Category: Editorials

World AIDS Day, which will be observed on December 1, brings together people from around the world to raise awareness about HIV/ AIDS and demonstrate international solidarity in face of the pandemic. Countries pledged in 2011 to take specific steps to achieve ambitious goals by 2015 as it relates to the HIV/ AIDS fight. While some have already made measurable progress and are closer to achieving the targets agreed to, there is still much work for others to do before they can get the desired results. According to a report…

Read More

Yet again, Guyana has dominated the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examinations (CSEC) awards. This year (2013) Guyana won five of the eight awards including: most outstanding overall student, most outstanding student in humanities, most outstanding student in sciences, most outstanding student in business studies and most outstanding student in technical vocational. It should also be noted that within the last decade, Guyana has been consistently winning CSEC awards because of the excellent performances recorded by students. In 2012, the country won four of the eight regional awards. This achievement is…

Read More

The recent call by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) for support of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) Bill echoes the concerns raised by all stakeholders, including this publication, regarding the impact on Guyana’s economy should these vital pieces of legislation be delayed further. Guyana’s political stakeholders cannot afford at this time to play politics with this important legislation and it is incumbent upon civil society to continue to put pressure on our leaders to rise above partisan interests and pass the legislation as soon as…

Read More

As the country reflects on its democratic status 21 years after the latter was returned in the wake of decades of struggle against rigged elections, there are allegations by opposition forces that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/ C) government continues to use the 1980 Constitution, which had confirmed the existential dictatorial rule of the People’s National Congress (PNC). Such charges ignore the fundamental changes in that Constitution wrought by the constitutional reform process initiated in 1999 and implemented in 2000. The alterations were so far reaching that for all…

Read More

The news that the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has denied permission to Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) and Fly Jamaica (FJ) to fly directly from Guyana to New York is very disturbing. According to the criteria announced by the DOT, the airlines would have had to show “a need for the service, that there would be a negligible impact on U. S. flag carriers, and the proposed operation is limited in scope” – all of the foregoing operationalised within the overarching goal of serving the U. S. “public interest”.…

Read More

By any standard, Guyana’s housing drive could be regarded as the best model in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) region. Of course this is not the view of local stakeholders alone, it is the view of a well-respected Caribbean statesman, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves. Dr Gonsalves, who was in Guyana on a recent visit, was quoted in the Guyana Times newspaper as saying that our housing development is an “extraordinary” one and should be shared with the rest of the region. The Vincentian leader…

Read More

The government of Guyana has commended the Barack Obama administration for rethinking its strategy on Syria by accepting the opening provided by Russia for a peaceful denouement on the issue of chemical weapons, which United Nations (UN) investigators confirmed were used on August 21. The U. S., Britain and France claimed the report proved conclusively that Bashar al- Assad’s forces were responsible, but this was disputed by Russia within the UN Security Council. The rebels could also have deployed the weapons to garner U. S. involvement. Last Saturday, the security…

Read More

Opposition Leader David Granger is reported to have stated that a “new political culture” is needed in Guyana. From his comments, he is evidently reacting to the gridlock that has developed in the National Assembly since the last general elections. More specifically he suggests that this “new political culture” should engender a “relationship among the three parties in the National Assembly to ensure that the dialogue that takes place is for the benefit of all the people”. On the surface, there is much that is commendable about Granger’s proposal and…

Read More

Almost every stakeholder in the region and farther afield came out in support of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL). From current and past players to commentators, government officials, corporate sponsors, Hollywood actors and many more hailed the tournament as a massive success. Limacol CPL Chief Executive Officer Damien O’Donohoe was quoted as saying, “We have exceeded every benchmark we set for the Limacol CPL when we embarked on this project… by every measure there is no doubt it has been a massive success.” It was evident that Caribbean people…

Read More

The decision of Sithe Global to withdraw from the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project (AFHEP), because the government failed to obtain the approval of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in Parliament on two bills concerning the project, amounts to a minority veto on the development of Guyana. APNU executive Carl Greenidge identified Sithe’s concern when he pointed out that the company was concerned about the impact of “political risk” on its projected US$150 million investment. Greenidge proposed, “This government – you can’t guarantee that it will be there…

Read More