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One week after it held its congress, the main opposition People’s National Congress announced the names of those members who will make up the new Central Executive Committee.

Voting was done on Sunday last. By Monday, the party confirmed that Aubrey C. Norton was returned as Leader, Shurwayne Holder as Chairperson, and Elizabeth Williams-Niles and Vinceroy Jordan as Vice-Chairperson. Elson Low was elected as the new Treasurer.

After a week of continued tabulations, the party said Friday that Nima Flue-Bess, Mervyn Williams, Ganesh Mahipaul, Coretta McDonald, Robin Simon, Riaz Rupnarain, Anil Sugrim, Joan Ann Ramascindo, Sherwood Lowe, Troy Garraway, Kemel Kissoon, Marcia Gordon, Wainwright McIntosh, Deron Adams and Jermaine Figueira will make up the central executive committee.

Vincent Alexander announced these results. He said all activities were conducted without any breaches, except for the slothful voting and the extended period of the count of the ballots for central executive committee members.

The Ministry of Health launched a mass distribution campaign to tackle Filariasis in Regions Three and Four with the hopes of eliminating and lowering the amount of positive cases in the country.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, is a neglected tropical disease. Infection occurs when filarial parasites are transmitted to humans through mosquitoes. Infection is usually acquired in childhood and causes hidden damage to the lymphatic system.

Dr. Anastacia Sampson, Coordinator of the lymphatic Filariasis elimination campaign, gave brief remarks on the purpose of the campaign while sharing some statistics based on the previous campaigns conducted by the Ministry of Health.

“Six months after our last MDA in 2021, Guyana would have shifted to its post-MDA surveillance phase. The first activity was an epidemiological monitoring survey targeting 26 filaria hotspots in 13 evaluation units,” she stated.

Adding further, she highlighted that three out of the 26 hotspots were above the recommended threshold.

Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony said resources would also be made more readily available to tackle other current and important issues.
Dr. Frank Anthony thanked all officials and those who trained to be a part of the filaria campaign while urging the public to participate to not only safeguard themselves but their younger ones from filaria.

Also present at the commencement of the IDA drug distribution were Dr. Reza Niles-Robin – Director of the Vector Control Services, Ministry of Health, Dr. Gavinash Persaud – Regional Health Officer Region 4, Dr. Erica Forte – Regional Health Officer Region 3, Mr. Daniel Albrecht – PAHO/WHO Representative to Guyana, Travis Ellis – councilor from the community of Albouystown and other trained pill distributors and health officials.

As part of the modernisation plan for the Guyana Police Force, three senior police officers were rotated in the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). These changes were announced on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner ‘Administration’ (ag.) Calvin Brutus is now the Head of Special Branch, Deputy Commissioner ‘Operations’ (ag.) Ravindradat Budhram is now in charge of ‘Administration’ and Head of Special Branch Assistant Commissioner, Errol Watts is now in charge of ‘Operations’.

Commissioner of Police (ag.) Clifton Hicken responded to news reports about a ‘shake-up’ in the top brass of the Guyana Police Force and clarified that the rotation of officers is a management tool used to create and foster efficiency within the Force.

Additionally, the Top Cop also responded to a social media post by an overseas-based Guyanese alleging that the Police Commissioner and another senior officer were sent home as part of an ongoing investigation by SOCU.

“Please note that this is not true. This report is misleading and fake,” Hicken clarified.

In 2022, Watts, Budhram, and Brutus were among several Senior Superintendents promoted after a two-year impasse. This delay occurred when five senior officers challenged the Police Service Commission (PSC) in court over the 2020 promotion list. Brutus had taken legal action to block the promotions, claiming the PSC, chaired then by retired senior cop Paul Slowe, was acting unlawfully.

Chief Justice (ag.) Roxane George dismissed the challenge.

President Irfaan Ali had also suspended the entire PSC the year before. In May 2022, a new Commission, chaired by Bishop Patrick Findlay, was fully constituted. Findlay had committed to tackling the challenging task of police promotions.

Jaden Haripershad, an 11-year-old pupil of the Jacklow Primary School, has made himself and his family very proud, performing exceptionally at this year’s National Grade Six Assessment  (NGSA).

Despite grappling with cerebral palsy, club feet, and esotropia—a condition where one eye turns inward—Jaden has soared academically, securing an impressive 472.23 at this year’s NGSA.

His achievement places him as the second-highest performer for his school in Region Two, earning him a coveted spot at Anna Regina Secondary.

Jaden and his mother, Shelly Stephen

A 65-year-old manager of a Toucan Industries Limited was Wednesday night robbed by two men of $10 million at a local bank in Kingston, Georgetown.

Police Headquarters said the robbery happened around 21:50 hrs. The money stolen belongs to Toucan Distributors Limited.

Police said the man was robbed by two identifiable males fully dressed in Police blue and black uniforms, both armed with pistols and wearing ski masks.

The man reportedly left work at about 21:15 hrs in a black Land Cruiser vehicle (PKK 3700) with five GBTI bags containing the cash. On his arrival at the bank, he met with Telbert Grant, a security guard attached to GEB security firm, on duty.

It was noted that the security guard opened the gate and allowed the 65-year-old access to the deposit site, which is located on the southern side of the bank.

As the 65-year-old man proceeded to the deposit area, he observed two motorcyclists approaching from behind his vehicle and became concerned.

However, the manager observed that the motorcyclists appeared to be Police Officers.

As such, the 65-year-old walked towards the deposit vault with the money bags in his hand, at which point one of the suspects approached him from behind, pulled out a firearm and pointed it at his head.

The suspect then grabbed the bags from his hand. That suspect then joined the other motorcyclist, and they made good their escape out of the bank’s compound into an unknown direction.

Detectives are in the process of reviewing Close Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV), as investigations continue.