The merit of the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL)’s decision to sell Government’s 20 per cent shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) is being questioned by auditors.? The NICIL audit report revealed that a considerable amount of revenue has been lost due to that sale.In 2012, NICIL sold Government’s shares in GT&T for US$30M of which the sum of US$25M was received. The balance of US$5M was to be paid within a period of two years, but that account is yet to be settled.A section of the audit report on NICIL has pointed out that during the period 2002-2011, the Government received $5.261B in dividends from the shares, or an average of $526.1M per annum. However, it was stated that government suffered a major loss in the disposal of the shares and that that sale was a blunder.The Auditor said that by disposing of the shares, “the Government would have lost $1.578B, equivalent to US$7.616M, in revenue during the period 2012-2014.”Further, it was pointed out that the purchaser of the shares, Datang Telecom Technology and Industry Group would therefore recover the cost of the investment in less than 12 years by way of dividends, while at the same time retaining the investment.“This calls into question the merit in the Government’s decision to dispose of GTT shares.”Even Head of NICIL, Winston Brassington, had admitted that government sold the shares at a time when it was reaping heavy dividends. He said this at his most recent press conference, held two days before Government announced a decision to send him on leave.At that forum,Cheap NBA Jerseys China, Brassington could have given the media any logical reason why government was so eager to sell the GT&T shares.The eagerness to sell was called into question when Brassington said that the government was forced to take the deal with the Chinese company as it was getting no better offers at the time.Even though he could not have defended the reason for sale, Brassington said that he thinks that government made a good call in selling.“We sold at a good time,Air Max 2018 Shoes, because dividends have not been so bright since,” said Brassington.The embattled official claimed that since he sold government’s shares, GTT has not been giving very handsome dividends in comparison to what was given before.He claimed that his sources at GT&T indicated that only US$1M ($200M) has been paid in dividends since the sale.Brassington admitted that government used the money collected from the sale to offset expenses of the Marriott Hotel.Additionally, financial analysts questioned why NICIL consented to an agreement that forces Guyana to petition a United Kingdom (UK) court to resolve financial issues.Guyana’s options in trying to recover the outstanding US$5M from Datang Telecom Technology and Industry Group are limited. To recover this money, Guyana finds itself in a begging position.Up to recently, no known actions were actively being taken to recover the sums owed. This is despite the fact that the payment is long overdue.Minister of State,Cheap Jerseys From China, Joseph Harmon, who is a NICIL board member, had told Kaieteur News that the options are limited.“We have only two options one of which is to take Datang to court.”However, the Minister said that if the court route is pursued,Wholesale NBA Jerseys, the government will have to spend millions of dollars to get the outstanding sum from the Chinese company.Harmon said, “The jurisdiction, set out in the agreement itself, is the United Kingdom,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, so we would have to go and get a lawyer in the UK and so on.”Alternatively, the government can seek the intervention of China’s Ambassador to Guyana, Zhang Limin. Harmon said that is the course currently being pursued and he has undertaken the task to speak to the Ambassador.Brassington had told Kaieteur News that it was “normal” for an agreement to have those sorts of arrangements.The name Datang had previously remained obscure as a result of the confidential agreement which was entered into in early 2011 with the PPP Government. It only came to light following the finalization of the sale.Datang had come in for scrutiny after it was discovered that the company actually featured in a US intelligence report as a company with links to the Chinese Military and was accused of spying.When the shares were initially placed on the market, GTT employees had offered to buy them, but this was rejected by the Jagdeo government, which was adamant that the shares had to be purchased en bloc.

– Dr.? DoobayThree renal failure patients have been identified for free kidney transplant operations, an initiative which has been spearheaded by the Doobay Renal Centre Inc. located at Annandale,Cheap Nike Air Max 97 Shoes, East Coast Demerara.According to Founder of the facility Dr. Budhendranauth Doobay,Wholesale Jerseys, the transplant operations which are set for May or June of this year will in fact represent an alliance with the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).Dr. Budhendranauth DoobayHe explained that once all plans remain on track,Cheap Jerseys From China, the surgical operations will be undertaken at the public facility and the surgical team will travel from the McMaster Medical Centre in Canada.“So we are bringing this team from McMaster and they will be coming at their own expense, bringing all the instruments and we will do it at the GPHC if everything is on track.”“Our Transplant Nephrologist came to meet with the GPHC and everything is supposed to be on track to operate on the three patients who will be transplanted on without paying a single cent,” Dr. Doobay said on Wednesday.The Doobay Renal Centre, which opened its doors during the latter part of 2011, has been working in close collaboration with the McMaster Medical Centre. According to Dr. Doobay, “all of our patients are connected with people at McMaster through a master plan.”There are currently about 40 patients accessing dialysis and other medical care at the Doobay Centre.Dr. Doobay himself is a vascular surgeon who migrated to Canada some years ago and has established himself there as a reputable medical practitioner. Since forming the local renal centre, which is a registered not-for-profit organisation,NFL Jerseys China, he has been returning to render his expert service which is expected to expand with the introduction free kidney transplants.This is arguably the first time that such a high cost operation will be offered free to patients, most of whom can ill-afford to fund the medical care required for their condition.During the latter part of last year, Nephrologist, Azim Gangji, of the McMaster Medical Centre, visited the GPHC to meet with officials to engage talks on the transplantation plans. Himself and other kidney doctors from the Canadian Medical Centre are affiliated with the Renal Centre and have been offering their expertise there on a voluntary basis.Dr. Gangji was the fourth Nephrologist to visit the facility for last year and has been collaborating with the renal centre staffers to provide a subsidized dialysis service which is offered at $9,Cheap Football Jerseys,000 per session. However, Gangji in an interview with this newspaper said that dialysis is in fact a temporary measure and could be used as a bridge to transplantation.He noted that while the idea of dialysis was viewed as a “big venture” measures have been introduced to take the care of renal failure patients’ one step further. He revealed that realistically, every patient is eligible for transplant and there are no age criteria but rather it is dependent on their health status.Patients undergoing dialysis at the Doobay Renal CentreHe said that often patients on dialysis are concerned about their options and some are even afraid to enquire. At the same time, he said, donors may not be aware of the ways they can help their loved ones on dialysis.He noted that efforts are being made to educate patients as well as their relatives, a move which has already commenced at the Doobay Renal Centre.“This idea of educating will hopefully bring that gap a bit closer and allow the idea of transplantation to really start off,” he speculated.

By Leon SuseranVendors of the Corriverton Market are peeved about the decision of the Mayor and Town Council (M&TC) of Corriverton to restrict cyclists and “free movement” on a recently- constructed steel bridge. The bridge connects Sideline Number 78 Village to Number 79 Village, in the vicinity of the Municipal Market.Seetaram Nagassar, fired on the spot on Saturday morning for allowing a cyclist to cross the bridgeAccording to a group of irate vendors who congregated around the bridge last Saturday, the Mayor, Roy Baijnauth, erected a sign on the iron structure which states “No cyclists allowed on this bridge”.The vendors said that is unfair, since cyclists wishing to cross the bridge have to go all the way around the road to do so. Additionally, the council has erected two iron bars that stand perpendicularly at each end of the bridge.This, the vendors said,Cheap NFL Jerseys Online, is a hindrance to free movement of persons, especially shoppers with large bags. They also said that the iron bars pose a difficulty for ‘big’ persons who will have a difficult time meandering to cross the bridge, because of their size.The bridge is three feet wide. The bars on either side make it even narrower to cross. Security guards employed with the M&TC have been placed by the bridge to ensure cyclists remain off the bridge. Kaieteur News was told that Mr Baijnauth allegedly fired a security guard on the spot on Saturday morning after the guard had allowed a cyclist to use the bridge.“And because a cycle push over, the Mayor passed and knock the man off immediately—yes the Mayor of Corriverton, Roy Baijnauth”, said one vendor.But Baijnauth said that the security guard was not dismissed but “warned” and that he had to report to the Constabulary. “He wasn’t dismissed; he was warned, nobody dismissed him”, he noted.“A cyclist is a person who pedals a cycle, not a person who pushes a cycle…but people can’t stand for their rights. They don’t even understand what the word ‘cyclist’ means,” said one fruit vendor.“A fat man or woman cannot pass. You can’t pass this if you’re fat. You cannot use this bridge. You cannot push over a bicycle. A security guard is present,” said another vendor.The security guard, Seetaram Nagassar, was employed with the Corriverton M&TC for over four months and related what happened.“I come to work. I book me time for 7 o’ clock. Me deh pon the bridge here and a woman wanted to ride across [the bridge] with her bicycle. She told me that if I want her not to use the bridge, then I will have to drag she [expletive] off”, he said.“A man come with a bicycle and said he will throw me in the [expletive] trench”, Nagassar said. He said the Mayor saw when the man crossed the bridge with his bicycle and “he [the Mayor] go over there and he sent to call the sergeant. After the sergeant called me in his office, he told me to go home”, he related.“Me owe bank for me house.”Since all cyclists have been barred from crossing the bridge, a cyclist resorts to lifting his cycle acrossSaeed Hamid, who has sought to represent the vendors and their cause, showed this newspaper a signed petition with more than 300 names. This petition will be taken to the Corriverton Mayor.“Open up the bridge freely so that both cyclists and pedestrians could use it”,Wholesale Stitched Jerseys, Hamid said.“A lady with a pram with a child cannot pass here. A man with a wheelchair or clutch cannot pass here”, he noted.“The ordinary people struggle to pass on that bridge with a mere handbag. One could, therefore, imagine what happens when vendors and purchasers, with sizeable baskets try to use this brand new, fancy structure. For whatever reason, the bridge designed as it is, people even children are very uncomfortable using it,” Hamid said.“You’re walking and the person has to lift the bicycle across the bridge, I don’t know what the reason is. Apparently,Cheap Jerseys, bicycles now have cage wheels so it will damage the bridge”.When contacted, Mayor of Corriverton, Roy Baijnauth,Wholesale Jerseys, defended the policy of the M&TC to block all cyclists from traversing the bridge.“When the cyclists pass, it inconveniences the pedestrian. If people [are] coming in the opposite direction,Wholesale Jerseys China, what will happen? We have alternative route for the cyclist, if you coming from Rahaman Street, you turn right and you continue your way and turn back and continue to the market,” the Mayor said.He added that there are hours during which cyclists are restricted. “No cyclist can pass between 7am- 3pm”.Romein Chetram, a vendor, disputed this and said that the security officials remain past 3pm and that the “Mayor does not want anything to ge

The Guyana Police Force continues to provide avenues for its ranks to be properly trained in the technological era,Wholesale Jerseys, with the Force’s Divisional Command hierarchy playing a lead role.Assistant Commissioner Griffith (second from left ) and Commander Mansell and other officials examine the computers.Last week the Force,Cheap Jerseys China, through Divisional Commander Stephen Mansell,Nike Air Max 2018, provided a shot in the arm in the information technology area by opening a computer training centre at the Leonora Recreational Hall.The centre will go a long way in enabling police ranks to improve their computer skills and in some cases learn the basics of computer literacy.Assistant Commissioner Christopher Griffith,Wholesale Jerseys Online, who represented the Commissioner of Police at the official opening of the centre,NFL Jerseys China Cheap, congratulated the Commander and urge ranks to make full use of the center.On Monday last a six week computer training programme commenced. The programme is held between16:00 hours to 18:00 hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.