter who made his white-ball debut against Australia, is one likely inclusion, as is the legspinner Rehan Ahmed.

Pepper has only played seven List A games but was third third-highest run-scorer in 2024 Vitality Blast and finished the season with Essex in good form, scoring his maiden first-class hundreds.

Buttler’s continued absence will raise speculation around his international future, despite the assurances from Brendon McCullum, England’s incoming white-ball coach, that he would remain front and centre of his plans, with McCullum pointedly saying that “he’s been a little bit miserable at times.”

“He’s an incredibly gifted player,” McCullum added at his unveiling. “He’s a fine leader. My job is to get the best out of him so that all those that sit in the dressing-room feel like they can be ten-feet tall and bulletproof when they walk out to play, and they know that the skipper is going to give them that extra pat on the back and and enjoy the ride with them.”

Buttler was a non-playing presence during the Australia series, with Marcus Trescothick, England’s interim white-ball coach who will be leading the Caribbean tour, insisting: “There’s no reason why Jos won’t fit back into that mould, score millions of runs, captain well and fit back into the team perfectly.”

“Let’s make it clear,” Trescothick said. “He will come straight back in. At what position, I don’t know. We’ll look at that for the Caribbean.” (ESPNcricinfo)

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