Govt. fuming over being left out of processThe National Insurance Scheme (NIS), by way of its representative, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), yesterday issued a statement initialled by head of the NICIL, Winston Brassington that via a Starman representative NIS has learnt that a share purchase agreement (SPA) was executed some weeks ago for Le Meridien.The SPA was conducted between an overseas-based company, of which Robert Badal is a principal, and Starman, which was the previous majority shareholder at Le Meridien.According to the statement issued yesterday by NICIL, responding to newspaper reports,Wholesale China Jerseys, the Government, some weeks ago, wrote to Starman inquiring whether the hotel had been sold.It was noted that the Pegasus rules require any share transfer to be approved by its Board, on which the NIS has a representative.“To date,Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping, despite reports of an executed SPA, this has not been done…The government has expressed its concern? about? the process regarding the sale, and particularly that governance procedures appear poor,Wholesale Hockey Jerseys China, and that NIS, as a minority shareholder, was not aware of the reduction of a sale price and implications for its value.The release added that the Government will continue to raise concerns, and did not consider the matter closed.Early last month, word of a sale of shares leaked, and this newspaper was reliably informed that the investors of Le Meridien were considering a sale of the hotel when the franchise’s contract expires in October.Reports at that time had suggested that the investors were in discussion with potential buyers interested in the hotel,Wholesale NHL Jerseys, with a sale likely before year’s end.The frontrunner has been identified as a local entrepreneur, who turned out to be Badal, whose bid at that time stood at some US$8M but was under negotiation.Kaieteur News has already confirmed that the investors were also contemplating the re-branding of Le Meridien,Jerseys From China, reverting back to Pegasus.This was confirmed by the hotel’s general manager Bert Plas who, when contacted, said that it was under consideration but at that time was only at “the discussionary level”.According to Plas,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, the brand “Pegasus” has more of an impact on travellers/ tourists in Guyana.When asked about the sale, Plas noted that he was unaware of any such move, but posited that any hotel could be sold at any time.This newspaper understands that meetings have taken place recently with senior Government officials on the issue, but this was denied by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, who at the time said that he was unaware of any such sale.This would be the second sale of a large hotel in Guyana in a year, following the sale of Buddy’s International Hotel to a Turkish hotelier.The Zoom Inn Hotel has also been placed on the market for sale.The local hotel industry is also expected to change face with the expected imminent construction of the major Marriott brand in a few years’ time.

Oneika Neils, a 20-year-old sales representative of 612 Half Mile, Wismar, Linden,Wholesale NHL Jerseys, was remanded yesterday after the charge of possession of a narcotic for the purpose of trafficking was read to her by Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.The particulars of the charge read that on August 2 at the Guyana Post Office Corporation Headquarters in Georgetown,China Jerseys Authentic, she had in her possession 1.1 kilograms of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.Neils pleaded not guilty.According to Oswald Massiah, Special Prosecutor of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU), the defendant is employed at a Call Centre in Linden. On the day in question,Wholesale Jerseys USA, it is alleged that the accused who has a relationship with the driver of the vehicle that took her from Linden to the Post Office Headquarters, tried to post small portions of cocaine to Canada.The prosecutor told the court that during a routine examination of the package, a CANU officer noticed that it was unusually heavy and conducted a further search where it was discovered that small amounts of cocaine were wrapped in a transparent plastic and concealed within.Massiah said that the defendant was arrested,Cheap Jerseys From China, cautioned and charged with the said offence.Neils who was shaking uncontrollably when the Magistrate asked her if she wished to say anything,Wholesale MLB Jerseys 2018, said, “Your Worship,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, I didn’t know what was in the package. I was given a box and it came with a list of things that supposed to be inside it but I did not check it.”Bail for the Lindener was refused and she is expected to appear before the Chief Magistrate Priya Beharry on September 10.CANU officers are still looking for the driver.

The political opposition is expected to challenge the government to a debate over the revealing reportOpposition Leader,China Jerseys Cheap, Bharrat Jagdeocoming out of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).This is according to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.In an interview with Kaieteur News yesterday, he recalled that prior to the report being laid in the National Assembly on December 31, last, statements were already being made in the media that the sugar industry should be privatized.The Opposition Leader expressed, “It was also implied that in the short term, costs should be contained. When I examined the CoI report, those were exactly the two recommendations coming out of the report. Now after spending some fifty million dollars, we seem to have a situation where evidence was just being gathered to suit preconceived notions about the way forward for GuySuCo.Also, I have argued that the statement made by Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder in the Parliament when he laid the report was totally unfair because it did not give us a chance to reply in Parliament. Therefore,Cheap Jerseys From China Outlet, we shall put a motion before the House to have the full report debated”.When Holder laid the reports on the CoI in the National Assembly, he had said that GuySuCo under the PPP was made into a “chronic loss maker.”Holder said that the increasing output costs, combined with poor management, strategically placed the state-owned company on the path of no return.Jagdeo said that the Minister’s comments were unmerited and with the debate as his platform, he (Jagdeo) and his team will prove to the nation that costs cannot be reduced, especially at the cost of the workers.The Opposition Leader believes that Holder’s statements on the state of GuySuCo was misrepresented, and emphasized that even the recommendations of the report do not take into effect what the macroeconomic implications would be, should they be implemented.“We believe that there could have been a better way forward with the CoI. It could have been done in aAgriculture Minister, Noel Holdermore impartial way. The entire Commission of Inquiry was designed to support privatization, which I believe is a backdoor way of closing the industry. We want this debate, where both sides will be able to lay out their arguments and we decide properly on the way forward,” the former President asserted.While Government has not yet moved to implement all of the recommended changes needed for GuySuCo’s sustainability, the company’s Chairman, Dr. Clive Thomas, has made it clear that moves are apace to get GuySuCo involved in the sale of electricity. This was one of the recommendations of the CoI report.He noted too that while the recommendations for the industry appear “extreme”, those working in the sector should not be worried for one bit whether the sector would be closing shop.“Indeed the changes that are coming will be radical, but it is necessary, because you cannot expect to be doing the same thing every year and getting different results. But we aren’t closing shop. We are concerned about the survival of this industry, but more importantly, bringing it to good health. We are trying to move towards value added products coming out of the sugar assets…We are trying to use the assets of the industry in a more creative way.”Dr. Thomas said that he is working towards recovering Skeldon’s co-generation plant which was sold to Skeldon Energy Inc. (SEI). He said that the former CEO of GuySuCo, Rajendra Singh?sold the company’s generation facilities to Skeldon Energy Inc—a Special Purpose Company jointly owned by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), for US$30m,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, only to have it buy back power to run the factory.To date, the sugar company has also only been paid US$19M of the agreed US$30M and SEI has since indicated that it could revise the outstanding US$11M amount.Dr. Thomas told Kaieteur News that it is imperative that the plant be recovered, as it is a major supplier of power and basically the lifeline of the factory.“It is such a major producer of power that it supplies 90,Wholesale NBA Jerseys China,000 households in Berbice. We are in discussions on having that sale being reversed from being the property of GPL. It is an important pillar for GuySuCo. We are hoping to get it for next year. We want to be able to sell GPL power. We are getting ripped off with the plant being in the possession of another company.”The GuySuCo Chairman explained that high on the entity’s list of priorities is moving towards the diversification of the sugar industry,Jerseys Whol

More than 37,Cheap Jerseys China,000 customers of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) were on Sunday forced to endure a prolonged power outage but according to the officials of the utility company, it was a necessary step as the company nears completion of the current upgrade of its distribution network.From Left: Andrew Jin, Kempton France, Gail Best, Colin Singh and GPL PRO, Shevion Sears-MurrayThe scheduled extended blackout saw Georgetown and sections of the East Coast and East Bank Demerara without power for several hours as technicians worked to link the brand new substation aback of the Sophia station to the main grid.Sunday’s city wide blackout was the last of its kind but this does not mean the end of scheduled outages in the near future.The GPL Infrastructure Development Progamme officials yesterday met with members of the media to provide an update on the works. Among them were Senior Divisional Director for Operations and Projects,Wholesale Football Jerseys, Colin Singh; China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation representative, Andrew Jin Project Manager, Gail Best; and Operations and Planning Engineer for Systems Control at Sophia, Kempton France.Singh, in providing an update on the works which is funded through a US$40M concessional Loan from the China EXIM (Export/Import) Bank, explained that the massive outage was to enable the “connection of the existing facility to the new facility as well as to connect a new substation being constructed at North Ruimveldt to the Sophia Substation.”The Infrastructure Development Programme entails the construction of seven new substations, the upgrade of three existing substations as well as the installation of some 96 kilometres of 69KV transmission cables.The substations allow for the step down of electricity from the 69,Cheap Jerseys Online,000 volts to 13,000 volts at the various points.Singh explained that Sunday’s exercise entailed a modification and expansion of the Sophia substation which serves as the hub for electricity distribution.A Chinese and local technician prepare one section of the 69KV cable.The Sophia works represented the second of the three upgrades, according to Singh. The first was completed last November in Edinborough, Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara. The third is to be undertaken at Onverwagt in West Berbice. This is scheduled to commence in one week, according to Singh.He said that while there are some outstanding works still to be completed at Sophia,Cheap China Jerseys, there will not be a complete shutdown, as was the case on Sunday.It was explained that with the facilities coming on stream in Sophia, namely a “new sectionalized bus-bar,” the Power Company now has the ability to isolate sections of the grid for shutdown and as such, when necessary those locations would be isolated and taken offline as against the massive shutdown that obtained on Sunday.Project Manager, Gail Best, told members of the media that works on the ‘nerve centre’ for GPL in Sophia were largely successful despite some minor delays.This was in part due to weather and the testing of the system before going back online.She explained that weather played a factor given that technicians had to be working atop utility poles. “We had to take some pause.”The actual works had been completed just about an hour before schedule but it was the testing that caused the additional delays and this was completed by 19:00hrs at which point in time the system was repowered.She used the opportunity to caution customers that the “outage was just to allow us to progress from step A to set B.”According to Best, “It’s not the end-all of the outage,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, however with the sectionalized bus-bar that we have in place we wouldn’t be shutting down the plant ever again…we will be isolating sections to allow us to proceed with our works.”Operations and Planning Engineer for Systems Control at Sophia, Kempton France, informed members of the media that with the new distribution network in place, an immediate benefit to consumers would be the supply of a much more stable supply of electricity.At present GPL utilizes very long feeders from Sophia to as far as 20 miles along the East Coast of Demerara.“As a result of the length of the feeder there is a significant level of voltage drops which would cause consumers to have fluctuation in voltage.”France said that with the implementation of the Good Hope substation the feeders will be shorter and “that will definitely mean a better quality of voltage…the voltage supplied will be much more stable.”In alluding to additional benefits of the bus-bar that was installed, he said that as the company progresses with the upgrades, the

The court is ready to proceed with the trial of former Minister of Public Service,?Dr. Jennifer Westford, and her personal assistant, Margaret Cummings, who are currently facing fraud related charges in the GeorgetownDr. Jennifer WestfordMagistrates’ Courts.This announcement was made yesterday, after City Magistrate Fabayo Azore overruled a submission citing executive abuse made by Neil Boston,?an attorney for Dr. Westford and Cummings.According to the Magistrate, the basis of the attorney’s submission were “flawed”. As such, she ruled against the preliminary point out raised by the defence team.In delivering her decision to the court,?Magistrate Azore said that the Magistrates’ Court has no jurisdiction?to deal with matters of executive abuse. Instead,Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping, she said, the court only has power to deal with abuse by the prosecution and with delays in trials.She explained that the case of executive abuse cited, falls in the realm of a supervisory decision and the issue should probably be raised in the High Court.The Magistrate stated, that after revision of the defence case and application case logs it was made out that the defence had failed to satisfy the court, as it relates to proving their case of jurisdiction.At a November 12, last year, court hearing,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, Attorney Boston had contended that the institution of criminal charges against the former Minister and her Personal Assistant breaches an amnesty promise made by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, during a June 19, 2015,Wholesale Jerseys China, press conference. Boston had stated that Harmon had promised that once the vehicles were returned no prosecution will take place. He had stated that during the press conference,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, Harmon said, “They can quietly bring them (state assets) back to the Ministry, in which they came from or to the Office of the President (OP).? They can park them outside the gate…”Margaret CummingsBoston had said that all the vehicles were returned to the Ministry of the Presidency and in spite of the amnesty, his clients were still charged. The lawyer had made this claim while addressing the court on why court proceedings against his clients should not go forward.However, the Magistrate ruled that the statement made by Harmon was ambiguous.? She stated that the court is not sure if what the minister said amounts to an amnesty or pardon.On this notion,?Magistrate Azore told the court that she is not sure why the defence is stating that an amnesty was granted.She then informed a team of high powered attorneys for the minister and her assistant that unless they wished to file any application in the High Court, she was prepared to begin trial.Thereafter,Cheap Jerseys From China, attorney Boston requested a seven-day adjournment to consider the merit of the court’s ruling and to consider whether the defence will file any appeal in the High Court.Police Prosecutor, Corporal Bharat Mangru indicated that he was ready to proceed with trial however, he requested an adjournment date to prepare witnesses.Mangru had argued that an amnesty was never granted by the minister for the return of state vehicles. He had contended that the Magistrates’ court has no jurisdiction in dealing with matters of executive abuse. He had stated that matters of such nature should be dealt with in the High Court.The prosecutor had explained that while the Magistrates’ court has jurisdiction to deal with abuse of process, he stated that the power is limited to delays and fairness of trial as it relates to executive abuse.The former minister and her assistant, Margaret Cummings,Cheap Jerseys For Wholesale, were placed on a total of $2M bail after they pleaded not guilty to several charges. It is alleged that between July 17, 2014 and June 23, 2015, Westford attempted to transfer eight state vehicles to her husband, Gary Beaton, Osbert McPherson, Wayne Walker and Delroy Lewis.Cummings was also slapped with four counts of forgery. She also pleaded not guilty to the four charges which alleged that she forged documents for the purchase of the eight motor vehicles.Westford was granted bail in the sum of $800,000, while her assistant was admitted to $1.2M bail.

– Cop under close arrestA police constable stationed at the Amelia’s Ward Outpost has been placed under close arrest,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, following allegations that he had sex with a 15-year-old girl who had been detained for wandering.Police sources said that the rank was taken into custody at the Tactical Services Unit on Wednesday after turning up at the Brickdam Police Station with an attorney.An official from the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA) confirmed yesterday that the Agency is also investigating the matter.Kaieteur News understands that the teen,Cheap Jerseys China, and another juvenile,Cheap NFL Jerseys Online, were detained about a month ago for wandering.? A magistrate reportedly subsequently ordered that the girls be sent to the New Opportunity Corps.But according to sources,Wholesale Jerseys Online, they were kept for several weeks in the lockups at the Amelia’s Ward Outpost. It is during this period that the constable allegedly had sex with one of the minors.A female sergeant at the location reportedly got wind of the incident and reported it to her superiors. However,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, the rank was only arrested last Wednesday.