Year: 2018

Need for over 1000 nurses in Guyana – Health Minister

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By Jarryl Bryan The issue of migrating professionals, including those in the health field, is one Government is actively grappling with, and the plan is to increase student intake even as there is a need for approximately 1000 nurses in Guyana. This was communicated by Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence on the side-lines of the launch of a Medex programme on Monday. According to Lawrence, the issue has reached the level of the World Health Organisation (WHO). “Migration is not only a Guyana issue. We have signed on to CSME…

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Wedding & Event Planning 101

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by Petamber Persaud (Extract of an interview with Joy Agness, Georgetown, Guyana, July 2018. Agness, a Wedding & Event Planning Professor at the Miami Dade and Broward Colleges, recently launched her first book, Wedding and Event Planning 101, in Guyana.) PP During my formative years, the ‘teach yourself’ series of books was very popular. As we talk, I can picture the brilliant yellow and black covers. Then as time moved on, we were treated with the do it yourself series. Great initiatives – teach yourself, do it yourself – but…

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What goes around…

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…comes around for TT “Brother, can you spare a dime?” was a song that became the anthem of America’s Great Depression. It spoke of folks who were once on the top of the (economic) heap now looking for handouts when the bubble burst. “Say, don’t you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time./ Say, don’t you remember, I’m your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?” Looks like the Trinis have learnt the tune now that their oil’s run out and they’ve had to shut down…

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APNU/AFC’s double standards exposed

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Dear Editor, In responding to the striking teachers’ demands for salary increases, Junior Minister of Social Protection, Keith Scott, said the teachers are “selfish and uncaring”. This statement exposes not only the anti-working class character of the APNU/AFC regime, but also that regime’s unadulterated double standards and hypocrisy. When the regime awarded its ministers a huge increase in salary, claiming that they could not be expected to live on their already high salaries by Guyanese standards, was that not an act that was “selfish and uncaring”? It was a slap…

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The Tuma Pot Experience

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By Lakhram Bhagirat About one year ago, I was introduced to “tuma pot” and my initial reaction was why you are serving me boiled fish when I would prefer a good pepperpot to pair with my cassava bread. However, what I did not know was that I would enjoy every last bit of it and secretly ask for some more. I distinctly remember being at St Cuthbert’s Mission’s Heritage Day in 2017 and being forced to try tuma put and I would forever be grateful to my peers who introduced…

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How Guyana must prepare to cope with the ‘jeopardies and perils’ of oil discovery

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(Reprinted from Inter Press Service) Georgetown, Guyana – Recent huge offshore oil discoveries are believed to have set Guyana– one of the poorest countries in South America–on a path to riches. But they have also highlighted the country’s development challenges and the potential impact of an oil boom. Oil giant ExxonMobil has, over the last three years, drilled eight gushing discovery wells offshore with the potential to generate nearly USD20 billion in oil revenue annually by the end of the next decade. “For Guyana where the current oil sector is…

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Education Exposition 2018 Headlines Education Month Activities

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September marks the commencement of a new school year as well as the beginning of Education Month and this year the Education Ministry is going a step further with a first of its kind Education Exposition. The Expo is slated for September 14 through 16 at the D’Urban Park, Georgetown. This year, Education Month is being observed under the theme “Education for a good life through innovation and STEAMS”. The month is a time for the Education Ministry to show off the achievements of its Schools as well as the…

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Cop in fatal accident charged with DUI

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The Police Constable, who on Saturday last was involved in an accident that led to the death of a 23-year-old father of one, received bail on Thursday when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts charged only for driving under the influence of alcohol. Ryan Persaud, 23, who was represented by Attorney-at-Law Eusi Anderson denied the allegation put to him by Magistrate Marissa Mittelholzer. It is being alleged that Persaud drove a Guyana Police Force minibus with registration number PVV 4652 on September 1, 2018 at Nelson Mandela Avenue while…

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Proposed removal of custodial sentence for marijuana possession sparks debate in Guyana

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By Jarryl Bryan The President’s recent announcement that custodial sentences for possession of small amounts of marijuana would be removed from the statute books is being greeted with various reactions by some stakeholders. While they agree the measure is good in principle, questions are being raised in regard to the execution of this plan. In an interview with this publication, the Opposition point woman on health, Parliamentarian Dr Vindhya Persaud, expressed the belief that while removing custodial sentences is a step in the right direction, support services such as drug…

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Nothing formalised as yet, President says of proposed campaign financing legislation

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President David Granger has disclosed that nothing has been formalised as yet with regard to establishing Campaign Financing legislation. “Nothing has been formalised. This is something that has to be agreed upon by both sides, and it could be put on the agenda [for discussion during planned talks this month] with the Opposition Leader. But I have not seen a draft…,” the Head of State told reporters on Friday during a press conference – his first for the year and third since getting into office in 2015. Prior to coming…

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