Dear Editor, Let’s not fool ourselves; marijuana was made illegal because of economic control of the plant by the USA. America did not have the expertise to mass produce this plant on a scale and quality that other countries did, so in the 1930s they launched an aggressive campaign to make marijuana illegal across the globe through high-level political manoeuvring and “strong arming” other countries. Today, America stands as the leading example for making this plant legal again, now that they have the expertise to effectively profit from it. And…
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Govt needs to take note of Chinese generosity
Dear Editor, The Stabroek News reported that “China ready to work with Guyana on renewable energy, infrastructure” (Friday, November 6, 2015). This is very good news which came out of a meeting held between the Chinese Ambassador Zhang Limin, President David Granger, Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge, Governance Minister Raphael Trotman and Minister of State Joseph Harmon. The Chinese Ambassador says his Government will be working closely with Guyana in the areas of renewable energy and infrastructural development. But the Granger Government needs to seriously take note of the generosity…
Read MoreWe need help to save the sugar industry
Dear Editor, It was disturbing to learn, according to a report in the November 4, 2015 edition of Stabroek News, that GuySuCo’s CEO advised that the Corporation failed to produce about 6000 tonnes sugar arising from the sugar workers three-day protest action. The goodly gentleman, who has worked for many years in sugar, could not have been truthful as he is fully well aware that the disclosure is misleading. The three-day strike was from Sunday to Tuesday. It is a known fact that even in the best of times, turnout…
Read MoreMinister Ramjattan clueless with a super salary
Dear Editor, Minister Ramjattan has so far rolled out three “master plans” for fighting crime that was totally useless and scientifically baseless. First he started with the now unpopular “2AM curfew” where he said that it would have reduced crime, road accidents, domestic violence and generate a better workforce all at once. From his perspective this was his silver bullet on the crime fighting front. As we can see now, the Minster had never provided any data to back up his position and in an ironic twist, he is now…
Read MoreTeachers union should support corporal punishment ban in Guyana
Dear Editor, I am hoping that the Guyana Teachers Union soon sees it fit to support the call from various sections of our society for the total ban of corporal punishment in our schools. For many years as a teacher and headmaster in schools in four regions of Guyana, I was a part of the system in which the cane was accepted as the most effective instrument of penalty for transgressions by students. This was so because teachers saw it as the fastest and most accessible method, which was tolerated…
Read MoreKN giving away free copies
Dear Editor, They say “time longer than twine” so it had to happen sooner than later. I have lived to see the Kaieteur News itself admit that its circulation has dropped so low that it has resorted to giving it away free. It has been doing this to the vendors all across the country on the down low, but it is clear that this has not stopped the bleeding. On Tuesday, it had to admit in muted headlines, “Rubis rewarding customers with free copy of Kaieteur News”. Seems that KN…
Read MoreDr Ralph Gonsalves was right
Dear Editor, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves has said that the “ballgame”… the nature of Caricom’s relations with Venezuela would change should that country ever exercise the military option in pursuit of its claim to Guyana’s territory. He said that Caricom maintains that the territorial integrity of Guyana must remain intact in keeping with the 1899 Arbitral Award and has publicly expressed its position on numerous occasions. He said Caricom had expressed its grave concern to the initial decree issued by President Maduro and…
Read MorePositive changes, or not
Dear Editor, Why all the hullabaloo about the 50% salary increase when with this new elite crop of administrators a turnaround in the future is foreseeable with the feed, house and clothe campaign in keeping with Burnham’s mantra. We have already seen positive changes in attitude towards the City Council by vendors; the beautification of Georgetown by enthusiastic citizens; less corruption in the Police Force; a positive turnaround in the rice and sugar industries, less bashing of wives, thanks to Ramjattan’s 2 am curfew; a proliferation of trips abroad wooing…
Read MoreThe voices for LGE have gone totally silent
Dear Editor, I wrote last week about the total silence of the Government about their broken promise of Local Government Elections (LGE) before the end of 2015. Now the Minister responsible, Ronald Bulkan, has quietly and in an uncharacteristically low-profile manner, announced that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is not ready for LGE in 2015. They are definitely dodging LGE. The Minister has clumsily attempted to shift blame to Dr Steve Surujbally and GECOM. The truth is that the introduction of legislation designating Lethem, Mabaruma and Bartica as townships is…
Read MoreA welcome decision on prayers in Guyana’s public schools
Dear Sir, A recent article in the newspapers titled “Government to Review Christian Prayers in Public Schools” has caught my attention and I must heartily congratulate Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnarine for taking a most “educated” stance on this long-standing travesty. At the same time one wonders why previous Governments with leading Pandits in their midst and having a more than warm relationship with leaders of the Muslim community have not seen it fit to correct this anomalous situation a full 49 years after independence. I remember well my…
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