Dear Editor, Campaigning for General Elections due in 2020 has begun in earnest, and with it the attempts at character assassination that has become part of the parcel. The go-to claim is usually ‘racism’ and I strongly believe this is a result of lazy intellectualism. My experience is of a Guyana where most differing perspectives are due to economic and social positioning rather than ethnicity and some are based on social conditioning within ethnic structures, however, recent statements attributed to the Minister of the Presidency where he asserts there will…
Read MoreMonth: November 2018
No Confidence!
Guyana’s Opposition pushes for no-confidence debate before budget presentation Days after the parliamentary Opposition filed a no-confidence motion against the coalition Government, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has made it clear that the Party wants its motion debated before the reading of the 2019 Budget. The Opposition has contended that November 26 was already scheduled to be private members day, where their matters take precedence. However, the reading of the National Budget has taken over that day; with the result that another private members day must be scheduled. Jagdeo expressed fears…
Read MoreMissing NY-based Trinidad woman found dead with throat slit
(Trinidad Guardian) Yvonne “Eve” Trumpet-Nicholson, 74, of Brooklyn, New York, was last seen alive and well by her immediate family at the JFK International Airport minutes before her flight to T&T last Tuesday. However, what transpired after her arrival at the Piarco International Airport five hours later remains a mystery. Her decomposing body was found on Monday at about 2 pm near the T&T Defence Force’s base in Cumuto. Speaking with the T&T Guardian last evening outside her local home at Mohammed Street, St Augustine, her daughter made a tearful…
Read MoreNYC public schools to benefit from groundbreaking mental health awareness campaign
New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray has announced the launch of a groundbreaking school mental health awareness campaign, “There’s Help All Around You.” According to a release from the Mayor’s Office, the campaign, which targets students and parents, will appear in all New York City public schools. It was developed in partnership among ThriveNYC, The Jed Foundation (JED), the New York City Department of Education, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, and greyhealth group. One in five…
Read MoreSignificant increase in US non-immigrant visas issued to Guyanese in last 3 years
The United States Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana has issued over 100,000 visas over the past three years. This was revealed by Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, Terry Steers-Gonzalez. Steers-Gonzalez was at the time speaking about the achievements of outgoing US Ambassador Perry Holloway at a farewell reception held in Holloway’s honour last Friday evening. “The Consular Section, in the Ambassador’s time here, has issued over 18,000 immigrant visas and 86,133 – not to be too exact – non-immigrant visas, which is over half of all the non-immigrant…
Read MoreThis disrespectful behaviour has become the norm for PNC
Dear Editor, I had tuned into the live broadcast of APNU/AFC’s press event. I hesitate to use the word ‘conference’, as it seemed to have been held in a mini-rally format. That this party event was being broadcast by the Department of Public Information was no surprise; what was astonishing, however, was the absence of representation from the WPA, JFAP and NFA parties, who are supposedly still members of APNU. Given that the reason for this event was to demonstrate the solidity of the Coalition, it raised more questions than…
Read MoreGECOM gets G$5B
The Committee of Supply of the National Assembly has approved the lump sum of G$5,371,061,000 for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the period ending December 31, 2019. Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan said the amount recommended represents a substantial amount of the requested G$6,368,100,000 requested by the Commission, DPI reported. In response to the opposition’s concern, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan expressed that this amount will adequately meet GECOM’s financial needs for the period. He noted that the commission had indicated that there were sums left over from the…
Read MoreFocus now shifts to 2020 polls
…Jagdeo says presidential candidate to be named before year-end The Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) could name its next presidential candidate in the coming weeks, as General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo has made a commitment to making the announcement by the end of this year. Jagdeo said that his party would stick with the promise to name the next candidate who will take the Party through the 2020 General Elections. He recalled that earlier this year Party executives had agreed to name the candidate after the Local Government Elections (LGE). “……
Read MoreArson suspected in Stabroek Market Wharf fire
Stall holders who were still operating in the Stabroek Market Wharf, although it was cordoned off to facilitate rehabilitation works were forced to evacuate as the facility caught fire. Although it is suspected that the fire may have been started by a female, who had an argument with another vendor, Mayor Patricia Chase Green, who toured the partially-burnt structure, on Tuesday morning said that City Hall was still assessing the number of stalls that have been destroyed by the blaze. “I received a report a little before 12am from the…
Read MoreSeveral issues warrant investigations at GECOM
Dear Editor, Well folks, at last we managed to have a meeting of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) after last Tuesday’s statutory meeting was cancelled due to a lack of quorum. Commissioners Alexander and Corbin were both unavailable, so the Chairman invoked Article 226 (5) of the Constitution, which provides for the meeting to be held on the Thursday following the adjourned Tuesday meeting, and for decisions to be made with or without a quorum. This week, however, there was a quorum, with only Commissioner Alexander being absent, so the…
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