Fisherman remanded for neighbour’s murder

Aug 14, 2010 News

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Twenty-five year-old Andrew Albert was yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with the murder of his neighbour and former workmate. The accused made an appearance yesterday at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court, before Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan.
It is alleged that on Tuesday August 10, at De Groot, he murdered 43-year-old Nandalall Bopat. The charge was indictable and the accused was not required to plea. He was unrepresented. Albert was remanded to prison until October 5.
On Tuesday last, Nandalall Bopat was mercilessly slashed to death. At the time he was on his way to a friend to charge his cellular phone. Bopat and his alleged attacker were reportedly involved in a conversation the previous day about Bopat’s wife being verbally assaulted by the suspect.
This newspaper was told that Bopat’s wife, Doreen Sahadeo Sirnauth, made two reports to the Leonora Police Station about the assault but they never responded.
As a result, Bopat’s relatives said after returning from sea on Monday, Bopat decided to talk to his neighbour about the assault of his wife. Persons in the area said the talking between the two men went smoothly and many thought that that was the end of the issue.
However, on Tuesday, as Bopat was making his way out of the street, he was ambushed by his attacker. Although some residents in the area reportedly saw what was going on, no one ventured out to rescue Bopat, for fear of his knife-wielding attacker.
After the attack, the severely wounded Bopat was rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Bopat sustained several gaping wounds to the upper part of his body including his abdomen.
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Blacklist farmers who use illegal chemicals – supplier urges

…as moves afoot to implement national reduction plan

By Leonard Gildarie

The smuggling of and danger posed by illegal pesticides are among issues being tackled by several local suppliers who are teaming up with authorities to develop a plan to make Guyana’s food and farmers safer.
On Thursday, representatives of government entities and local suppliers of chemicals met at the Ministry of Agriculture in an inaugural “Inter-Agency Meeting” to address the issues of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which include pesticides, in Guyana.
It is the hope that the body, to be chaired by Timothy Tucker of the Guyana Pest Control Association, will develop a national implementation plan under the Stockholm Convention.
According to Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, the management of the kinds of chemicals that enter the country and are used by the farmers, have direct relevance to the safety of everyone – from local consumers to the export market.
There must be a regime of control to ensure Guyana conforms to international standards, especially as the Stockholm Convention, of which this country is a signatory, mandates what kinds of chemicals are safe.
Porous borders
The Minister expressed confidence that the Pesticide and Toxic Chemicals Control Board has the capacity to deal with the local situation with recent investments and training done to further modernize it. Additionally, Guyana is equipped with one of the most modern testing labs for pesticides and other chemicals.
He, however, expressed concern about smuggled chemicals which manage to filter through the country’s porous borders, and noted that Customs may need more training to deal with the varieties which appear at checkpoints.
Despite the education, some farmers are still willing to use unknown chemicals.
According to Minister Persaud, farmers and others should stick to using the approved list of chemicals and seek advice of the Pesticide Board if questions arise. It was noted that there have been several related training sessions.
Almost $100M has been spent recently to upgrade the laboratory, among other things, he disclosed.
international standards
Urging stakeholders to view the work of the body as necessary, the Minister warned that Guyana has to adhere to international requirements if it wants to continue to become a major food exporter.
He disclosed that the idea is to build a safe system that meets international standards of monitoring.
Guyana stands to benefit US$2M to help in implementing a plan to help in reducing the use of dangerous chemicals.
According to Trecia David, Registrar (ag) of the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board, the chemical industry is second biggest in the world, just behind the auto industry, and it is growing steadily on an average of 4% annually.
The use of POPs poses direct threats to health, the environment and animals. Humans retain residue for a long time in their tissues which can develop into severe complications.
Under the Stockholm Convention, the idea is to build capacity to help reduce the use of dangerous chemicals and all hands are needed on deck to ensure that a workable plan is put on the table.
In addition to the Analyst Food and Drug Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Guyana and several government ministries, a number of large-scale chemical importers were also present, including AINLIM, Geddes Grant and Caribbean Chemicals.
The Geology and Mines Commission was also represented.
Blacklisting
It was unanimously agreed that more training is needed for the stakeholders.
According to the Ministry of Labour, this will be key in helping to identify illegal chemicals in workplaces and advising the correct uses.
The Guyana Energy Authority, in calling for more training, also noted that while investigating instances of smuggled fuel, it would from time to time unearth chemicals that even retailers are unaware how to apply.
However, it was Geddes Grant, in expressing fears about the open borders, which called for the blacklisting of farmers who insist on using illegal chemicals on crops. In noting that much of the consumed vegetables come from Berbice, where most of the illegal chemicals are in supply, the representative also called for the Pesticide Board to establish a 24-hour hotline.
An official of the Caribbean Chemicals, while highlighting the problems of smuggled chemicals, disclosed that the smuggling business is widening even more, with supplies reaching as far as Essequibo.
With some of the chemicals weak, there are also questions about composition and by extension, how dangerous these are to humans and crops.
In 1995, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) called for global action to be taken on POPs, which it defined as “chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment”.
Following this, the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) and the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) prepared an assessment of the 12 worst offenders, known as the dirty dozen.
The negotiations for the Convention were completed on 23 May 2001 in Stockholm. The convention entered into force on 17 May 2004 with ratification by an initial 128 parties and 151 signatories. Co-signatories agreed to outlaw nine of the dirty dozen chemicals, limit the use of DDT to malaria control, and curtail inadvertent production of dioxins and furans.
Parties to the convention have agreed to a process by which persistent toxic compounds can be reviewed and added to the convention, if they meet certain criteria for persistence and trans-boundary threat. The first set of new chemicals to be added to the Convention were agreed at a conference in Geneva on 8 May 2009.

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