Archive for 2011

HAMILTON, Bermuda — Mystery surrounds the shock resignation today of National Security Minister David Burch.

Burch also quit the Senate where he was government leader. He was not immediately available for comment.

Wayne Perinchief, a former top policeman, who previously sat on the backbench of the ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP), was sworn at Government House as the new National Security Minister.

Former Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith was sworn in as the new PLP senator replacing Burch, a former commanding officer of the ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. — The preliminary national average price received by farmers for all wheat in March was $7.63 per bushel, up 20¢ from $7.43 in February, mainly the result of a surge in spring wheat prices, and up $2.93 from $4.70 in March 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in its latest Agricultural Prices report.

The average price paid for winter wheat in March was $6.82 a bushel, down 21¢ from $7.03 in February 2011 but up $2.37 ...

‘Beware of LCDS detractors’
– during Regional Technical meeting on Refrigeration 
AGRICULTURE Minister Robert Persaud has encouraged participating countries to protect their environs in contributing to sustainable development as they seek to comply with protectionary measures for the ozone layer. He was at the time addressing a Regional Technical meeting on Refrigeration at the Grand Coastal Inn, Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara which attracted participants from Haiti; Suriname; Guyana; Trinidad and Tobago; Grenada; Barbados; Bahamas; Antigua and the CARICOM Secretariat.

Guyana in ...

Local insurance group Guardian Holdings Ltd has turned itself around and back into profitability.

The group’s net profit after tax for its year ended December 31, 2010 stood at $425 million.

This was its best performance since 2004, GHL chairman Arthur Lok Jack said in the company’s published financial statements yesterday.

“This impressive turnaround compares to (2009’s) loss of $824 million, which was driven primarily from the loss on disposal of Zenith Insurance Company,” he said.

Zenith was GHL’s motor insurance subsidiary, based in ...

Jamaica is sending a five-member team to Barbados today to meet with officials to discuss the treatment of Shanique Myrie’s allegations of abuse while entering the territory.

The visit coincides with the public outrage over the reported maltreatment of a Jamaican woman by Barbados immigration officials on March 14.

Shanique Myrie reported, earlier this month, she was subjected to two demeaning cavity searches by a female immigration officer in Barbados and was detained for hours for interrogation.

Myrie, who has since retained legal ...

Not everyone is happy with the increasing number of local businessmen who own Jamaican businesses, but Jamaican Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Karl Samuda is encouraging more locals to invest in that country.

Samuda extended an invitation to local businesses while addressing members of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) at the group’s annual general meeting at the Hilton Trinidad, St Ann’s, yesterday.

He said, “Many have expressed, at times, disappointment that a number of our businesses have had to ...

HAVANA (Reuters) – Former US President Jimmy Carter will meet with Cuban President Raul Castro, the leader of Cuba’s Catholic Church and the island’s Jewish community during a Havana visit starting  tmorrow amid speculation he will seek the release of a jailed American aid contractor.

His public schedule was issued yesterday by the Cuban government, which invited him for his second visit to the country, the first coming in 2002.

He is the only US president, in or out of power, to ...

Jamaica Information Service) The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) proposed Maggotty hydroelectric power plant in St Elizabeth is projected to employ some 200 persons during the construction phase, according to the company’s President, Damian Obiglio.

Obiglio, who addressed a community meeting held at Maggotty High School in the parish on March 24, outlined that the 6.3 megawatt plant to be constructed at a cost of US$26 million, will employ between 150 to 200 workers over two years, commencing in early 2012.

“We have ...

With a view to ensuring that Guyana improves its access to the Jamaica market, and at the same time reduce the delays and other related issues of the rice trade, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud on Friday led a delegation from Guyana to meet with Jamaican Minister of Investment, Industry and Commerce, Carl Samuda, and other key stakeholders of Jamaica. This is according to a press release from the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday. The first meeting was held among the two ministers, ...

-but yields are higher and target could still be met, Seeraj
General Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj, told the Guyana Chronicle in an invited comment, that the situation with regard to rice is critical in Regions Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara) and Four (Demerara/ Mahaica). Regions Five (Mahaica/ Berbice) and Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne) are affected to a lesser extent, since farmers there planted their fields later than the other regions and these ...