AFC Bondage When Ramjattan and Trotman ran off together from the PPP and PNC to start the AFC, they didn’t relinquish their seats in Parliament. The two lawyers defended their action with devious sophistry. They claimed that they were representing the people who had voted for them and so they could not be removed by the PPP or PNC. They waxed eloquently about the ‘free mandate’ theory of representation: an MP should have the right to vote his ‘conscience’ rather than being forced to go along with the party. To…
Read MoreYear: 2012
Budget Times
Budget times are taxing times. So Satiricus wasn’t visiting the back street dives today. Satiricus cannot be faulted for being a bit on edge. It’s not that he had to submit his taxes. It was having to cover the interminable debates in Parliament. But after listening to the opposition in the debate, he was wondering whether paying taxes was a good or bad thing. Before this budget, Satiricus had thought that your views as to whether taxes were good or bad would depend upon which of the two segments of…
Read MoreJagdeo proposes one Caribbean visa to spur tourism
By Samuel Sukhnandan Guyana’s former President Bharrat Jagdeo has urged tourism officials to whip some of the Caribbean governments out of their sleep in an effort to help promote a stronger global push to fight climate change. He also called for a revamp of immigration policies to designate a single visa for entry to the region as it would make travel easier for residents of large developing countries, which are crucial to sustaining tourism in the future. Jagdeo, who delivered the keynote address to the ongoing Caribbean Tourism Organisation conference…
Read MoreRegional countries agree on policy objectives for agriculture
Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries say they have reached a consensus on policy objectives for agriculture that would allow for improved food and nutrition security. Caricom agriculture ministers recently met with their counterparts from Latin America in Argentina at the 32nd Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) regional conference. A statement issued by the FAO Monday said that the Caribbean countries say the new policy objective would result in a transformation of the sector towards market oriented, internationally competitive and environmentally sound production of agriculture products, as well as increased production, productivity…
Read MoreManickchand, Ally square off on education delivery
By Pushpa Balgobin Education Minister Priya Manickchand and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) parliamentarian Amna Ally locked horns on Monday on the budgetary allocation for the education sector. Ally told the House that the 2012 budget was a reinforcement of “figures with no meaning”, recounting that Gy$ 24.3 billion have been spent on the National Strategic Plan (NSP), Gy$ 919 million spent on producing trained teachers by 2013 and Gy$ 769 million spent on the University of Guyana, but there has been no real development. She called on Manickchand…
Read MoreA vindictive act
Dear Editor, Recently, much has been said by some of the opposition members of Parliament about the former presidents’ pension package. My first reaction to this would be; what nonsense! Only in Guyana would such a thing be tolerated. Nowhere else in the world is such petty, nasty and vindictive politics being practiced. Editor, not only were these politicians engaged in spreading lies and creating mischief about the benefits former presidents will enjoy, but they sought to give the impression that this is a “Jagdeo pension package”. I can’t seem…
Read MoreSpare a thought for the youths
Dear Editor, I have some piercing questions regarding the state of education and youths in Guyana. All of a sudden, I want to vent my spleen. This ‘jolting to respond’ came about, after reading a letter, in one of the dailies. In summary, the writer is expressing “… concern about the heavy school bags being carried by primary students… some in backpacks and some in trolley bags.” The writer revisits his era, when there was a timetable of the subjects for each day, with this being the guide, for what…
Read MoreBudget 2012 is a manifestation of the prudent fiscal and macroeconomic policies of successive PPP/C governments
Dear Editor, Following the presentation of the 2012 Budget in Parliament, I held the belief that this budget would have been embraced by all simply because it is a People’s Budget; one geared to improve the lot of the working people of this country. Instead the opposition has resorted to its typical practice of insular and dogmatic politics. The leader of the Opposition has called it a bail out budget; The AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan has expressed his disappointment with the budget without actually proffering any plausible reasons. The combined opposition…
Read MoreGuyanese in New York are upset at treatment meted out to Shah Rukh Khan
Dear Editor, Guyana Times and other media reports say popular Bollywood film icon Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) was detained and questioned by U.S. immigration authorities last week during a visit to New York to attend a function at Yale University. This was the second time the Bollywood superstar was detained by immigration officials and most Guyanese here in New York are upset at the manner in which this true super star was treated. The detention was unnecessary given that SRK is well known internationally and does not fit the profile…
Read MoreEU-funded project in Rupununi nears completion
The European Union and the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development are currently collaborating on a sustainable tourism development and fisheries management project in the North Rupununi area. The EU is providing 90 per cent of the funds for this euro 300,000 project, which began in December 2009 and will end in June 2012. The remaining funds have been contributed by Iwokrama. According to a release from the EU, the head of the European Union Delegation to Guyana, Ambassador Robert Kopecký, was accompanied by officials from Iwokrama on…
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