The opposition remains deadlocked over the selection of the Speaker of the House, as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic ( PPP/ C) reiterates its disappointment in the opposition for violating the tripartite discussions it had agreed on. In a telephone interview, Alliance For Change (AFC) executive member Khemraj Ramjattan said that there has been “no movement”, and that the party is still negotiating with the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). As for APNU, executive member Dr Rupert Roopnaraine said the parties are testing various propositions, but refuted claims that they…
Read MoreMonth: January 2012
Opposition settles on regional representatives
While the opposition parties are still to settle on who they want to be Speaker of the House, they have decided on their list of councillors for the regional democratic councils across Guyana. Alliance For Change (AFC) executive member Khemraj Ramjattan said the party has submitted its candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). However, the party will release the names of its councillors in a subsequent press statement, he told Guyana Times International. Similarly, executive member of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Dr Rupert Roopnaraine stated that…
Read MoreU.S. imports from Guyana in 2010 pegged at US$ 302.1M
The United States imports from Guyana in 2010 totalled US$ 302.1 million, while exports were pegged at US$ 280.2 million, Washington said in the “Ninth Report to Congress on the operations of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act 2011”. Trinidad and Tobago has become the leading source of United States imports entering under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) tariff preferences, displacing the Dominican Republic, according to the latest report issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative. The United States imported US$ 2.2 billion from T& T under…
Read MoreLooking back
Satiricus didn’t mind looking back. He figured that since the world was round, if you looked backwards eventually it curves around the globe and, voila! you’re looking ahead! The gang had wandered into the old watering hole as if drawn by some mystical drumbeats heard only by them. The conversation had been desultory. Too much imbibing of holiday spirits. “Deep boy. You deep!” Mukesh grinned. “I don’t think I’m ready for all that thinking!” “Well, look at it this way. Why you think the year begins with January?” Satiricus wasn’t…
Read MoreHydro power will result in many benefits for our country
Dear Editor, I am very encouraged by the fact that Guyana’s new president, Donald Ramotar is very firm on getting the hydro project on stream. I am firmly of the view that this is certainly the way to go and it is only a matter of time before our people begin to see the wisdom in the administration making such a huge investment in this particular area. Fluctuating oil prices, political instability and social unrest in some of the major oil producing countries in the world are some of the…
Read MoreHealth sector making tremendous strides
Dear Editor, I noticed that our health sector is moving ahead “bigtime.” There should be no turning back in the construction of the specialty hospital in Guyana. I think the construction of such a hospital will benefit this country tremendously, and no hurdles should be allowed to come in the way for the realisation of such a project. I recall that the construction of the specialty hospital was the brainchild of former president Bharrat Jagdeo, and if it is to be realised under the watch of current President Donald Ramotar,…
Read MoreIdentity is important
Dear Editor, This is nice to know: “New York Library unveils section on Guyanese”. According to the report in the press and also a number of emails, I get the distinct impression that there is indeed a little Guyana in New York. I now ask if this is good or bad. First up, being immersed in Guyanese Creolese and cuisine is nothing to be ashamed of. The local Creolese (basi, meso and acro) is fantastically rich. It is inaccurately deemed ‘bad’ or ‘broken’ English. I emphatically declare that this is…
Read MoreNew Year’s ruminations
It was a century ago that Einstein proposed time was not a constant as we had been taught – in one instance, it depends on the speed at which we are travelling. So here it is, we have arrived at another year and it does seem to have passed just a bit faster than normal. Have we been travelling faster? Maybe not; but we have been squeezing more and more activities into the same 365 days and psychologically, the effect is the same. To live the good life, adults must…
Read MoreAPNU says GECOM’s SoPs don’t match up
The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) said that its Statement of Polls (SoPs) do not reconcile with the Guyana Elections Commission’s SoPs, prompting the party to renew its calls for the election body to provide its original hard copies for verification. “After a full and careful examination, we have found it impossible to reconcile the two set of SoPs since in a significant number of instances, the SoPs are not identical,” the APNU said in a letter it addressed to GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally. The letter which was…
Read MoreJagdeo named Guyana Times’ Person of the Year
The pioneer in honouring individuals by the media has to be TIME Magazine. Starting in 1927 and purporting to consider all of humanity, they defined the genre and still remain the iconic standard worldwide. In launching our local but wider version with a host of categories, we begin with our Guyanese Person of the Year. We have utilised Time Magazine’s classic criteria to arrive at our choice: “bestowed by the editors on the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill will, and…
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