Year: 2019

Govt has no respect for workers – MP tells Berbicians

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  Member of Parliament, Dr Vishwa Mahadeo told hundreds of Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corenyne) workers that Government has no respect for workers. The statement was made as he addressed workers at a Labour Day rally organised by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) held at the Port Mourant Community Centre. Mahadeo said he based his conclusion on Government’s four-year track record, which has been disappointing, adding that one of the first things that Government did after taking office was to abolish the Labour Ministry and to reduce…

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“Don’t set boundaries don’t limit yourself,” Malika Crawford

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“I love dealing with children and especially specially-abled children because we as persons with disabilities we don’t get those kinds of attention from people because it always seems to people that we are a pity party, we need help. But if you can give a person a chance especially a person with a disability a chance you can see the ability in them, that is what motivated me to become a teacher because I am out in helping because I know what it feels like and how it feels to…

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Differently-abled but not unable

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By Kizzy Coleman Author Jo Franz once said, “Take a limitation and turn it into an opportunity”. Living for the past eleven years of her life, being visually impaired, 41-year-old Odessa Blair, a graduate of the University of Guyana is the embodiment of that quote. In 2008, at the age of 30, the then-pregnant mother of one was hospitalized with what was believed to be pregnancy complications. Following several medical tests, Blair was diagnosed with Hypertension. Hypertension is another name for high blood pressure which causes severe complications, increasing the…

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Education Ministry flagged by Auditor General over textbooks procurement

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A report from the Auditor General has flagged the Education Ministry for not complying “in all material respects” with the relevant Acts, regulations and policies regarding the procurement of textbooks in 2016. A “Compliance Audit of the Procurement of Textbooks by the Ministry of Education for the year ended 31 December 2016” was conducted after the Auditor General’s 2015 Annual Report found, among other things, that contracts were not signed and textbooks were not delivered. The report on the Compliance Audit of the Procurement of Textbooks by the Education Ministry,…

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Volume increase could have offset repayment – Jagdeo

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…flacks government for not knowing of increase   Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday said that government not knowing of the increase in fees at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) is unacceptable and had government gone along with the original plan then the increase in volume would have covered the repayment. “The plan (under the PPP) was to use the airport as a mini-hub to connect with Northern Brazil through Roraima, Suriname, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, North America and Europe through those KLM flights coming through Suriname…it would have…

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Dawn Hastings-Williams appointed new Minister of State

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…as govt dual citizen MPs resign The Chief Justice, in the case of Compton Reid v. Speaker of the National Assembly et al, declared, on January 31, 2019, that it was unconstitutional for a person holding dual citizenship to be elected as a Member of Parliament. This ruling was affirmed by a majority decision of the Court of Appeal on March 22, 2019. In light of that ruling government dual citizen Members of Parliament, Carl Greenidge, Minister of For-eign Affairs; Dominic Gaskin, Minister of Business; Joseph Harmon, Minister of State…

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34 majority of 65 “just doesn’t add up”

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…new electoral mathematics! – Fmr Electoral Assoc Chair Professor Emeritus Errol Miller, a retired professor from the University of the West Indies versed in election matters, has waded into the debate on the no-confidence motion that was passed while calling on the Caribbean Court of Justice to render a decision that adheres to legal principles. In a video broadcast dubbed Caribbean Commentary, Professor Miller, who is also a former Chairman of the Caribbean Association of Electoral Organisations, noted that the formula used to invalidate the passage of the 2018 no-confidence…

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‘Presence needed in Washington to counter “lies” by APNU/AFC’

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… Jagdeo says in justifying hiring of major US lobbyist firm Opposition Leader and General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, said he is satisfied with the effectiveness of Mercury Public Affairs and believes his party got value for the G$34 million contract it signed with the US consulting firm. Fielding questions about the company at this weekly press conference on Wednesday, Jagdeo pointed out that he is happy with the decision to hire the lobbyist firm and did so after reviewing their work and found it…

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Significant decline in US visitor visas for Guyanese in 2018

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…over 70% of applicants denied …7506 permanent visas issued last year Even as authorities maintain that there is nothing to worry about regarding United States visa policies, a significant decline in the number of visitor visas issued by the US Embassy in Guyana was recorded last year. According to a visa summary provided by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, a total of 4923 visitor visas were approved by the US Embassy in Georgetown during the 2018 Fiscal Year, which runs from October 2017 to September 2018.…

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