Dear Editor, At this time approaching the season of goodwill, I would like to ask all our leaders, at whatever level or persuasion they belong, to remember the following truism that I feel can provide the only avenue for lasting peace and progress in our country. The prerequisite for peace, harmony and progress in any community is that all the parties that provide effective service are willing to forget differences, prepared to cooperate for the good of all its members, and disposed to forgetting their own preferences and to compromising…
Read MoreYear: 2016
Guyana Times doing a good job at keeping Government accountable
Dear Editor, Now that the PPP has been removed from office, all the other media houses, except for Guyana Times, have been dormant on the excesses of this present government. Oversized ministries, spiraling crime rates, unwarranted dismissal of public servants, (especially indo-Guyanese) because of their affiliation with the PPP and many other horrible mistakes of this government do not make the pages of the any of the media houses, except for the Guyana Times. This is what Guyana has become! In spite of the mistakes of the PPP, Guyana has…
Read MoreA city in crisis: An open letter to Councillors
Dear Editor, Permit me the space in your pages for an open letter to City councillors. Eight months ago we assumed office as councillors of which a large part of our mandate is to consider the general welfare of the whole municipality, the Capital City, Georgetown. We were already working in our various constituencies and sought to amplify our efforts by aligning with an organisation whose vision and mission closely resembled ours. We, perhaps, had laboured with utopian hopes that with the added legitimacy a new dynamism would be affected…
Read MoreAPNU/AFC Govt pressuring the poor and working class
Dear Editor, When the Finance Minister in his 2017 Budget presentation announced that electricity and water bills will attract 14 per cent value-added tax (VAT) on the consumption of more than G$10,000 and G$1500, respectively, from the first dollar, all jaws, rich, poor and the in-between, dropped. It came as a bombshell. It was an unexpected tax, taking into consideration the current government’s much-touted talk of improving the quality of life of all Guyanese. How could the quality of life improve when the two most basic necessities of any home;…
Read MoreBartica Massacre trial: Dennis Williams’ Police Caution Statement tendered as evidence
At the resumption of the Bartica massacre trial at the High Court in Georgetown, Superintendent of Police Trevor Reid on Tuesday testified to writing the caution statement of murder accused Dennis Williams who reportedly admitted to being part of the heinous 2008 Bartica massacre. The senior Police rank, who is currently attached to the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), was then a Sergeant of Police at the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in 2008. Reid recalled that on November 8, 2008, at the CID, junior…
Read MoreDespite progress, transparent and efficient government procurement rules remain a global challenge: WBG report
Public procurement rules and practices remain inefficient in large swathes of the world, despite government efforts towards efficiency in delivering better services to their citizens, says the latest edition of the World Bank Group’s Benchmarking Public Procurement (BPP) report. Accessibility and transparency of public procurement rules and practices remain limited, depriving many small and medium firms of the opportunity to bid for service contracts for government and other public sector institutions, finds Benchmarking Public Procurement (BPP) 2017, which assesses public procurement regulatory systems in 180 economies. The worldwide public procurement…
Read MoreGuyana-China relations
China is the second largest trading partner of Latin America and the Caribbean, which is also a major destination for outbound Chinese investment, second only to Asia. China’s direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean has exceeded US$150 billion. According to a draft Policy paper by the Chinese Government, China sees itself as brining development opportunities to the rest of the world. It is estimated that in the next five years, China will import US$8 trillion of goods, invest US$750 billion overseas, and Chinese tourists will make 700 million…
Read MoreClimate financing partnerships with Guyana are a global good – President Granger
President David Granger, on Wednesday evening, outlined three critical partnership areas for Guyana in support of climate financing in the international fight against the effects of climate change. These are improved coastal zone management, better drainage and water storage and supply systems and more modern hydro-meteorological services to improve weather forecasting. The Head of State made these remarks at concert organised by the European Union (EU) to mark the ratification of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. It was held at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston. Emphasising the importance of working…
Read MoreGovt could be taken to court over GRA’s new powers
The coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government could very well find itself before the courts shortly, if it insists on going ahead with granting the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) with extended powers, namely to garnish money from the private accounts of citizens and the prevention of persons from leaving the country should they be indebted to the tax authority. The warning was sounded by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, when he met on Friday with members of the local media corps at his Church Street office to…
Read MoreU.S. Congresswoman expresses concern over Trump’s deportation plan
Caribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke has expressed deep concern about plans by the incoming Donald Trump administration to deport hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who have been allowed work permits under the Obama administration. Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, said that she and 105 of her congressional colleagues have written President Obama, urging him to prevent the misuse of information involving participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme. Since the programme was established in 2012, more…
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