Dear Editor, Once again, the GAWU cannot allow the patent falsehoods of Vice President and Minister of Public Security and AFC Chairman, Khemraj Ramjattan to be left unanswered lest his remarks related to sugar be considered truthful. The Public Security Minister, a known lighting-rod of controversy, appearing on an online programme titled “Is there a constitutional crisis looming?” that was broadcasted on the internet on February 23, 2019, made, from our point-of-view, a number of incorrect statements regarding the sugar industry. The Minister, on the matter, said that the Administration…
Read MoreYear: 2019
Being Guyanese: Unity with many roots
By Ravi Dev In “Gardening in the Tropics”, the mixed heritage Jamaican poet Olive Senior uses the activity of “gardening” as an extended trope to analyse the brutal colonisation of the Caribbean by the Europeans, and their influence in the formation of our identity. Gardening, after all, does involve “rooting out”, discarding” “cultivating”, “nurturing”, “grafting”, “hybridity”, and so many activities which are also at work in cultures and relationships in the construction of identities. All of us have been — and continue to be — “cultivated”, whether we like it…
Read MoreGuyana seeking reputable int’l companies in oil and gas sector – Gaskin tells Rice University forum
Guyana’s oil industry is attracting a significant amount of international interest, and according to Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin, the country is seeking to partner with reputable foreign companies and wants an arrangement that benefits the country in the short, medium and long term. According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), Minister Gaskin was at the time speaking at the Baker Institute’s forum on Oil and Gas Development in Guyana at Rice University in Houston, Texas held on Tuesday. He was among a panel of speakers which included: Minister…
Read MoreGuyana Govt to set up Drug treatment Court for petty offenders
“We do not want necessarily to jail our juveniles and to make this a jailhouse nation, we want to have alternatives, we want to have diversionary measures and I see this Drug Treatment Court as an aspect of that.” Those were the sentiments shared by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan on Wednesday as a two-day workshop kicked off at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown for stakeholders who will be involved in the new arm of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. The court has come at a time…
Read MoreCops granted bail for robbing Brazilian national
Two police officers were on Tuesday arraigned with armed robbery committed on a Brazilian national when they appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. 21-year-old Sherwayne Spiers of Parika, East Bank Essequibo, and 25-year-old Daniel Kellman of McKenzie, Linden, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read to them by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. Police stated that on February 20, 2019, at the Takutu Bridge, Central Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), the accused relieved Ronaldo Ferreira of a cellphone and a small sum of Brazilian currency. At the time of…
Read MoreUnity…
…not even for a day At the flag raising ceremony to usher in Republic Day, President Granger said, “Everyone wins when the nation is united.” Of course, this is true…but what does it have to do with the price of psidium??!! This is the kind of banal homilies that Granger’s been spewing since he took over the Presidency almost four years ago, even as his actions have led to the most intense polarisation of our land of “six peoples” in decades!! Take the theme for Mashramani that was to follow…
Read MoreDeath of US citizen in Berbice seems suspicious – relatives
Days before a former factory worker took his last breath, he reportedly told his sister that he was beaten by one of his wife’s relatives. Sixty-two-year-old Kamaladeen Abrahim, also called “Rahim”, of Whim Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) died while receiving medical attention at the New Amsterdam Hospital. According to reports, Abrahim, a US citizen arrived in Guyana in November for a brief stay and returned again in January. On the first visit, he reportedly claimed that he was robbed by a relative and on the second visit, he…
Read MoreGovernment’s role in business
The ongoing three-way contretemps between RUSAL, its workers and trade union, and the Government has once again brought to the fore the vexed question of the PNC-led Government’s position on the now dominant neo-liberal “night-watchman” state. This model did not just shrink the Government’s role in the economy, but rejected it taking any responsibility for alleviating the condition of the poorer elements of society. Unions were demobilized, and workers reverted to dealing directly with employers. The PNC stuck doggedly to this position when it shut down four of the seven…
Read MoreGuyana’s private sector reports significant decline in business due to political uncertainty
The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) said it has conducted a study following the passage of the December 21, 2018 no-confidence motion and has found that the looming political uncertainty has caused some 64 per cent of businesses to register some sort of decline. The Chamber on Monday said it was concerned about the effect of the impact of the associated uncertainty on the business community, adding that it was that level of uncertainty which prompted the survey, to gauge the effect of the political environment on business…
Read MoreProbe launched into alleged ‘trophy hunting’ of jaguar
The recent killing of a jaguar, Guyana’s national animal, has gone viral on social media and has grabbed the attention of Government which has launched an investigation into the incident. A photo of the dead jaguar began circulating on social media earlier this week and has since sparked debates and awareness about the need to protect this endangered species of animal. From all indications, based on the post, the animal was killed during a hunting trip. But it is against the law to hunt and kill an animal which falls…
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