Year: 2012

Contemporary abstract artist Frank Bowling

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By Venessa Deosaran  Guyana-born international artist Frank Bowling is famous for his work, which reflects his love for abstract painting and also image fascination with colour, composition and scale. Bowling, born February 29, 1936 in British Guiana, moved to England in 1950 to complete his high school education. He had ambitions of becoming a writer and poet following his National Service obligations in the Royal Air Force, but he soon turned to art, receiving his art education at different art institutions in England. In 1959, he won a scholarship to…

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Preserving Guyana’s bird community

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By Venessa Deosaran To preserve Guyana’s bird community and our natural heritage through stimulating an interest in the environmental field is Gajendra ‘Andy’ Narine’s mission. With this in mind, Andy founded the Guyana Amazon Tropical Bird Society (GATBS) in January, 2003. It was officially registered May 24, 2005 under the friendly societies act, to protect Guyana’s birds. The society is a charitable, non-governmental entity. “I’m a school dropout, and went to Bartica to learn to make jewellery. I returned to Georgetown after a few years and opened a jewellery shop.…

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Georgetown abuzz with kites as Easter nears

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With four more days to go before Easter Monday, parents are wasting no time cashing in on the best bargains on kites for their children. During a tour by this publication on Wednesday along Regent Street, Georgetown, scores of children and their parents were seen choosing their kites which they will fly on Easter Day. This newspaper caught up with one youngster, Joel Banwarie, 14, who was with his mother kite shopping. He related that he had travelled all the way from Melanie, East Coast Demerara, with his mother to…

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No justification for lowering VAT – Sattaur

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BY MICHAEL YOUNGE A mid criticisms for government refusing to lower the rate of the Value Added Tax (VAT), Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur said he has not seen any case to justify such a move. Airing his views on a TVG programme titled “Under the Microscope” on Monday, April 2, Sattaur said a reduction in VAT would not benefit persons whose income are below the threshold since the items they consume on a daily basis do not get taxed. In defence of the tax, Sattaur said…

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City officials urged to reconsider closure of Richmond Hill High Schools

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By North American Correspondent The president of John Adams High School Student Government in Richmond Hill Cassandra Jagroop, has criticized the plan by New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg to phase out her school saying it will hurt students in the community. Closure of the schools will have a serious impact on the large Guyanese community as there are no other high schools in the vicinity. The City plans to shutter the only two high schools in Richmond Hill (John Adams H.S and Richmond Hill H.S) – two of the…

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Guyanese loses appeal against asylum rejection in U.S.

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The United States Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denied the review of a petition filed by a Guyanese citizen whose initial application for asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) Act was denied by the Immigration Judge. Mardai Reddi, a Guyanese citizen, testified that she was an active member of the ruling People’s Progressive Party in Guyana and was being targeted by members of the opposing People’s National Congress Party. Reddi claimed that in 2001 she was thrown from a car, caught in a shoot-out…

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NBS records Gy$ 772M profit – Chairman

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Housing mortgage lender, New Building Society (NBS) has recorded Gy$ 772 million in profits for last year, an increase of 34 per cent over the previous year, the bank’s chairman, Dr Nanda Kishore Gopaul said. Dr Gopaul will read his report at the institution’s annual general meeting slated for later this month. He said this performance was achieved despite the bank reduced its mortgage rates for lower, middle and higher income mortgagors at the beginning of the year from 4.75 per cent, 6.95 per cent and 7.95 per cent to…

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Opposition scoffs at budget

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The 2012 budget was not well received by the parliamentary opposition who called it a “massive” disappointment, and Opposition Leader David Granger said it demonstrated “continuity at its worst”. Granger, who expressed disappointment in the Gy$ 192.8 billion budget, said it offers no vision, and given the estimates, “it is clear that there is going to be no attention to the plight of the poor”. “We do not see any development of the human potential in Guyana, and that is the only way this country is going to be transformed.”…

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Guyanese businesswomen participate in women’s forum in U.S.

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United States Ambassador to Guyana D Brent Hardt met two Guyanese women entrepreneurs on Tuesday who recently participated in the Caribbean Women Entrepreneurship Forum in the United States. Ambassador Hardt emphasised that the forum reflected the U. S. commitment to strengthen entrepreneurship among women, and create new opportunities for women to participate more fully in the global economy. The Guyanese participants: Lucia Loretta Desir and Barbara Dublin-Peterkin, shared their experiences and discussed how they hope to apply the insights gained from the forum to empower more women entrepreneurs in Guyana.…

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2012 budget paves way for massive development in housing sector

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Building on the already successful housing and construction boom, the 2012 National Budget has allocated Gy$ 3.6 billion to further increase access to affordable housing, improve the quality of infrastructure of housing schemes and regularise squatter settlements. Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, in presenting the Gy$192.8 billion estimates, stated that this move by government is to ensure that Guyanese have access to adequate and affordable housing within suitable and economically viable communities. To ensure that this vision is achieved, the administration is working to have a further 30,000 new house…

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