Dear Editor, I am a student of the University of Guyana and would be graduating in two years time with a Bachelors Degree in Economics. While I am excited about completing my studies and entering the world of work, I cannot help noticing how challenging it can be to secure a decent job after graduation. If one were to ask young people at UG what is the most important concern they have, I am sure the answer would be to find a suitable job. It is no secret that many…
Read MoreMonth: January 2012
What occurred in parliament didn’t come as a surprise
Dear Editor, One had to be naïve if he were expecting anything different from what occurred at Thursday’s sitting of the National Assembly. In the end, President Donald Ramotar slammed the opposition’s move to elect two of their representatives as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. He opined that the decision was against parliamentary conventions, and so he has made a vow to monitor closely the situation in the House. For those who are not aware of the happenings, the combined opposition, A Partnership For National Unity (APNU)…
Read MoreSonia Noel – 15 years in the fashion industry and going strong
Sonia Noel continues her unrelenting path of celebrating Guyanese style and putting Guyana on the fashion list internationally. This year marks her fifteenth year in the fashion industry, having secured several fashion-related milestones, all contributing to an emerging momentum regionally. Guyana Fashion Weekend, with its impressive five years run and its ambitious move to a biennial, developmental programme, look out for Guyana Fashion Weekend VI in 2013; reality television series – Designer/ Stylist Portfolio and Guyana Model Search featuring upcoming designers, budding stylists, aspiring models and Diatribe. 2012 will be…
Read MoreBoorish Leaders
Non-human? Jinnah Rahaman, ex-PPP, ex-WPA, ex-JFAP and now evidently ex-APNU, declared he has “broken away from any control of political parties and organisations”. One wonders if Aubrey Norton couldn’t get a sinecure in Parliament, why he’s upset he didn’t? He is a bit full of himself. But in a recent missive to the press, Rahaman exposed Trotman’s opinion of his rotating co-leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan. Describing himself as a family friend, Rahaman claimed that Trotman was “friendly, kind, approachable and, above all, sincere…” Evidently despairing of his co-leader’s…
Read MoreWorkable minority governmentWorkable minority government
We now have a month’s experience with a minority government in Guyana. Knowing this is uncharted waters for us, we seek to expose our politicians and the general public to the reality that others have navigated these waters before us. While there are elements of uniqueness in every situation, there are also elements of commonalities, and from these, we thought we might benefit from these other experiences. Last month, we introduced a survey of the practice of minority governments in several jurisdictions that share a common history of Westminster parliamentary…
Read MoreFishing adventures at Simoni Lake
Simoni is a large fresh water lake that flows to the Rupununi River via a smaller creek. Once the river winds down the forest-clad mountains, it slows down as it enters the vast savannah lands and opens up into five shallow river bays known as the Simoni Lakes. This area and its lakes are incredibly rich in biodiversity, and are traditional breeding grounds for several species of game fish including butterfly peacock bass, arawana, arapaima, payara, piranha and catfish. The lakes are famous among local Guyanese fishers-past and present –…
Read MoreThe Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre
Providing long-term physical rehabilitative care By Venessa Deosaran The Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre since its inception has as its mission, to provide a national service for all children in need of longterm physical rehabilitative care. Cynthia Massay, rehabilitative officer at the centre, in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine said the centre had its genesis as the Polio Rehabilitation Centre located at Charlotte and Oronoque Streets. It was originally established January 1967 by the health ministry to provide rehabilitative services for children who had suffered residual paralysis following the…
Read MoreTeens make contributions to needy institutions in Guyana
In what have become annual acts of charity over the past 3 years, 19-year-old Lisa Ramroop and her 17-year-old brother Ranji Ramroop of the Ramroop Foundation, on January 19 donated much-needed supplies to several institutions in Guyana. In Georgetown, the Palms Geriatric Home on Brickdam and the Guyana Dharm Shala in Albouystown received first aid materials, sanitary supplies and hygiene tools from the teenagers, who are here in Guyana on holiday from the U.S. At the Cornelia Ida Orphanage on the West Coast of Demerara, the teens also donated sanitary…
Read MoreProfits and Politics
Satiricus was agog. He’d mulled over the news about Banks’ profits for last year” Gy$4 billion! One billion dollars over the 2010 profits. Anyway you sliced it, Banks had done very well for itself. “Man, that’s a whole lot of beer!” Suresh was also impressed. “I wonder if we’re going to get a piece of the action. “It was the elections, boy. You know how much beer was passed around at those rallies?” Hari obviously had personal knowledge from the certitude of his tones. “Well, me see Ramotar put Clifford…
Read MoreDe flour man now white with fright!
Some people like fuh “pelt” and hide, thinking that nobody ain’t gon see and “pelt” back. Remember lang time when lil boys use to hide in bush and pelt old man? When old man see de lil boys, dem does scatter. Remember when yuh mooma frighten yuh fuh drink “senna pod” by telling yuh old man coming? Well, things now different. Yuh don’t need fuh drink “senna” to get wash-out. De type of “pelting” and de “bush” fuh hide different too. Just ask a man call Sase-narine Sing. He hiding…
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