GEORGETOWN — Authorities in the South American country of Guyana said Sunday they have seized more than 8,000 pounds (3,600 kilograms) of cocaine found in a lush jungle near the border with Venezuela. The land seizure is considered the biggest in recent history, with Security Minister Robeson Benn telling reporters he estimates the drugs are worth at least $200 million.

The drugs were found in earthen pits in Guyana’s northwest region, officials said. Police arrested one suspect and said they are looking for two more who fled the scene. Guyana’s police and military, along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, were involved in the operation. “We are happy that we have the DEA with us sharing information and intelligence,” Benn said. “Guyana is a victim of this … illegal activity. We don’t produce cocaine; we don’t transit it.”

The drugs were seized in an area where police have found improvised submersible vessels hidden in the jungle in recent years. Officials said it’s unclear if any of those vessels were actually used but said they would step up monitoring in that region. (AP)…[+]

GAZA – The first full day of a campaign to vaccinate 640,000 children against polio in Gaza has been successful, the UN says. The rollout relies on a series of localised pauses in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters, and the first three-day window began on Sunday.

To be effective, the World Health Organization WHO says at least 90% of children under 10 must be immunised in a short time frame. The drive follows the On Thursday, the WHO announced an agreement with Israel for limited pauses in the fighting to allow the polio vaccination programme to take place.

Around 1.3 million doses of the vaccine were recently brought in through the Kerem Shalom checkpoint by Unicef. The agency has had to keep them in cold storage in its warehouse at the correct temperature to maintain their potency. Another shipment of 400,000 doses is set to be delivered to Gaza soon. On Sunday, Palestinians were able to take their children to three health centres in central Gaza in the first phase of the campaign, which will later extend to the north and the south.

Each “humanitarian pause” is set to last from 06:00 until 15:00 local time over three days, with the possibility of adding an extra day if needed. This is a huge endeavour”, Crickx adds. “Especially in a place like the Gaza Strip where we know that, for example, roads have been damaged, that access is problematic, that security incidents take place on a daily basis.”

One doctor involved in the operation, Mohammed Salha, told the BBC that one of the main challenges facing the drive was the lack of fuel needed to keep hospitals running and for the cold chain storage of the vaccines.

He said he also worried people would be “scared to move from shelters to hospitals or healthcare centres” even with the agreement of a humanitarian pause in place.

 (BBC) …[+]

GUYANA – Guyana’s total debt has risen sharply, exceeding US$5 billion by mid-2024, according to the Ministry of Finance’s Mid-Year Report. As of June 2024, the country’s debt stood at US$5,063.3 million, up from US$4,508.8 million at the end of December 2023.The report highlights that Guyana’s public debt remains sustainable and is currently subject to a moderate risk of debt distress.

The government said that it has maintained a focus on securing development financing under prudent cost and risk parameters.At the end of the first half of this year, Guyana’s stock of Total Public and Publicly Guaranteed PPG debt amounted to US$5,063.3 million, reflecting positive net flows from both external and domestic creditors,” the report states.

As of the end of June 2024, external PPG debt totaled US$1,924.2 million. The ministry stated that this increase is attributed to positive net flows from multilateral creditors such as the World Bank’s International Development Association and the Caribbean Development Bank, as well as from bilateral creditors including China, Canada, India, and UK Export Finance. These funds support various social and infrastructural projects.Multilateral creditors hold the largest share of external PPG debt at 63.4%, followed by bilateral creditors at 35.1%, and private creditors at 1.5%.  Notably, the report states that the external PPG debt stock is projected to grow to US$2,832.3 million by the end of 2024, driven by expected continued inflows from both bilateral and multilateral sources.

It was disclosed that external disbursements reached US$196.8 million in the first half of 2024, a 94.6% increase from the same period in the previous year. This surge is largely due to increased funding from bilateral creditors, which amounted to US$157.9 million, reflecting a 127.5% rise compared to the first half of 2023. Key projects funded include a social protection initiative by Canada, the East Coast Demerara Road Improvement Project Phase 2, and the Regional Hospitals Project, financed by China, along with several projects funded by the India EXIM Bank.

(Kaieteur News)

Photo: Senior Minister within the Office of the President, Dr. Ashni Singh. …[+]

PARAMARIBO – President Chandrikapersad Santokhi has promised to present solutions to the problems of the nation’s security unions within a week. He made this promise at a meeting with the security unions that represent the various forces of the Ministry of Justice and Police last Thursday night. Last week the security unions made it clear that they would intensify their campaigns if the government failed to respond. The chairpersons of the Surinamese Police Association (SPB), the Prison Guards’ Association and the Firefighters’ Force Suriname attended the meeting where urgent issues were discussed. The unions demanded a raise, a purchasing power boost, promotions, payment of allowances and the purchase of essential gear and tools for their members…[+]