Year: 2018

PPP says not in support of hike in property taxes

TIMES INT'L

With just a few days left before the 2018 Local Government Elections (LGE) are held, the Opposition is questioning why the two main coalition partners have been mum on possible increases to property rates and taxes especially, since its Government hired a North American company to assess the current rates. As all parties intensify efforts in the final days leading up the polls; Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo told reporters at his press conference at his Georgetown office on Wednesday that candidates from both the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)…

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The evolution of Diwali and it’s relevance to today’s society

TIMES INT'L

In the early days, we would see women with their brooms, buckets and cloths perched on ladders or tables stretching to reach every nook and cranny of their houses to ensure that it is cleaned to perfection, as they prepare for the arrival of Ma Lakshmi. It is believed that the goddess of wealth visits every home that is illuminated with little oil lamps on what is believed to be the darkest night of the year. The festival of Diwali is one that is most-anticipated by the Hindu community, since…

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President Granger recovering

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… analyses of illness still incomplete President David Granger is resting comfortably at an official residence following an intensive series of tests by specialist doctors immediately after he arrived in Cuba on October 30. This was revealed by the Ministry of the Presidency on Wednesday evening. According to a statement from the Ministry, the President was receiving treatment at the Centro de Investigaciones Medico Quirugicas (CIMEQ) in Havana. Clinical analyses are still incomplete, the statement noted. “The Head of State has responded satisfactorily to medical interventions over the past week,…

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Book Review of Monsoon on the Fingers of God

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By Dr Vishnu Bisram Monsoon on the Fingers of God, written by a Guyanese residing in America, is a thoughtful collection of poems relevant to Guyanese and other Caribbean people, the Indian sub-continent, and the UK. This collection of poems revolves around several topics, issues, and places. The collection is laden with a lifetime of experience and a finely honed craft, which the poet Sasenarine Persaud of East Coast brings to bear with full force on his writings. Sasenarine is an essayist, novelist, short story writer, and poet. He was…

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Cinderella Estate

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Satiricus was happy as he wended his way to the Back Street Bar. He’d been waiting for two years to get some news about what was going to be the fate of the closed down sugar estates. It wasn’t just that two of his best friends had been sugar workers; he still lived in a village where sugar had been king. Sugar was a way of life that few understood, but Satiricus did; and would miss its passing. And now the good news that bids had been received for the…

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Guyana mulls direct flights to Africa

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…in efforts to boost tourism, encourage investors The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is now seeking to partner with African states to have direct flights traverse the countries in a bid to boost tourism. This was on Wednesday disclosed by Air Transport Management Director, Saheed Sulaman on the sidelines of an event held at the GCAA’s head office on High Street, Georgetown. “We are always looking to develop relationships with all ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) member states. It’s the only way we can connect to those states and it’s…

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Boondoggle…

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…on contracts One of the greatest failures of this PNC-led Government has been their abysmal monitoring of contracts for executing their work programme. There isn’t a day that goes by when there isn’t a nasty revelation of billions paid to contractors for work done so shoddily it invariably costs more to fix the mess. Remember Durban Park “Jubilee Park” that was going to be built by a newly formed Homestretch Development Inc (HDI) – involving Rupert Roopnarine? They spent G$550 million of money collected from the public, for which they…

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Jamal Khashoggi

TIMES INT'L

Five years ago, Nov 2nd was declared as the “UN International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists”, against a background of rising violence – and murder – against journalists across the globe. The lack of any organised activity in Guyana by the media fraternity to commemorate the occasion — even though 78 journalists were killed and thousands imprisoned in 2017, and only last month there was the most brutal and gruesome murder and dismemberment of the Washington Post’s Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Embassy in Turkey — symbolises…

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‘I don’t have time to waste’

TIMES INT'L

Guyana’s Finance Minister refuses to back up claims of ‘drug-fuelled economy’ under previous govt Minister of Finance Winston Jordan has bluntly refused a request from the Private Sector Commission (PSC) for him to back up claims he made a few days ago which state that Guyana’s economy was partly fueled by drugs money under the Peoples Progressive Party administration. During an engagement with the local media on Wednesday, the Finance Minister referred to two studies that were conducted by Economics Professor Clive Thomas which pointed to the impact of drug…

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