Georgetown- With respect to the retail
land line fixed to mobile rate, the Public Utilities Commission after intense deliberation,
agreed to a rate of $12 a minute, despite representations made by both
GT&T and Digicel that the agreed rate should be $17 a minute.  The Commission’s order is dated
December 28, 2010 and made effective on January 1, 2011. The approved rates are
granted for four (4) months and shall be reviewed on application by either
party on or before April 30, 2011. 

Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh met with Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs today to find a solution for school violence.
Gopeesingh said a two pronged approach will be adopted to battle the crime scourge in schools.
Prevention and Mentoring are the methods to combat school violence, Gopeesingh said.
Gopeesingh said Gibbs has pledged an increase of uniformed officers near schools and also the introduction of more mentoring programmes.
 

Avonelle Hector-Joseph, founder of the Non-Governmental Organisation, Is There Not A Cause (ITNAC), is urging citizens to not forget Haiti which is still reeling from the effects of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake one year ago.
"A lot more work still needs to be done. We know people have already given money but there is still much more that needs to be done," Hector-Joseph said today.
Today is the one-year anniversary of a massive earthquake that killed 250,000 and left over 100,000 homeless.

Georgetown– Anti-narcotics units from the region and from the US continue to monitor flights out of Guyana, as the country remains a main trans shipment point for drug traffickers. Guyana’s history is marred with the level of cocaine emanating from these shores to foreign lands, particularly the United States, where the substance carries a huge value. The latest bust of a granny on wheelchair, has alerted the local authorities. The searches and immigration process at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport are expected to take longer, with this recent bust.

 Georgetown – The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport has expressed dismay and disappointment at stories appearing in the press on January 10th , which reported that African Organisations met on January 8 and expressed displeasure “at the process used by the Guyana Government to create its programme” for the observance of the International Year for People of African Descent.           

Georgetown-Police say that the body of Michelle Benjamin of Gordon Street, Kitty, was recovered this morning in the Aliki area, Essequibo River. Michelle Benjamin was feared drowned on Sunday January 09, 2011 after the boat she was travelling in began to take in water and the passengers panicked and jumped overboard. Benjamin, who was among a group of 10 persons travelling in a boat, disappeared off the coast of Parika,  during a rescue operation to bring them ashore, after their vessel began taking in water near an area called Aliki in the Essequibo River.