Wooing the diaspora

By Jainarine Deonauth There are perhaps a larger number of Guyanese settled outside of Guyana than those residing in the country. Guyanese can be found in some of the unlikeliest places all over the world. This mass exodus had started in the early 1960s under the Forbes Burnham dictatorship when the economy was facing total collapse; there were no proper jobs; social services were almost non-existent; and there was a sense of hopelessness all over the country. And of course that pattern continued under successive PNC, and to a lesser…

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Customized documents to be sent back home

By Richard Kistnen, Esq. As my office is situated in a neighborhood predominantly populated by good people from the West Indies, I receive many requests for help with documents to be sent back home (often to Guyana or Trinidad).  The documents often relate to some procedure involving immigration, real estate or a contract of business.  More often than not, because of differences in practices here in New York and abroad, there is often confusion as to what a particular document needs to look like and it should contain.  Below are…

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Gov’t rubbishes corruption report

Government is challenging the Transparency International (TI) report which states that Guyana is the most corrupt English-speaking country in the Caribbean. Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira said the TI survey only included four persons, and they were able to determine the fate of the country. This, she said is somewhat controversial. “There’s a big debate going on at the international level to do with Transparency International by reputable universities and professors in universities in that the consequences of subjective, incorrect or flawed opinions can have on a country,” she…

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Local craft producers eyeing Canadian market

The Guyana Arts and Craft Producers Association (GACPA) is hoping to expand its reach into the Canadian market, boost its services, and improve labelling and packaging on all export products. Since 2009, the Canadian Trade Facilitation Office (TFO) has been working with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) to support export readiness. According to Public Relations Officer Charlene London, the TFO has also been assisting in the area of accessing Canadian markets for producers of fresh products and processed food…

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Gov’t translates labour laws for Brazilian employers in Guyana

By Lakhram Bhagirat Labour Minister Dr Nanda Gopaul The Labour Ministry on Wednesday handed over a series of labour laws, which were translated into Portuguese, to Brazilians – warning them to uphold the law or be punished. The initiative aims to provide Brazilians working in the country with a better understanding of rules and regulations governing the workforce in Guyana. Copies of the translated legislation were presented by Labour Minister Dr Nanda Gopaul to representatives of the Brazilian business community, the Guyana-Brazil Development Institute and the Brazilian Mining and General…

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The Ram Karram Diaries

Satiricus was in a state of bliss. He was throwing back in his old Berbice Chair listening to the new Radio 89.5 FM. It reminded his of the old days when he was courting Mrs Satiricus. Ahh… those were the days!! Music was always literally in the air, back then. Every home would be blaring the sentimental favourites as you walked the streets and everyone would know the contexts of the songs from the movies they’d all looked at. His reverie was interrupted by his wife’s niece (five times removed,…

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More incitement

Honouring criminals Following on the heels of APNU’s Communications Officer, Mark Archer, Morris Wilson, the Buxtonian who financed the monument in honour of “those 452 persons who had perished during the phase of the extra-judicial killings… in the early 2000s”, raked the president over the coals. For what? For calling the Jailbreak 5; the Fineman gang; Skinny Charles etc, “criminals”!! Wilson indignantly wanted to know how those men, “could… be described as criminals, when they were not afforded their respective days in court?” Well this is how Freddie Kissoon, who…

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Hurricane Sandy disrupts domestic freights from U. S. – shippers

With the Christmas season fast approaching, several local shipping companies have confirmed that there has been a vast decline in the shipment of domestic freights from the U. S. for the period of November to date, compared to last year. Many of the shipping companies, however, said commercial consignment shipments remain stable with businesses in Miami, Japan and Europe. Laparkan Shipping Limited, Marketing and Sales Manager Yonette Jeffers told Guyana Times International that her company has seen a fall in the number of domestic shipments being transported for the Christmas…

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EZjet boss arrested in New York

EZjet boss Sonny Ramdeo was on Wednesday arrested in Brooklyn, New York on a charge of embezzlement from his former employer. The Florida newspaper Sun Sentinel has reported federal prosecutors as saying that Ramdeo faces charges of embezzling US$20 million ($4B) from his former employer in a payroll tax fraud scheme. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation in a statement on Wednesday said that he was formally indicted on December 6, 2012 and made his first appearance in a New York court on Wednesday. While Ramdeo was arrested in New…

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Base ambition

By any means necessary… Some people set themselves goals that soar; others have goals that are in the gutter. The first we call ‘aspiration’, the second we dub ‘ambition’. Carl Greenidge is an ambitious man. Serving others as a technocrat for 40 years, he nursed his ambitions for the presidency, along with his envy. But first he has to get past David Granger – for the leadership of the PNC. Ever since his ignominious defeat by a man who just entered the PNC formally (compared with his four decades of…

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