Year: 2016

Hollywood glamour

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Sharmilla Persaud is a Guyanese-born designer who teamed up with her best friend Arianna Brooke to launch Millianna (a combination of their names) in 2010, a U.S designer fashion jewellery company. They met while Sharmilla was working in the design department of BCBG Max Azria, in the USA,and Arianna in marketing. Sharmilla now leads the design, while Arianna oversees production of their own Spokane, Washington-based business. According to the millianna website, each piece is intricately handmade by skilled artisans in the U.S.,where many of the artisans who work with the…

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Inspired by country

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Sidney L. Francois of Francois Designs marched onto the Guyanese fashion scene in 2010 when the gown he designed for Miss Guyana Universe eventual winner Tamika Henry won the “Best Gown” prize of the pageant. He hasn’t looked back since, as his unique and amazing designs have led to greater recognition as one of Guyana’s leading designers and more prestigious accolades, including being honoured in July 2016 at the 7th Annual Caribbean Style & Culture Awards & Fashion Showcase held in Maryland, USA with the Karib Nation Inc. Award of…

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Investigations ongoing into illegal aircraft found in Guyana

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– residents say aircraft was seen circling the area days before discovery As local investigations continue into the illegal aircraft found at the Yupukari Airstrip, Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo), residents have told investigators that the aircraft was seen circling the community days before it was found abandoned. Based on reports from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the discovery was made following information received by a joint service patrol, including ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), on September 13. The following day, ranks from the GDF and GPF visited…

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The Georgetown – Lethem road: Still an ‘off-road’ experience

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The Georgetown to Lethem road is the only overland route from the coast to the vast Rupununi interior. It’s not for the faint of heart. This main artery through the middle of the country is unpaved and sometimes more of a mud trail than road, but if you want your adventure into the Rupununi region to begin soon enough, then a trip through the road to any of the major southern Guyana destinations will fulfil your wish (rainy or dry season). However, whether heaving along the winding road, over precarious…

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President Granger satisfied with UN efforts to resolve border controversy

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President David Granger said that he is satisfied with the efforts of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, in trying to resolve the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy. He said that while the Government had hoped that the process of ending the 50-year-long controversy would have been further advanced, it is not due to lack of effort by the Secretary-General’s Office, but rather the slothful pace at which the Venezuelan Government is moving. The President made these remarks on Monday at a press briefing held on the margins of the 71st Regular…

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Ali questions Govt’s slothfulness in appointing procurement commission members

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Having vowed to move swiftly to establish the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) in the first hundred days once elected to office, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, led by President David Granger is now being questioned over its seeming slothfulness to appoint the members of the PPC, despite the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament unanimously agreeing on the nominee and the National Assembly subsequently approving those nominees. Chairman of the PAC, Irfaan Ali, an opposition legislator in the National Assembly on Monday questioned President…

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Ethno-trans-Caribbean identity

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By Lomarsh Roopnarine Over the past month or so I have been analysing Caribbean Indian identity, namely ethno-local and ethno-national. In this column, I will move on and analyse the third of the multipartite model of Indian identity – ethno-trans-Caribbean. An ethno-trans-Caribbean identity is when an individual does not identify or see him or herself in relation to a specific country in the Caribbean but identifies with other countries across the Caribbean. Put differently, individual as well as collective thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are associated with other countries in the…

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Representation of interests

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By Ravi Dev After the Forum of African Guyanese by Cuffy 250, some Guyanese expressed alarm at the frank speech on expectations in an ethnically divided society. They insist that only “multiracial” politics can work for Guyana. But what is a “multi-racial” party? Is it one in which the leaders are drawn from all or most of the various racial/ethnic blocs that constitute our polity? Is it one that has members drawn from all the various groups? Do the proportions have to roughly mirror the population or will any assorted…

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Soyini Fraser cops Miss Universe Guyana title

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It was a night of elegance, charm, sophistication and intense competition as the curtains came down on the Miss Universe Guyana 2016, with Soyini Fraser walking away with the coveted title. The Hits and Jams Entertainment employee outshone the 13 other delegates when the finals of the highly anticipated event was held in the well illuminated and decorated grand ballroom of the Marriott Hotel. Fraser was undoubtedly one of the front runners from the inception; she however sealed the deal in the question and answer segment on Saturday evening. On…

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Guyana’s real “third force”

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By Ryhaan Shah The idea of a “third force” that would act as a balance of power between the two major political parties, the PPP and PNC, is still being floated as the best way to help us transcend ethnic politics and graduate to a national issue-based agenda. The feeling is that this would introduce the kind of political maturity needed for progress. However, despite the appearance of several new political parties over the years and the emergence of two coalition governments formed by the PNC with one respective “third…

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