…has $1B in outstanding electricity paymentsAs early as this morning, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) will be hosting an urgent meeting of the Council’s Finance Committee to address the likelihood of the Council’s electricity being cut before the week is out or by early next week.Not without the usual bickering between the Council and acting Town Clerk, a decision was subsequently taken to address the matter. They all agreed that ‘blackout’ means the Council will be unable to function.Deputy Mayor Chase- Greene speaks on GPL issueCity Hall is alleged to owe the Guyana Power and Light some $1,090,572,575 as at April 30, 2013. The letter addressed to Mayor Hamilton Green stated that the Council’s indebtedness to the power company rose by some $186,711,962 from last August when GPL would have been corresponding with the Council over outstanding payments.GPL thus demanded that the Council pay all funds owing by Friday or face disconnection and legal action instituted by the power company.The City Council however, expressed surprise at the colossal sum said to be owing. Councilor Ranwell Jordan reported that every month the Council has been paying $7M to the electricity company. For two years now, he continued,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, the Council has failed to reconcile payments for street lights which,Cheap Jerseys NFL China, he said is the major part of what was owed to GPL.GPL too was blamed for not reconciling the street light bill which according to him, had to be written off since it included sums acquired “umpteen years ago.” Two overdrafts were already written off. It was also expressed that there had been talks with GPL over outstanding bills and discourse on manners of payment, he said.Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Greene added that she had been following the GPL issue as it pertained to payments owing to the electricity company. After expressing her surprise at the current bill, she challenged the acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba to deny a contention that she was “dealing with the matter at another level.”Chase-Greene said that under the Pluck (a former Town Clerk) administration,Cheap NFL Jerseys Store, there were talks with GPL. She said when the current Town Clerk assumed her position,Cheap Jerseys USA, she (Greene) called the Town Clerk on many occasions to ascertain the position of those talks and was told by the Town Clerk that she was “dealing with it at another level”.Chase-Greene pointed out that in relation to another outstanding electricity bill that was already dealt with, payments had to be made within six months and were so done despite the austerity measures.An argument however sprung in the midst of talks pertaining to the GPL bill when the Town Clerk was asked to provide the proof she promised, to support allegations that the Mayor’s office had been abusing the use of gas and ink. The matter came up when the Mayor spoke about getting a copy of the GPL bill to the Town Clerk. He charged that his office was being denied ink and gas for travel by the Town Clerk, and a copy of the GPL bill to the Town Clerk was being done on a personal capacity.The Council refused to accept a verbal report on the abuse allegation as they said Sooba promised that at the next Statuary meeting-which was yesterday- that she would provide written information.Councilors vote on their remuneration restored.Back on the GPL issue, the Council by way of a vote decided that the GPL matter would be earnestly dealt with this morning. The Town Clerk however sought to have her say on the matter and was denied. She was told by the Mayor that the matter was going to be discussed at the meeting and there was no further need to discuss the matter.The Town Clerk however, disagreed with the Mayor, contending that she had no information pertaining to the letter and as the Mayor ensured the Town Clerk that she would receive a copy of the letter, she noted, “No, your Worship not a copy will suffice me, the original will suffice.”More arguments erupted when Councilors expressed disgust at what is said to be the Town Clerk’s disrespect. The Town Clerk further advised that the Deputy Town Clerk (acting) would be attending this morning’s meeting as she is extremely busy. When asked about what could be more important than the Council’s business, the Town Clerk did not give a reply.Several other matters up for discussion saw outbursts at yesterday’s meeting, especially the issue of cutting Councilors remuneration. Councilors argued that cutting their pay for ensuring the Council’s work was not within Sooba’s authority.They argued that it states nowhere in the constitution that their pay should be determined, whether a Councilor is at a meeting or not, nor does it say the Town Clerk has

A woman who decided to tamper with the monthly cheques that she receives by way of child support from her former spouse has been charged with two counts of forgery.She appeared on Wednesday before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh at the Whim Magistrate’s Court on two charges of forgery and was placed on $500,000.Bhoojwattie Ramnarine, a mother of one,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale, of No. 60 Village, Corentyne, Berbice is accused of forging two Bank of Guyana cheques.It is alleged that between August 25 and August 26, 2014 at Springlands Corentyne,wholesale jerseys china, she forged cheque No. 04891506 for the sum of eighty thousand dollars,Wholesale Authentic NHL Jerseys, in favour of herself.The other charge indicated that on September 22,Cheap NHL Jerseys China, she forged cheque No. 04891669 for the same amount and purpose.According to the prosecution, the woman who is separated from the father of her child would receive $8,000 on a monthly basis for the child. She would receive a cheque whenever she goes to uplift the money.After Ramnarine received the cheque for August she decided that the $8,000 was not enough and decided to place an additional zero at the end of the figure, making the number $80,000. She then successfully cashed the cheque. She repeated the act again in September.Nothing was detected and effort to balance their account proved an arduous task since the book could not be balanced, until the cheques were reconciled with the bank.Ramnarine, not suspecting that her scheme was detected turned up on Monday at the Whim Magistrate Court to uplift another cheque and was promptly arrested.She is accused of embezzling a total of $144,Wholesale Jerseys,000 over the two months. Investigations are ongoing and more charges are pending.The matter will be called again on December 11, at the Springlands Magistrate Court where it has been transferred.

– Hundreds of devices seized through non-compliance As the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) completed its weighing and measuring surveillance exercise for the first half of this year, 565 scales, 519 masses and six measures were seized since owners were delinquent in the submission of their devices for stamping.Surveillance visits were conducted at 5,655 stalls/premises countrywide to ensure that all weighing and measuring devices used in commercial trade were verified and stamped for the period under review.Reports from the National Weights and Measures Programme which is coordinated by the GNBS revealed that a significant number of weighing and measuring devices were verified by its officers countrywide, for the first half of the year.Officers managed to complete the verification which entails stamping of scales,Cheap China Jerseys, masses and measures used for commercial trade at shops, markets, supermarkets, hospitals, clinics, health centres, manufacturing companies, fish complexes, rice mills, sugar and food factories, petrol stations and bulk terminals.According to Public Relations Officer of GNBS, Lloyd David,Nike NFL Jerseys China, verification figures for new devices for the year have indicated that 565 scales, 1,187 masses and 688 electricity meters were verified, while for devices already in use, a total of 3,714 scales,Cheap Jerseys, 7,463 masses, 32 measures and 60 electricity meters were subsequently verified. In addition, a total of 59 weighbridge scales used in various industries and rice mills, 822 petrol pumps, 53 bulk meters, 12 fuel compartments for trucks and 14 storage tanks were verified. From the total, 207 petrol pumps had to be calibrated, since they were found to be inaccurate.He further noted that weights and measures services offered under the programme continued to expand with the establishment of temporary stamping locations which complement the service offered at the GNBS Head Office,Wholesale China Jerseys, three Sub-Offices and Weights and Measures offices located in the various Regional Democratic Council buildings countrywide.David further said that these temporary stamping locations gave vendors, shopkeepers and other users of scales convenient access to weights and measures services by reducing the time spent away from their businesses. Hence,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, there was the general willingness of stakeholders to submit their devices for stamping.For the second half of this year, Inspectors and Weights and Measures Officers will commence the re-verification of devices during the period July to September and conduct surveillance inspections at shops, markets and other sale outlets countrywide to ensure that all weighing and measuring devices used in commercial trade are verified and fit for use.