Westindian Times- News

In Guyana police have upped the reward for information that might lead to the arrest of the most wanted man Rondell Rawlins, who is also called `Fineman', to a staggering $50 million or US$250,000.This is the highest reward the force has ever offered for one man.The police's interest in Rawlins has been rekindled since a heavily pregnant woman, Tenisha Morgan, went missing two weeks ago. A man purporting to be Rawlins telephoned the police and threatened to create mayhem if she was not safely returned. Just after the threat police headquarters was attacked and hours later 11 people were massacred at Lusignan. The police have since said they believe that 'Fineman' has claimed responsibility for the Lusignan murders and is wanted for a series of murders and robberies.

In Jamaica, following Friday's defeat in its legal battle with the National Commercial Bank (NCB) many of is clients are wondering what is next for Cash Plus Limited. Orville Johnson, Chairman of Today's Money Limited says Cash Plus will now have to seek alternative arrangements in order to continue to function and to provide refunds to its investors. Mr. Johnson says based on talks in the banking sector, Cash Plus has yet to comply with banking regulations. Cash Plus' troubles started late last year when the Financial Services Commission issued a 'seize-and-desist' order on all its operations.This was followed by NCB attempting to close its 27 accounts.Cash Plus went to court and was granted an injunction barring NCB from closing the accounts.They returned to court and NCB was granted leave to close 17 of Cash Plus' 26 accounts.However, Friday the court refused to grant an extension on its injunction barring NCB from closing its remaining seven nine accounts. NCB immediately closed the accounts, returning the funds to Cash Plus in the form of a manager's check.

In Guyana security forces have shot dead two gang members suspected of taking part in a weekend massacre of 11 villagers that shocked the South American nation of Guyana. Thousands attended Hindu funeral rites on Thursday, January 30th where 10 massacre victims were cremated on open air pyres. The eleventh victim was laid to rest on Tuesday after a Muslim burial ceremony. President Bharrat Jagdeo declared a day of national mourning. At a joint news conference, the army and police said they had killed two men linked to the massacre in a gun battle in a village where bandits were said to hide out. Police Commissioner Henry Greene said the men were armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and were cornered in a joint operation called "Restore Order". Women and children sleeping in their beds were among those killed in the village of Lusignan on Saturday, January 26th. A soldier was also shot dead in an attack on an army truck last week. Authorities say the attacks were an attempt to inflame tensions between ethnic African and Indian-descended Guyanese. Angry residents blocked streets and burned tires after the massacre, but protests have since died down. Greene called the gang members "roving bandits" who "have been wreaking havoc in our country". One notorious gang leader, Rondell Rawlins, accused of killing Agriculture Minister Satyadeow Sawh in 2006, is still at large. Police said he called them last week threatening to spread mayhem. A few years ago gangs who robbed businesses and homes were commonplace in South America's only English speaking nation, but they had kept a lower profile until the recent violence.

The agriculture minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Charlesworth Samuel, who was reported missing, has been found dead by a search party. Mr. Samuel was last seen on Tuesday night and his family reported him missing on Wednesday, January 30th. The cause of death has not been determined. Mr. Samuel, who was 69, was appointed agriculture minister in 2004. Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said he was at a loss for words, over Mr. Samuel's death.

Former UN chief Kofi Annan at press conference in Nairobi on 1 February 2008

Kenya's feuding leaders have agreed a plan to end the political and ethnic violence gripping the country, former UN chief Kofi Annan has said. "We have agreed an agenda covering both short-term issues and also long-term issues," Mr. Annan said. The deal was agreed by representatives of both President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga. The announcement came after fresh outbreaks of fighting left at least 18 people dead in the west of the country. Mr. Annan said the rival parties had agreed a four-point framework for talks which should end the violence within the next two weeks. The BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says the deal is a good start which should have an impact on the level of violence on the ground. Mr. Annan said the parties had agreed on 18 action points to end the violence, including demobilizing militia gangs, refraining from provocative speeches and ending text messages which have been inciting hatred. His announcement followed a visit by his successor, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who called on all sides in Kenya to stop the violence. But there have further reports of bloodshed, rioting and fighting in parts of the Rift Valley. Police say a 3,000-strong mob armed with bows and arrows, spears, clubs and machetes, killed at least 10 people, including a policeman, in western Kenya.

Over the past few days, the Leader of the Opposition, former Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony has, on more than one occasion, accused the Prime Minister, the Honorable Stephenson King, of having wrongfully caused the State to meet the cost of rental of his private residence. Such payment from public funds, Dr Anthony contends, is contrary to the recommendations of the Salaries Review Commission, and therefore not in keeping with existing regulations. The Leader of the Opposition first made the allegation at a political meeting on the Market Steps on Thursday January 24, 2008 and subsequently repeated it during a television appearance. He has called on the Prime Minister to refund the amounts in question or “face the consequences.” However, the Prime Minister's office has fought back using Mr. Anthony's own tenure against him. When Dr. Anthony was the Prime Minister, the State (taxpayers) met the cost of all utilities including electricity, water, telephones, ADSL internet, Cablevision and cooking gas as well as the cost of providing security at what was his private residence and property. The State also paid for a Domestic Assistant (maid) and a Gardener at his premises. On a monthly basis the cost of his Domestic Assistant, Gardner, Electricity, Water and Telephone totaled: $ 4,816.54. As Prime Minister, Dr Anthony had four telephone lines at his house paid for by the State as well as two cellular phones. In addition, there were two ADSL internet lines and Cablevision, the cost of which is not reflected in the figures listed above. The cost of providing security for Dr. Anthony, as Prime Minister, was nothing short of astronomical.

Twenty-three Kevlar bullet-proof vests were handed over to Premier of Nevis Joseph Parry, by the Nevis Anti-Crime Community Initiative Committee (NACCIC) on Tuesday, during an official handing over ceremony that took place at the courtyard of the Alexander Hamilton Museum and Nevis Legislative Chambers in Charlestown. In accepting the gift on behalf of the Nevis Division of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, the Premier said that the move was indicative of the Nevis Island Administration’s seriousness to support the police on the island and he thanked the members of the NACCIC. At the time of the donation, the Nevis Police Division had three bullet proof vests assigned to it. Another 20 have been promised to the Police Division.

In Jamaica, air traffic controllers, who took industrial action Wednesday, have been ordered back to work. The Air Traffic Controllers are to return to duties immediately with full resumption by 7 o'clock Thursday evening. The air traffic controllers took industrial action Wednesday among their grouses is the manner in which they say a manager is carrying out his duties. Some of the workers claim that the manager's leadership style is unacceptable. But following a series of meetings between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, the workers have been asked to report for normal duties. Following talks with the workers at his North Street office, Labor Minister Pearnel Charles said they took action without following due process. Although the main issue on the agenda was not settled, Mr. Charles gave the commitment that there will be more meetings with the workers to address their grouses. Meanwhile, the President of the Jamaica Air Traffic Controllers Association, Leon Whitely said the workers have agreed to resume duties until the grouses are dealt with. Since Wednesday afternoon Managers of the Civil Aviation Authority have been operating airport towers at the Norman Manley and Sangster International Airports.

T&T Attempt To Stop Spread Of STD's

Officials in Trinidad and Tobago say they will be distributing over 66,000 free condoms in an attempt to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies at the climax of this year's Carnival. Statistics have revealed that there is a 15 per cent increase in the number of births in Trinidad and Tobago nine months after Carnival each year. The group, Advocates for Safe Parenthood, has appealed to nationals and visitors alike to protect themselves from the consequences of unsafe sex. The Inter-Religious Organization of Trinidad and Tobago also appealed to citizens and visitors to refrain from "undesirable and unacceptable" activities during the 2008 Carnival celebrations in the country. Carnival will climax with the parade of costumed bands and revelers next Monday and Tuesday.

Three Year Old Dead After Playing With Father's Gun

In Guyana, a three-year-old girl was fatally shot at her Laing Avenue, West Ruimveldt home on Wednesday, January 30th, while she and her two-year-old brother were playing with a loaded gun that was left under a chair cushion by their father. Dead is Ashanti Jordan of 115 Laing Avenue. She and her little brother reportedly espied the licensed gun, which their father had placed under a cushion while he went to the bathroom, removed it and began to play with it. Shortly after, a gunshot rang out. The children's father has since been taken into police custody. A relative said that Jordan's father, who is a policeman as well as a licensed firearm holder, was with two of his three children in the living room shortly after 4 pm. He then got up and went to the bathroom upstairs leaving the firearm under a chair cushion. Jordan's mother was also upstairs with their three-month-old baby girl. The relative said the two children, who had apparently seen their father's actions, retrieved the firearm from under the cushion and began playing with it when the shot went off. Jordan was hit in the left side of the face. It was not clear what type of firearm it was but it was described as an "automatic" one. The child was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital by her grandmother, Gillian Charles, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Surinam Implements One Lap Top Per Child Project

Suriname’s national telecommunications provider Telesur in cooperation with telecom multinational Nortel is implementing the ‘One Laptop Per Child’ project which was endorsed at the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society. To initiate the program Nortel’s vice-president Caribbean Region & Bermuda, Ray Bulengo on Wednesday handed over 200 laptop computers specially designed for the project to Telesur’s chief executive officer Dirk Currie. The program is aimed at child development through information and communication technology. Suriname is the first country in the Caribbean to implement the ‘One Laptop Per Child’ project.

Two men, a Guyanese and a Vincentian, involved in a license sticker scam in the British Virgin Islands are to be sentenced in February after pleading guilty to charges in court on Tuesday, January 29th. Linden Shurland Peters 25 of Guyana, but residing at Greenland, and Anthony Mathew 29 of St Vincent and the Grenadines, appeared in the Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday before Senior Magistrate Valerie Stephens. They are charged with with theft of license stickers stolen from the Licensing Department of the BVI, the property of the BVI Government. The charges were read to the accused men and they pleaded “guilty”. Prosecutor Inspector Jefferson Knight told the court that sometime in November 2007, several license stickers disappeared from the Licensing Department. Detectives of the CID launched an investigation, and as a result they executed search warrants at the homes of the suspects. A total of 38 stickers for 2008 were recovered by Police. Detectives also found 12 sheets of official documents with driver’s written tests, and answers to those test papers.
The accused men were granted bail in the sum of $10,000 with surety. They are to surrender their passports to Police Prosecution, and sentencing was set for February 19.

Residents of the east coast Demerara village of Lusignan in Guyana on Thursday laid to rest ten of the 11 victims of last weekend's massacre. Flags were flown at half mast, as the nation observed a day of mourning for the victims. Authorities reported some success in capturing the suspected gunmen. Five suspects were arrested during what Police Commissioner Henry Greene described as the second phase of Operation Restore Order. Two gunmen were killed in a shootout with the police on Wednesday, and security forces said they were still hunting eight others who escaped.

Jamaica's new police chief has announced that he'll get tough on petty crime as part of a crackdown on lawlessness and crime. People caught driving cars without seat belts or disposing trash illegally will be prosecuted, Hardley Lewin has told Jamaicans. It's the so-called zero tolerance approach to crime that has become associated with policing techniques used most famously in New York City. The theory is that even the most minor misdemeanors must be pursued with the same vigor as more serious crimes to create a deterrent effect.

The United States has denied claims by Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, that it's preparing a plot to invade or destabilize the country. Mr. Chavez had accused the US of working with Colombia to provoke a war. Earlier this week he called on his allies to form a joint military pact to defend themselves against the US.

Two new studies suggest that people who use cannabis a lot may be at greater risk of chronic lung disease - including cancer - compared to tobacco smokers. One study found a higher risk of lung cancer for those who smoked one joint a day compared with those who smoked 20 cigarettes a day over the same period. Another found bullous disease - a form of emphysema - occurs 20 years earlier in cannabis smokers. Last year medical researchers said cannabis users were 40% more likely than non-users to suffer a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia.