Dear Editor, Guyanese organizations (listed below) are calling on Governments and civil societies of Caricom to recognize the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis currently being experienced by the people of Venezuela. Caricom countries are already beginning to feel the effects of the tens of thousands of refugees seeking asylum in neighbouring Latin American countries as a result of the severe economic disintegration and political instability fuelling that crisis. The humanitarian crisis is characterized by a shortage of medicines and food, the collapse of public services, the world’s highest inflation rate,…
Read MoreMonth: August 2017
Guyanese in New York hold forum on ‘ballot box martyrs’
Dear Editor, The Guyanese Solidarity Movement (GSS) in NY, along with the 100th Anniversary Foundation and other co-sponsors, held a forum last Sunday to pay tribute to the ballot box martyrs of 1973, as well as to remember the rigged referendum of 1978 that led to the foisting of the authoritarian Burnham constitution. The forum, held in Richmond Hill, also discussed potential electoral fraud in the 2020 elections, and offered suggestions on combating potential electoral fraud. Discussants expressed fear that the next election will be rigged similar to what took…
Read MorePresident Granger briefs Baroness Valerie Amos on Guyana’s ‘green’ agenda
President David Granger, on Wednesday, met with Baroness Valerie Amos, now Director of the SOAS-University of London, former Leader of the House of Lords and representative to the United Nations (UN), where they discussed, among other issues, Guyana’s ‘green’ development pathway, according to a government release. President Granger, during the meeting, which was held at State House, said that Guyana is committed to combating the effects of climate change and global warming by protecting its biodiversity through the adoption of a ‘green’ development agenda. He told Baroness Amos that the…
Read MoreDiscrimination in any form should not be tolerated
Dear Editor, I refer to an article, ‘Linden church leader stages march against homosexuality’, appearing in sections of the media. I shook my head in disbelief as I read this; and I thought to myself that women are raped and battered every day in this country, and this is what this man of God chooses to march against – homosexuality; which is in fact taking a public stand on discriminating on people that are different from him. I am always so curious about why people seem to have such harsh…
Read MoreA second deliberate attempt at besmirching my integrity
Dear Editor, A letter which appeared in another section of the media under the title “Will the Auditor General investigate the deputy chief elections officer?” is the second deliberate attempt at besmirching my integrity – obviously with clandestine objectives. And it brings to mind something that a former boss of mine had continuously repeated; i.e. a lie repeated often enough metamorphoses to become the truth. That is the only reason why I have taken the decision to respond to this piece of mischief, lest the general populace internalize the contents…
Read MoreCharlottesville and Linden
Exactly a week after the “Unite the Right” movement staged its demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, sparking condemnation for its racist implications, there was a demonstration in Guyana that suggests some parallels with Charlottesville. There, a number of whites marched to aggressively express their disagreement with the decision of the town to pull down the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. To most Guyanese, this may have been a rather arcane issue to rile up counter demonstrations resulting in the death of one and injury to nineteen of the latter…
Read MoreThree Guyanese entrepreneurs selected for Young Leaders of Americas Initiative
The U.S. Embassy in Georgetown has announced the Guyana cohort of the 2017 Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Professional Fellows Program. The five-week program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, will bring 250 young leaders from 36 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America to the United States to augment their business or social venture plans, learn from U.S. coun-terparts, and share best practices. The YLAI program supports the United States’ commitment to increase trade and investment in the region and, in the words of Vice President…
Read MoreArmy rank on G$1M bail for causing death by dangerous driving
A 24-year-old Manchester, Berbice man attached to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) was granted G$1M bail when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates Court on Thursday to answer to the charge of causing death by dangerous driving. Zamani Archibald, a Lance Corporal, pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him by Magistrate Judy Latchman. The charge alleges that on March 11, 2017, at Soesdyke Public Road, East Bank Demerara, Archibald drove pickup DFB 1566 in a dangerous manner resulting in the death of 65-year-old Harry Persaud.…
Read More“Limits society places on us do not define us or our capabilities”
– Guyana’s top CSEC student– Guyana’s top CSEC student The Education Ministry on Tuesday officially announced this year’s top performers at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations. During the press conference hosted at the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD), it was revealed that a total of 26 students across Guyana managed to secure 12 Grades Ones and more at the 2017 sitting of the CSEC examination. Recording a landmark achievement for his school and country was 16-year-old Michael Bhopaul of Queen’s College, who managed to secure a…
Read MoreCAPE highflier hoping for scholarship to pursue medical studies
One of the two top performers at this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) has highlighted the winning combination he had used to attain his remarkable achievement. “Hard work and dedication,” CAPE student Vamandev Hiralall told Guyana Times International in an interview, was his motto; and it has led to his success over the past three years – first at CSEC and then at CAPE. The Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) student secured eight grade ones at CAPE this year, sharing the top spot with St Rose’s student Shawn Shewram. Hiralall,…
Read More