Dear Editor, In my role as an ‘Apostle to the Gentiles’, I am involved in issues that trouble the “least among us”. I work with ex-offenders, recovering addicts, and the street people; and if there is one thing I find severely lacking in Guyana, it is the availability of mentors. If our chronic and precipitous brain drain has done anything, it has robbed Guyana of a pool of role models and mentors, increasingly among men and boys. Therefore, whenever an occasion arises, and purely by evolutionary default, those in need…
Read MoreCategory: Letters
Wismar Massacre to be commemorated in NYC
Dear Editor The 100th Anniversary Foundation, NY, a NGO, has issued a release saying it will commemorate the 1964 Wismar Massacre at a special Remembrance ceremony in Richmond Hill on Friday evening, May 26. The NGO said that May 26th should not be a day for only celebrations. It noted that during May 1964, some 3000 Indo Guyanese were victims of a massacre in Wismar. It is known as the WISMAR MASSACRE OF INDIANS. This year marks the 53rd anniversary of that PNC preplanned annihilation of Indians. The independent media…
Read More5 ‘Advisors’ for Guyana’s Attorney General may be a world record
Dear Editor, Every person who has ever served in the office of Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs must have felt a profound sense of flattery when they learnt that the current holder of the office was gifted three (3) retired Judges — one from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), one from the Court of Appeal of Guyana, and one from the High Court of Guyana — along with two (2) law professors, each possessing a doctorate in law, to assist him in the discharge of the functions…
Read MoreIs Guyana capable and ready for ecotourism?
Dear Editor, The current ecological concerns in Mazaruni, Region Seven, the gold industry’s spill of the recent past, the high level of bauxite industry pollution in Linden, and the opening of the oil industry all beg the question: “Are we capable and ready for ecotourism?” Lack of consistency in the Government’s (current and past) ability to deal with the prevention of pollution and lasting disruption to the ecosystem of Guyana makes it difficult to give full confidence in the nation’s future oil industry’s ability to prevent a serious natural disaster,…
Read MoreSunil Narine also has good batting skills
Dear Editor, I am in India for almost two weeks now to attend the “Indian Diaspora Indentured Academic Conference” held over the weekend in New Delhi where I presented a paper on Indian Indentureship in Guyana and the Caribbean. I used the occasion also to enjoy cricket in which several West Indians are participating in the Indian Professional League (IPL) cricket tournament. Wherever I travelled in India and at 20/20 IPL matches, because of my ‘English’ accent, curious questions arise on my nationality as Indians would say “I look Indian”,…
Read MoreThe working class facing tough times
Dear Editor, We are approaching another May Day, the holiday of the working people. It is a time when workers celebrate their achievements and contemplate their future. This year, unfortunately, the toiling masses of Guyana have nothing to celebrate and a lot of concerns for the future. In just two years, the PNC-led APNU regime has done great damage to our economy. It is the working people who are feeling the brunt of the pressures as a result of the regime’s faulty economic policies. Indeed, the conditions of life for…
Read MoreWhat returns did the three-day State visit to The Bahamas by Granger and team garner for Guyana?
Dear Editor, It was reported in the Tribune, a Bahamian newspaper, on March 2, 2017 that President David Granger and his select cohort arrived in The Bahamas for a three-day State visit in a private plane. Thinking that there was an error with the report, since there was no possible justifiable reason to use a private plane instead of a commercial flight (whether first class or otherwise), my further investigation revealed that not only was this report of the use of a private plane accurate, but it was further evidence…
Read MoreThe last ship
The SS Ganges was the last ship to bring Indian indentured labourers to British Guiana. It arrived in Georgetown on April 18, 1917 with 437 men, women and children destined for various plantations. The ship had left India just four days before the Abolition Act was signed in the Indian Parliament on March 12, 1917. After sailing from Calcutta with 124 persons, or just over a third of the labour contingent, it then docked in Madras to pick up the rest of the indentured workers before setting sail for the…
Read More‘Educational Exchanges’ Russian Government provides invaluable opportunities for Guyanese
Every year since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Guyana in 1970, the Russian Government provides scholarships to Guyanese for studies in Russia. More than 100 Guyanese, including doctors, engineers, politicians and diplomats, have graduated from the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN). In 2016, two Guyanese received Russian Government scholarship to study medicine in RUDN. This year another two scholarships were granted – one focused on oil and gas studies, a prospective Guyanese industrial field. The Ministry of Natural Resources of Guyana will designate a group of…
Read MoreThere is need to reward excellence in public service
Dear Editor, As we continue to embrace our national strategy towards a sustainable economy with a focus on ecotourism, we must also continue to develop our reward systems for commitment and excellence in public service. For time spent providing exemplary work as a teacher, nurse or doctor, Police Officer, soldier, fireman/firewoman, or in other areas within Government regardless of party affiliation, workers should be given the opportunity to obtain subsidised housing and access to preferential financing rates. This will attract more candidates to these crucial roles in our society and…
Read More