A few days ago, the US Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s administration’s travel restrictions on citizens from five Muslim countries; and for good measure, N. Korea and Venezuela. The 5-4 split decision handed a victory to Trump to enforce one of his most controversial policies. The Court ruled that the president has the constitutional authority under US immigration laws to limit travel from the identified foreign countries over national security concerns, as his administration has argued. Trump is now vindicated in his strategy of articulating an archetypal view of…
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There is need to professionalize the Guyana Police Force
By Ravi Dev In the last two weeks, I looked at the composition of our disciplined forces from the perspective of our Ethnic Security Dilemmas. It is a political perspective. One can, of course, look at those forces (or any other phenomena) from any other number of angles, but we have to ask, “What is the objective of the examination?” The objective of my analysis and comments was to confront our most fundamental structural problem and bring stability with justice in Guyana. The scholar Cynthia Enloe, who taught at UG…
Read MoreThere is need to professionalise the Guyana Police Force
By Ravi Dev In the last two weeks, I looked at the composition of our disciplined forces from the perspective of our Ethnic Security Dilemmas. It is a political perspective. One can, of course, look at those forces (or any other phenomena) from any other number of angles, but we have to ask, “What is the objective of the examination?” The objective of my analysis and comments was to confront our most fundamental structural problem and bring stability with justice in Guyana. The scholar Cynthia Enloe, who taught at UG…
Read MoreReadjusting our dress codes
Everywhere we turn, we are greeted by dress codes. Dress codes are simply rules which people are expected to follow, and may vary based on the place, occasion and reason for attendance. Some events are incredibly formal, for example, that of the Royal Ascot, which has issued a 36-page dress code; with males in the Royal enclosure being mandated to wear top hats. However, most dress codes are not that specific, and can lead to much subjectivity in their enforcement. Specifically, in Guyana, the main issue with dress codes are…
Read MoreRodney: A prophet of emancipation
Last week, I discussed the exacerbation of the “Indian Ethnic Security Dilemma” – originally formed by Indian Guyanese’ majority numbers catapulting them into office, but then checkmated by the 90 per cent dominated Armed Forces – with the loss of its majority since 2012. The PNC, as Desmond Hoyte did after 1997, when he brought its supporters into violent street protests which then segued into the “slow fyaah; mo fyaah” strategy, could always count on its “kith and kin” in the armed forces, as its Georgetown street elements rampaged against…
Read MoreConcerns over Govt extravagance
There have been, and continue to be, serious concerns over national spending since the APNU/AFC Government took office in 2015. While the D’Urban Park and the Sussex Street controversies may have come to epitomise these concerns, what continues to be revealed is equally alarming. Just recently, it was disclosed that Special Prosecutors are receiving some G$20,000 per hour for services rendered and a G$2 million retainer against fees and costs. This is not suggesting that legal skills must not be adequately compensated. However, in the current circumstances it would be…
Read MoreAddressing poverty
According to the United Nations: worldwide, some 1 billion people live in extreme poverty, and more than 800 million endure hunger and malnutrition. However, since 1990, extreme poverty rates have been cut by more than half. This is seen as a remarkable achievement, and all stakeholders, especially governments, are expected to continue making the necessary policy interventions and allocate the needed resources to further bridge the gap between the rich and poor. Beyond income alone, what matters to people is whether they are able to realise their aspirations for themselves…
Read MoreGECOM and its employment practices
At the beginning of this month, Dr. Roger Luncheon, PPP Executive and Election Committee Member, claimed PNC Commissioners at GECOM were discriminating against Indian Guyanese applicants for vacancies at the Secretariat by giving those shortlisted low to zero scores during the interview process, while providing high to 100% scores to their preferred candidates. “If these disclosures are confirmed,” he declared, “it would reveal that the practice continues of excluding some ethnicities from GECOM Secretariat.” The claim of discriminatory hiring practices at GECOM was repeated by the three PPP Commissioners at…
Read MoreRodney: A prophet of emancipation
Thirty-eight years ago, Dr Walter Rodney was assassinated when he was just thirty-eight. While we thought he was too optimistic on the potential for socialism to eradicate racism, and even more so about including Indians in the Caribbean under the banner of “Black Power” in 1969, we still believe the proposal be made the following year on organising Guyanese Indians and Africans, was most realistic. We published it several times since 1998, hoping for a positive responsive from African Guyanese activists. Without success. Dr Rodney said: “Let us take the…
Read MoreGuyana Times: A decade of responsible journalism
One decade ago, the Guyana Times newspaper was launched in the midst of both global and domestic turmoil. Internationally, the financial crisis in the developed economies had led to a meltdown of such proportions that there were fears of another “Great Depression” rivalling in its effects, the one in the 1930s that had infected every country in the world, including Guyana. Domestically, the Government and State had been under attack since 2002 by an armed gang which had committed one massacre of innocents in January at Lusignan and another the…
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