Category: Eyewitness

…up the PNC ladder? After a marathon counting exercise of just 828 votes, which took almost 8 hours, Volda Lawrence was elected Chairman of the PNC/R. While it may seem your Eyewitness is a “male chauvinist pig” for calling Ms Volda a “Chairman”, he’s only going by the designation in the PNC’s Constitution. Maybe Lawrence, as the first female Chairman, can initiate steps to make the position more gender neutral. Obviously, even though the Constitution was revised in 2009, it doesn’t appear up to then that a woman might become…

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…our Indigenous Peoples Last Thursday was recognised by the UN as “International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples” and this year the theme is about their “migration and movement”. In Guyana, there’s been an ever increasing noticeable movement of Indigenous peoples from the hinterland to the coastland which hasn’t been commented on enough. For the past three centuries, after the Dutch decided the Indigenous peoples weren’t suitable for plantation labour, most don’t appreciate the implications of that singular act. While we were called the “Land of Six Peoples”, one of those…

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…mo’ problems The debate continues to swirl around Clive Thomas’s suggestion that the Government dole out some of the funds from the coming oil bonanza as cash payments directly to Guyanese citizens. He’d give G$1 million annually to each family. The suggestion was accepted by his party – the WPA – a member of the APNU combine, as its official position. Those members said they’ll be canvassing people – especially the “poor and the powerless” — on the suggestion!! Canvassing poor folks to find out what they think about getting…

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…of a genius In an age when reading books received a stake in its heart from Internet memes — after being wounded by the spread of TV — the passing of VS Naipaul probably won’t elicit more than a passing mention in the obituary columns of the dailies. Excepting with those columns now dead, the obit will, at best, be a column from some “humanities” academic – itself a dying part of the university curriculum. And that’s a tragedy, because a close reading of the books by canonical writers like…

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…self-definitions One of the signs of the changing times in our dear old motherland is the insistence on controlling what we are “called”. The Bard of Avon might have asked “what’s in a name” on the assumption that ‘a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, but today some firmly reject his advice. Take the people who were here before Columbus “discovered” them in 1492. Since he was looking for India via a sea route, and figured he’d succeeded in his mission, he dubbed the people he saw…

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…Burnham’s death For an administration whose leader, David Granger — not so coincidentally, also leader of the PNC — has vowed to complete the legacy of Forbes Burnham, their “founder leader”, the commemoration of his death was pretty low-keyed. A few members of the National Congress of Women (NCW), the women’s arm of the PNC, laid wreaths at his bust at Kitty, and gave Basil Williams a squeeze-in! Even the Chronic didn’t report on the ceremony! What’s up? The PNC big-wigs were all worn out after their emancipation soirees? Last…

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…the music (of journalists)! Technically, your Eyewitness figures he’s a member of the journalistic community – the “fourth estate” sounds a bit too high falutin’ for his taste!! So he hopes his comments on their recent request will be taken in good stead. He’s referring to the “seniors” lobbying for a lobby to get President David Granger to host more press conferences. Well, that won’t be difficult to do, since he only held two in the three years he’s been in office!! Now, this won’t be the first “lobby” on…

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…PNC big ones Your Eyewitness isn’t the least surprised that the powers-that-be decided no charges would be laid against Simona Broomes for her actions at the Amazonia Mall in Providence. After all, as she pointed out early in her public life – when she insisted on ignoring the Police and leading a “trafficking in persons” (TIP) raid in Bartica that rounded up 29 foreign women, whom she shipped to Georgetown. Rather than being reprimanded for breaking the law and entering private property without a warrant, the Minister was allowed to…

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…the water boy We live in interesting times. And your Eyewitness isn’t even thinking of all those interesting Haitians trying to blend in with the locals; their giveaway, however, is their being quite religious folks who just have to practise their “Voudou” — which we call “Voodoo”, and which some folks are VERY leery about, and have reported them to Khemraj Ramjattan, who’s supposed to be in charge of Public Security, but not Immigration, of which he was stripped! No, that’s grist for another mill. What your Eyewitness wants to…

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…over NYT report on oil prospects As his job demands, your (conscientious) Eyewitness scours the dailies on his phone even before rolling out of bed in the mornings. And he was quite riled up when not one, but THREE Muckraker columnists went ballistic over an article filed on our oil prospects by a New York Times reporter. From what these fellas described, the snotty foreigner “washed his mouth” all over our reputation; which wasn’t exactly stellar to begin with, thanks to the Muckraker’s sensationalism!! Now, your Eyewitness is as patriotic…

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