Year: 2011

The Joint Opposition Political Parties (JOPP), on Thursday, June 09th, expressed the hope that funds from the Guyana/Norway deal would be used for genuine national development. The remarks were made when top leaders of the opposition grouping met Norwegian minister Counsellor Inge Nordang, who paid a courtesy call on them at Congress Place. Sophia, Georgetown. The JOPP was represented by Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform/Leader of the Opposition, Robert Corbin; PNCR presidential candidate, brigadier (ret’d) David Granger; PNC/R’s Vice- Chairman Dr George Norton MP; Ms Africo Selman MP;…

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A 63-year-old remigrant Berbician perished in his heavily grilled home on June 13 when a fire of unknown origin engulfed the two-storey building in which he lived alone at Lots 56/57 Bloomfield Corentyne Berbice in the wee hours of that morning. The dead man has been identified as Morgan Jagai. A cousin of Jagai, who has been living with Jagai since he re- migrated some years ago, was in Georgetown at the time of the incident. According to reports, the fire started at about 01:30h. A neighbour told this newspaper…

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In a concerted effort to tackle the nuances of child labour in Guyana, the Ministry of Education has drafted legislation to increase the age of children leaving school from 15 to 16 years old. Education Minister Shaik Baksh disclosed that the draft education legislation had been submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers a year ago, but has been met with logistical delays relating to staffing and resource issues. “Having laws and legislation (is) necessary, but laws are not sufficient for the solution of child labour. What (are) needed (are) preventative…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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