As the voices of staff and students of the University of Guyana (UG) joined as one during a massive marchStephen De Abreuthrough Georgetown yesterday, the voices of a small but important section of the University’s service providers remain silent.These voices are those of the bus drivers and taxi drivers who transport students to and from the university. And as strikes continue on the UG main campus the pressure mounts for these workers.When the university is in full swing these drivers provide their services throughout the day, beginning early in the morning and ending late into the night when the last of the classes conclude.UG’s new semester has been postponed for just over three weeks yet these drivers faithfully turn out each day; they sit in their boiling hot buses and cars, wiping sweat off their faces as they wait for passengers who slowly trickle in for a drop.“The problem is that we are working and we not getting a normal work day,” bus driver Deo Persaud told Kaieteur News. He said that when the University is open they can make about five to eight trips. Now, he said, they are only making half of this figure.He said the drivers now depend on passengers picked up along the route or those from areas surrounding the University, because it is oftentimes difficult to find an entire load.“We’re dependent on the University…Without the students we just don’t get a full day of work,” he admitted.Another bus driver said that there are about 60 to 70 buses plying the route but, since the strike commenced,Mohan Ramtahalmany of these drivers have not turned out to work.“Sometimes some working sometimes is just a set of us. Is not all the buses working; but if all the buses been working we woulda mek even (fewer) trips,” he noted. He continued, “When work deh, we work, when work ain’t deh you got to try and catch up and what little you make got to do.”He said he worked the entire of last week because he had a driver he needed to pay, regardless of if work is available or not. He said after his payments, he is only left with a pittance to take home.“What li’l bit we get we got to be content with it; we can’t do anything else,Wholesale Jerseys US,” he said.Though he noted that the situation is not a new one since UG is often closed for breaks, he admitted that it is a difficult one because UG had been closed since the Christmas holidays. He said that this extended break is similar to the so-called ‘summer/break which lasts from June to late August.He explained that the situation is difficult from both sides of the route – in Georgetown and on the campus. “Sometimes if we go down at 9 [am] you don’t get a load until about 1 [pm] and when you run down there is a whole set of buses already lined up there waiting to do the same thing you need to do,” he pointed out.The buses would usually head home later when UG was opened. However, with the recent strikes, these hours have been cut and the buses are now heading home in the early afternoon, he added.“We coming out later and going home earlier,” the driver lamented.Clifford DodsonDifficult timesTaxi drivers for short drops to the University’s campus also say they are affected by the ongoing strikes. They maintain that there needs to be a resumption of classes.Driver, Mohan Ramtahal, said that his work is so drastically lessened that he has resorted to “running the road” to supplement his income. “We’re not getting the work that we used to; I does got to leave and go to make an ends at other places, because this amount of work I’m getting don’t pay,” he explained.He added that he turned out yesterday in hope that the strike action would have ceased. However, he said, his hopes were dashed. The strikes seemed to intensify, he added.Stephen de Abreu, another of the short-drop drivers,Cheap Nike Air Max 90 Online, said there are about nine cars working the route but only about three of these drivers turn out to work since the strikes commenced. He too said he begins his days early and ends them earlier each day.Clifford Dodson said that he had been working the route for over six years. His post affords him the opportunity to hear about a number of strikes and issues arising at the University. He also said his job allowed him to constantly hear the complaints of students as they make their way into the University.“I don’t recall ever carrying in students and they didn’t complain; if is not for the library, it’s for the lecturers, for the facilities,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, something. It’s a very unhappy situation,” he said.Business is slow for buses travelling to and from the University of Guyana as strike actions continue over wages.This “unhappy situation” had been particularly difficult on those taxi drivers who wait each day on UG road for passengers,<a href="http://www.cheapnfljerseyswh

A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) has identified its candidates for the National Assembly and the Regional Democratic Councils, following the official declaration of results for recently held General and Regional Elections.Among the candidates identified for the National Assembly are Sydney Allicock of the Guyana Action Party (GAP); businessman Ronald Bulkan; Economist, Carl Greenidge; Attorney-at-Law, Joseph Harmon; Opthalmologist, Dr. George Norton and former Commissioner of Police Winston Felix;? Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine and Desmond Trotman of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA); Keith Scott from the National Front Alliance (NFA); Dawn Hastings of Jawalla, Upper Mazaruni; Richard Allen, businessman from Port Kaituma, Region One; accountant and Georgetown Chairman of the PNCR Volda Lawrence; Africo Selman; Attorney-at-Law,China NFL Jerseys, Basil Williams; Jaipaul Sharma;. John Adams; Jennifer Wade;. Vanessa Kissoon and Pastor-Consultant, Rennis Morian.A release from APNU noted that among the young people extracted are Administrator, Annette Ferguson; Youth leader, Christopher Jones; Attorney-at-Law,Cheap World Cup Jerseys, James Bond; Teacher,Cheap Jerseys USA, Vanessa Kissoon and Justice For All (JFAP) member and Accountant,Cheap Jerseys, Jaipaul Sharma.The four candidates extracted for the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Nine? are former activist of The United Force (TUF) Muacir Baretto from St. Ignatius, Guyana Action Party (GAP) activist, Vincent Henry, People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) activist Dionysia Thres (aka Nieuenkirk) and A.P.N.U Regional Campaign Manager, Carl Parker. Region Two RDC list includes Wazeer Latiff of the WPA.The release noted that A.P.N.U has only extracted 25 of the 26 names for the National Assembly. The 26th name will be submitted after discussions and consultations are concluded for the Speaker of the National Assembly.A.P.N.U submitted Lists of Candidates to contest all of the ten Regional Democratic Councils, all ten Geographic Constituencies and the National Top-Up List for the National Assembly on Nomination Day. The total number of candidates approved by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was 459 as follows: Regional Elections: 327, of whom 138 were women; Geographical Constituency Elections: 45, of whom nineteen were women; National Top-Up List: eighty-seven (87), of whom twenty-nine were women.GECOM’s declaration of the results showed that A.P.N.U won 16 seats on the National Top-Up List, 10 seats on the Regional Geographic Constituencies List and? 73 seats on the ten Regional Democratic Councils.“The Leadership of A.P.N.U applied the already announced “CEGGO principle” – Competence, Ethnicity, Gender,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, Geographical, Generational and Occupational diversity – to determine those candidates to be extracted. In addition,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, their contribution and involvement in the campaign were also considered. Naturally, with so many candidates to choose from, the task was a difficult one, involving extensive consultation with the various partners and the campaign managers in various parts of the country.”The APNU statement concluded that the extracted persons from the lists “reflect the commitment given by A.P.N.U before the Elections and provide a unique balance of competent people of all ages from all geographic regions of Guyana, all ethnic groups and occupations. Women and youth are well represented and the Partnership is confident that its extracted candidates present a competent and experienced team to work for the achievement of the objectives outlined in our Manifesto and to provide adequate representation of the more than 139,678 voters who expressed confidence in A.P.N.U at the last elections.”

Almost five months have passed and the whereabouts of 44-year-old Vidol Anthony Rawlins,Vidol Anthony Rawlins, his wife and step daughter in happy times.who is accused of murdering his wife at their Lot 4 Crane Housing Scheme home,Authentic Jerseys Wholesale, on July 18, last, remain unknown.Hours after the police found the nude body of the 30-year-old housewife with a stab wound to her neck and a confession letter signed by her spouse,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, lying beside her,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, a search was launched.To date, the suspect has managed to stay one step ahead of the police.Yesterday, ‘D’ Division Commander, Ian Amsterdam,Wholesale Jerseys 2017, in an interview with this newspaper said that ranks have been searching for the suspect but he keeps moving.The commander added that his division received information some time last month that the 44-year-old man was staying at a relative in Georgetown but when the ranks showed up, there was no sign of him.He further revealed that his ranks have not given up on this case. He is convinced that the suspect will be caught and placed before the Court.A relative of the murdered housewife had told this publication that they had received information that one of the man’s relatives is hiding him in the city.However, relatives claimed that the suspect moved from that location and is hiding in Berbice.“The people said that he moved from there, so I guess he keeps moving from one location to another,” the relative said.This newspaper was told that the suspect was spotted in Crane, West Coast Demerara and in Alberttown, Georgetown.The police said that Rawlins had bound and gagged his stepdaughter before stabbing her mother in the neck.According to a police source close to the investigation, the 11-year-old girl informed them that she was in her room when she heard her stepfather demanding sex from her mother.She said that she did not take the noise too serious because constant quarrelling was a norm in the home.“She said she went back to sleep. The next day when she wake up,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, the stepfather taped her mouth and tied her up in a chair,Cheap NFL Jerseys,” a police source explained.He added that the girl claimed that she managed to untie herself after some time and ran to her mother’s room.“When she see her mother she start scream and she run and call out for the neighbours who then informed us,” the police source said.No one reported hearing any noise coming from the house. Neighbours had said that the couple fought and quarreled very often.

Police have detained two people for last Tuesday night’s execution-style killing of army Lance CorporalArmy Lance Corporal Kevon PayneKevon Payne, who was gunned down outside his mother’s Sussex Street, Charlestown home.But that is all that Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum was prepared to say yesterday about the investigation,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, and about the possible motives for Payne’s murder.However, Kaieteur News understands that one of the detained men is from Albouystown. Police are said to be checking on a number of theories – one is that a known drug dealer may have ordered Payne’s death.It is alleged that one of Payne’s brothers, Vellone Thorne, had an argument last week with a drug dealer, who is known to the family.The argument reportedly turned physical and the drug dealer later threatened to “finish” Payne’s brother.Kaieteur News was told that the drug dealer told villagers that he has $10M and was willing to pay “the experts” to take out his enemy, because he was too “disrespectful” to him.There are reports that when Kevon Payne asked for time off from his work on Tuesday after he learnt of the incident involving his brother (Thorne) and the drug dealer. He reportedly went to meet the individual.“My brother (Kevon) is a peaceful person. He hear that this man said he gun kill our brother and he went and confront he, but this man started to behave stupid,Cheap NFL Jerseys, so my brother (Kevon) told him, if he kill my brother, he will have to live in the sky,” Sharmain Thorne,Nike NFL Jerseys China, the dead man’s sister said.Relatives believe that the well known drug dealer organized the soldier’s death after they talked early Tuesday.“I think they kill Kevon to get to the other brother (Vellone) because they know that he is a road man and it won’t be easy to kill him,” the sibling had stated.Payne’s stepfather,Cheap Jerseys Supply, Rudolph Thorne said that he too had tried to make peace between his son, Vellone and the drug dealer, when he learnt of the incident.“I meet him (drug dealer) and I ask him what happened and he said that my son disrespectful to him and that he got $10M and he gun get rid of my son,” Thorne said.The man said that his relatives have already provided the police with the names of the shooter and the drug dealer who they claim arranged the execution-style killing.Kevon Payne was reportedly shot at least six times by his killer, who arrived on the scene on a white motorcycle and escaped with an accomplice,Cheap NBA Store, following a brief exchange of gunfire with police ranks.Shakel Wilson, a friend of the dead man,Cheap Jerseys China, was shot in the leg. He is being treated at a private hospital.Payne’s relatives are claiming that the police too played a part in his death. Amid these reports, the Guyana Police Force’s Office of Professional Responsibility has launched an investigation.This newspaper was told that investigators are also testing the weapons of those ranks, who were present at the scene.

Amidst the ongoing “unfair licence distribution” saga, Region 10 is optimistic that the government will follow through with their promise to grant Linden a television license. The granting will be in keeping with an agreement signed between Lindeners and the government on August 21,NFL Jerseys China, 2012.Region Ten Chairman Sharma SolomonRegion Ten Chairman,Cheap Jerseys, Sharma Solomon, told the media last week that he is setting to engage the government on the granting of the licence and is looking forward to discussing other issues such as the station’s board of trustees.Solomon said that now that the budget debates are over, he hopes that the government will take an earnest approach to fulfill its promise. “Our position is that we are firm that the region will move forward regardless and show commitment towards honouring the agreement.”He added that several persons have already been approached to partake in the processing of the station, while the region is bent on crafting and implementing its measures for advancement. Solomon had in an earlier report said that the station Management Board will include a private investor, acting in the capacity of Chief Executive Officer.Solomon also stated earlier this year that his administration would not make another application for a broadcast licence since the region was asked to re-apply to the National Frequency Management Unit (MFMU). He said that the Regional Administration had already sent in an application,Cheap China Jerseys, and that is the most that it was willing to do based on the understanding of the agreement that was signed with the NFMU.“We are saying that the agreement predates the National Broadcasting Authority.” Solomon stated if it was known that the region would have to re-apply for the licence, his administration would have never signed the agreement since at the time there was no broadcasting authority.Solomon said last week that the ongoing questionable licence distribution issue is only the tail end of a matter that existed long before former President Bharrat Jagdeo had distributed those contentious radio licences. According to him, Linden had been, for a long time,Wholesale China Jerseys, fighting to obtain a television licence and was isolated in its quest.Now the light has been shed on the licence issue and what appears to be an unethical distribution, stakeholders from the inception, he said, should have joined forces to tackle the licence distribution issue.He said, “It should have been a collective voice making a collective demand.” That way, he said, the force would have been greater, likewise the voices making one call.Local media houses have however been fighting an ongoing battle for the last couple of months to have the Jagdeo-issued licence revoked,Authentic Jerseys Wholesale, calling the distribution process biased. The former President issued some 10 licences one week before demitting office.It was revealed that several close associates of the former President,Adidas NHL Jerseys China, close friends, family and party associates had been issued licences.Local media houses staged several protest actions and fora of condemnation. The international community has also come on board condemning the former President’s actions.

By Kiana WilburgLike the rice and sugar industries, the housing sector is in a sad state. This is according toMinister with responsibility for Housing, Valerie PattersonMinister of Housing, Valerie Patterson.Recently, she sought to address the worrying state of affairs in the housing sector. It was initially brought to the foreground by Finance Minister, Winston Jordan.Jordan told the nation that construction declined from a budgeted 10.5 percent to a projected 3.2 percent in 2016.The Finance Minister also stated that this performance is related to a decline in activity in the housing sector and the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).With the aforementioned as her premise, Patterson commented that the approved budget for the year 2016 for Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) totaled $5.8B.The Minister said that the total capital expenditure as at September 30, 2016, is $503.4M, which represents 8.6% of the approved budget, while current expenditure stands at $354.8M and current revenues at $51.5M.Patterson said that the projected revenue and expenditure for the remainder of the year is $190.0M and $1.124B respectively. She said that CH&PA is not expected to satisfy its capital expenditure budget of $5.2B for 2016.Patterson said, “I am definitely not happy to report that the Authority has only spent19.9% of that expenditure and achieved 30.5% of revenue. This agency has been plagued by numerous challenges regarding human resources, unfilled positions, lack of capacity in some regards and untimely decision making. However, I am confident that this scenario will not continue into 2017 and the budgeted sum will be fully expended,” expressed the Housing Minister.Also expounding on the state of the housing sector, Minister Jordan stated that the Central Housing and Planning Authority has reviewed the process of allocating house lots, given the approximately 25,000 applications on file, of which almost 18,000 are low income individuals.He said that concerns about the low occupancy of many housing development areas have also led to reviews of the mechanisms used to enable home ownership.Jordan added, “What has been revealed is the lack of a holistic approach in providing quality, affordable housing in safe, well-serviced communities. Many recipients of house lots remain unable to start construction, while others have been allocated lots in areas that are woefully under-developed and without basic infrastructure. Still, many more are saddled with poorly constructed turnkey homes.”The Finance Minister said that CH&PA had developed 380 housing areas, inclusive of the regularization of squatting areas for 66,124 lots of which 63,257 were allocated.Finance Minister, Winston JordanHowever, occupancy level is only 55% since 28,220 lots divested to households are still unoccupied.He said that this situation was further exacerbated during the 2011-2015 period where 38 housing areas with 20,015 lots of which 16,273 lots remained unoccupied.He said that it took 4260 acres to yield the 20000+ lots at a cost of $12.78B. It requires a further $16.6B to complete these areas. The Finance Minister stated that the low occupancy points to factors such as lack of ability to access mortgages/affordability,wholesale jerseys, inadequate or non-existent infrastructure,Cheap Jerseys, lack of social facilities and services, loss of family support to poor households and challenges associated with individuals undertaking their own construction.Minister Patterson said, “This inability to ‘start construction’ is not some new phenomenon that was visited upon the people since May 2015. The record will show that some of these people have had house lots for years. It was the Jubilee Payment Plan,Nike NFL Jerseys China, extended by the APNU+AFC Government, which enabled many of them to pay off for their house lots.”Looking ahead, Minister Jordan summarized what is to come in 2017.Come next year, the Finance Minister said that the Government’s priority action areas, in housing,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, will be initiatives targeting low-income and state employees.He said that these initiatives will involve a comprehensive feasibility assessment of existing housing areas, squatting areas and land for future development; the consolidation of planned housing areas; and the upgrading of regularized squatting areas.Given the huge demand for house lots and the limited availability of serviced lots for distribution, Jordan said that the Government intends to pilot a project to construct apartments,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, condominiums, and wooden houses in existing planned areas, such as Stewartville, Cummings Lodge, Perseverance, and Amelia’s Ward.

… reveal plans for better health care, education systemAmid scores of cheering supporters,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, the women’s contingent of the recently formed coalition, A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), on Monday took the current administration to task over what they termed the continued disrespect of Guyanese women.A section of the crowd wends its way to the women’s rally.As Berbice women gathered in front of the Manchester Nursery School, Manchester Public Road, Corentyne, for the party’s women’s rally, representatives of the coalition roasted the ruling party, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic for the continued sheltering of their male representatives, more particularly the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall and the embattled, former Minister of Health Bheri Ramsaran despite evidence of wrongdoings against women folk.The disrespect, they said, must stop.Scores of men were also in the large audience as the women of the coalition covered several issues of concern to Guyanese women and offered solutions that would be put in place should APNU+AFC government be elected to govern.Feature speaker of the rally, Sita Nagamootoo, former lecturer at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPEC) and the wife of Prime Ministerial Candidate Moses Nagamootoo, reached out to the women folk of Berbice and reminded them of the reality facing women across the country.She implored upon them that “better must come” and called on them to come onboard the “unity train.”“My sisters, I urge you to vote for the APNU+AFC…We know what to expect if (President Donald) Ramotar is reelected, “more slapping and stripping of our women.” It is a shame that Ramotar is sorry for Bheri, his Minister: the abuser,Jerseys NFL Wholesale China, and not the woman victim,Cheap Authentic Jerseys Online, Sherlina Nageer,” Nagamootoo said as she added that an APNU+AFC-led government will not stand for violence against women.She reiterated the coalition’s promises for at least a 10% raise in pay for the public servants as well as the old age pension within 100 days of assuming office.? Nagamootoo told the women folk that should the coalition be handed the reins of power, workers earning below $75,000 will not pay income tax.She said the coalition-led government will provide free meals for primary school children. She reminded too of the coalition’s promise to slash the Berbice bridge toll in half. She said the coalition leaders will wage a war against criminals.“It is time to stop running around for passports, birth certificates and other useful documents,” she said. The Prime Ministerial hopeful’s wife promised that an office will be in Region Six to serve Berbicians.The APNU+AFC women took what they deemed unfounded claims of the PPP/C to task. Ndibi Schwiers noted that the Berbice people have been exposed to television advertisements which painted a coalition-led government as one which will return Guyana to the “dark days.”She ripped to pieces claims by the PPP/C, through televised ads and on the radio, of the return of a ban on food items, abuse of power by members of the disciplinary forces as well as the transformation of Guyana into a militarized state.She made clear that such claims are unfounded. Schwiers described May 11 as the end of the common struggle,NFL Cheap Jerseys, “Change is coming!”“No more will they insult your intelligence by saying to you that Guyana is progressing, when in truth about 25 percent of people, and mostly young people,Wholesale Jerseys, don’t have jobs. No more will they call ‘development’ building a set of buildings that are what you call white elephants. No more will a sitting Minister be justified in insulting our women. No more will they pamper corruption like a new born baby! No more will so-called development exist without a human face” the woman charged.Schwiers emphasized the need to move forward and for Berbicians to not be misled by the “talks of the past” surfacing from the PPP/C’s camp. Schwiers took the public health care system to task as well, saying that in the 21st century while the rest of the world is making advancements in all sectors, Guyana is still facing a situation where more than one woman is sharing a single hospital bed.“This government is experimenting with your lives,” Schwiers told the sizeable gathering.The APNU+AFC candidate lashed out too at the Education system. She said the time has come for strategies to be in place to fully address the developmental needs of the children so that one day they can be fully equipped to manage the country.“An APNU+AFC government will not only make formal education a priority but physical education as well,” she said noting, tha