Dear Editor, Keith Hernandez, of Ontario, Canada, raised a good concern in a previous letter published in the Guyana Times. It was definitely a major disappointment recently to view a video circulating on YouTube that showed the flagrant illegality of some local police officers. However, it would not deter people from visiting Guyana. More and more, the outside world is beginning to see that any kind of negative story is stretched and politicised by certain groups for their own reasons. Statistically, more people, not just returning Guyanese, are coming to…
Read MoreYear: 2013
Telling Holding like it is
Dear Editor, Michael Holding some time ago boycotted cricket commentaries because Carl Hooper was chosen by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to captain the West Indies team. Before this, Holding declared that cricket should not be played in Guyana because bad weather is always hampering the game there. Yet, in Jamaica, a Test match against England was called off after a few overs, all because the curator did a lousy job. Holding did not say anything then. So his assessment of Clive Lloyd’s non-favour for the WICB’s role of…
Read MoreEmbryo transfer paying great dividends in Guyana’s cattle industry
Dear Editor, To date, 20 calves have been produced through the embryo transfer method, which began in Guyana about a year ago. This is really a wonderful success story for the Agriculture Ministry through its work with the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA). Embryo transfer is an ever changing and expanding field that started in 1951, but took until the 1970s for the first calf to be commercially produced in England. The commercial embryo transfer industry in North America developed in the early 1970’s with the introduction of exotic European…
Read MoreKaieteur News peddling distortions about radio, TV licences
Dear Editor, The culprits in the opposition who raped our country’s treasury for 28 long years, while denying us the opportunity to access information freely, has once again expressed serious double standards in their bid to grab political power at all costs. Were it not they who advocated for the breaking of the monopoly in radio? Were it not they who wanted more private sector businessmen to invest their monies in the sector, which has been admirably liberalised? Were it not they who gave lip service to the creation of…
Read MoreKinder, gentler MPs
Satiricus was pleased. In fact, Satiricus was pleased as Punch. Satiricus had read where the gentle and urbane Speaker of the House had chastised MPs from both sides of the House for using quite unbecoming language in the hallowed halls of Parliament. He exhorted them to use kinder and gentler words. Were they not all honourable men? Then there was his predecessor. An even more gentle and urbane (if that were possible) man, who after being nastily and brutishly attacked, merely picked up his briefcase and walked away. A man…
Read MoreGuyana’s opposition blocks gun control laws
– while the world negotiates Arms Trade Treaty Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee has lamented that while critical steps are being taken in the international arena to hammer out an Arms Trade Treaty, locally the opposition has voted down a bill that seeks to strengthen this country’s fight against illicit arms. Negotiators from around 150 countries gathered in New York at the United Nations for a final push to hammer out a binding international treaty to end unregulated conventional arms sales, a pact that a powerful U. S. pro-gun lobby…
Read MoreSmoking
There are people who smoke every day. You see them everywhere, surreptitiously puffing away on their cigarettes. And it’s no secret that smoking is bad for your health – even the cigarette packets are marked with a warning that “Smoking is dangerous to your health”. And while the smokers might be quite happy to do whatever it takes to die of lung cancer, they’re actually harming non-smokers as well. Second-hand smoke, smoke inhaled by non-smokers from smokers around them, contains over 4000 carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals. So when you light up…
Read MoreTrent University to honour Jagdeo
Former President Bharrat Jagdeo, distinguished Canadian parliamentarian Ed Broadbent, international developer Justin Chiu, and ornithologist Dr Bruce Falls are to be honoured at the June convocation of the Trent University. On behalf of Senate, Dr Steven E Franklin, the president and vice chancellor of Trent University, announced last week, the four outstanding individuals will receive honorary degrees at Trent’s 46th convocation ceremonies to be held on June 5 and 6, 2013. “This year we are honouring an international group of individuals for their remarkable achievements and their extraordinary contributions to…
Read MoreRupununi Rodeo: An exciting adventure of a lifetime
The Lethem Rodeo or Rupununi Rodeo held each year over the Easter weekend in Guyana continues to generate regional and international acclaim, with thousands flocking to Region Nine annually for the most popular inland sporting festival in the country. The fun kicks off on the Saturday, March 30 and continues until Easter Monday, April 1 with daytime activities like wild bull riding, horse racing, wild cow milking, wild horse riding, a female barrel race, and steer roping, among other exhilarating events. In an effort to harness the potential of this…
Read MoreTime ripe for Guyana to capitalise on South-South cooperation
Guyana’s need to capitalise on South-South cooperation was further highlighted by the 2013 United Nations Human Development Report, which stated that the achievements of southern countries have challenged global institutions to re-examine their approach. “When developed economies in the North stopped growing during 2008’s financial meltdown, but developing economies recorded progress, it sent a signal to the rest of the world,” United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark said. Such countries included Guyana, which reported a five per cent increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the year of…
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