Year: 2018

Calling out the Guyana Police Force (GPF) for some of its members’ habits of stopping motorists and soliciting bribes, a Senior Counsel (SC) and former Speaker of the National Assembly has joined the Ryan Crawford debate. In his weekly column, Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran revealed that he too has been stopped on multiple occasions. He complained about the practise commonly known as a shakedown; when Police randomly stop vehicles and then solicits bribes from the hapless drivers to make the ‘matter’ go away. “A Police stop is often accompanied by…

With the recent announcement made by the Department of Energy to hire an overseas firm to assist with the auditing of the pre-contract costs for oil recovery, outspoken economist and social commentator, Ramon Gaskin, has said although Guyana lacks the capacity, no overseas company should be allowed to take full charge of this audit. Gaskin’s argument is premised on the fact that only Guyanese will have Guyana’s interest at heart. He questioned whether there is any guarantee that an overseas firm, especially one that may have connections to oil companies…

Following many calls by the public to have Attorney-at-Law, Ryan Crawford will face five charges on Friday following the social media broadcast of a video in which he verbally abused an officer, repeatedly using expletives. Police said he will be charged with the following offences: (1) Prohibition of Tinted Glass; (2) Failure to Produce Driver’s Licence; (3) Driving an Unfit Motor Vehicle; (4) Use of Obscene Language and (5) Riotous Behaviour Last week, the lawyer came under fire after the video which was posted by the Officer showed him heatedly…

– says ecstasy bust in school system must prompt serious discussion The discovery of the illegal drug ecstasy in schools in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) have prompted much worry, with one child rights activist urging the authorities to take serious action to prevent reoccurrences. According to activist and Rights of the Child counsellor Nicole Cole, Government must “walk the talk” of placing guidance counsellors in as many schools as possible, if it is truly serious about protecting the nation’s children. She pointed out that children…

The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has expressed deep disappointment with Government’s Green Paper for the management of anticipated oil revenues, stating that it lacks context and does not cater for Guyana’s most precious resource, human capital. Head of the GHRA, Mike McCormack said his organisation has studied the document and while particular emphasis is placed on making education a high priority, it has not taken into account how Guyanese will benefit directly from the revenues of oil. “We are disappointed with the green paper because it has no context……

Actions taken by the Local Government Commission (LGC) to launch a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the spending and other operations at City Hall has left quite a stir, as officials of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) are retreating from sharing their observations. The Inquiry was requested along with the fact that Town Clerk Royston King be sent on administrative leave, which will take effect from September 21. “I have no comments,” were the words of Mayor Chase Green as she remained tight-lipped when confronted by sections of the…

– says President Granger President David Granger, on Thursday, said that the private sector has a critical role to play in regional economic integration as he noted that the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) is the way to build more resilient economies, not only in the Caribbean, but also in Guyana. The Head of State was at the time speaking at the opening of the Guyana Trade and Investment Exhibition (GuyTIE ), being held at the Marriott Hotel Guyana. He said Guyana’s economic development has been constrained, historically, by…

Two Police ranks that reportedly assaulted and wrongfully detained a man who visited a drinking spot they co-own, found themselves before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday. Thirty-two-year-old Mahendra Singh of Pike Street, Kitty; and 30-year-old Christopher Dhanraj of Section “C” Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara (EBD), both denied the allegation read to them by the Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. Singh, an Assistant Superintendent denied that on August 15, 2018, at Diamond Housing Scheme, he wrongfully detained Perry Barker, while Dhanraj, a Corporal for the past 11 years, denied…