Category: News

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) said that a staggering number of children are still caught up in hazardous work, as it joins countries the world over to observe World Day against Child Labour, 2011. The ILO in a report stated that some 115 million of the world’s 215 million child labourers are caught in these conditions, and called for urgent action to halt the practice. The report, “Children in hazardous work: what we know, what we need to do,” cites studies from both industrialised and developing countries indicating that every…

Region Two Chairman Ali Baksh on June 10 inspected several road and sea defence projects under construction in Region Two. During a visit to Henrietta village, Essequibo Coast, the chairman met with contractor Vish Turbo. At Henrietta village, the façade dam is presently under construction and the road is also being upgraded. The chairman stated that on previous inspections he was not pleased with the condition of the ‘shoulders’ (edges) of the streets, and contractors need to take pride when executing projects. According to the chairman, the edges of the…

President Bharrat Jagdeo told persons given house lots in the New Eccles Housing Scheme that they should not just buy the land and hope it will grow in value, but rather build on it. His comments were made at the Housing and Water Ministry’s One Stop Shop exercise conducted at the National Stadium on June 09th. In urging persons to build, the president cautioned that repossession is not the best option, but it is sometimes necessary when people “speculate with the land”. Housing Minister Irfaan Ali said that the project…

Guyana plans to vigorously lobby the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations to suspend non-tarrif barriers to agricultural trade within the region, at the ongoing high level food consultation in Trinidad and Tobago. Among Guyana’s officials and agriculturalists at the two- day forum, which opens today, is Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud. He stressed the need to quickly remove the barriers, making it easier for producer states such as Guyana to meet the food needs of their sister countries, especially in light of…

President Bharrat Jagdeo said that he is “not disturbed” by Surinamese President Desi Bouterse’s continued insistence that the New River Triangle belongs to his country. Speaking to the media briefly on Wednesday, President Jagdeo said: I am not disturbed because we know that Suriname has always claimed the area, so his re-instatement of that issue is nothing new.” Additionally, the head of state stressed that utterances of the Surinamese president ought to be seen in the right context: “… look at the context, he said we want to solve it…

As Guyana’s tourism product continues to attract international attention, travel writer Ruth-Anne Lynch has been hired once again by LIAT to write about “Destination Guyana”. An independent executive office professional, travel writer and radio broadcaster, British born Lynch, who has parents from Jamaica and Guyana, has already written on Guyana for several publications, including the Caribbean Beat magazine, Zing magazine (LIAT magazine), and the Rough Guides. Lynch’s trip has been made possible through the efforts of the Tourism Industry, the Commerce Ministry, and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), in collaboration…

An evening on “History of Indentured Labour” was hosted at the Umana Yana on June 13 when Indian writer Leela Gujadhur Sarup launched the 14th volume of her book, “Colonial Immigration 19th – 20th Century”. Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, Sarup spends the greater part of her time researching and compiling a series of works on colonial immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. The book emphasises the passage of Indian indentured labourers to the Caribbean. At the event, Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh, said Sarup is…