The People’s Parliament
Alissa Trotz is editor of the In the Diaspora column. Barbadian writer George Lamming has written compellingly of the limits of Westminster style democracy in the Caribbean, a system he sees as reducing the populace “to the dormant and abused status of electoral fodder [where] every five years, they become visible and decisive in a [...]
The Container Project in Jamaica: A vision of technology that puts communities first
Alissa Trotz is editor of the In the Diaspora Column Thanks to Camille Turner, mervin Jarman, Matt Price, Francesca da Rimini and Wayne Motayne for sending such an abundance of information and inspiration as I developed this column. Several afternoons a week, the second floor of the Red Thread building in Georgetown is abuzz with [...]
Avoiding Public Scrutiny: The Politics of Fear and Intimidation
Alissa Trotz is the editor of the In the Diaspora column. Last week Sunday the PPP held a rally in Kitty kicking off its election campaign. Both President Jagdeo and his presidential adviser on governance, Gail Teixeira, referred directly to the role of the media in the Rwandan genocide, implicating journalists from Kaieteur News, Stabroek [...]
Arrogance and power: The real legacy of the Jagdeo presidency
Alissa Trotz is editor of the In the Diaspora column. A few days ago I came across an article on CSME Network News, an online news resource that describes itself as compiling “the latest in political and business news from CARICOM member states.” The article in question, titled ‘Jagdeo says Guyana will have first dibs [...]
Freedom and Education
Alissa Trotz is Editor of the In the Diaspora Column In a letter written in the August 3rd edition of the Stabroek News, ‘One must prize freedom and use it to make proper choices,’ Pastor Darion Comacho offers a number of interesting reflections on the theme of freedom, some of which we will return to [...]
The distance between government and the governed: Another look at pensions in Guyana
In March and April, two diaspora columns examined the Former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act No. 12, which was passed in Parliament in the first quarter of 2009. President Bharrat Jagdeo, who will be 48 years old when he demits office, will be the first to enjoy the lavish package that the passage of [...]
Addressing Domestic Violence: How about Starting with Women?
Alissa Trotz is editor of the Diaspora Column In her column last Saturday in the Stabroek News, Stella Ramsaroop shared with readers some of the text from her interviews with three Presidential candidates – David Granger (APNU), Donald Ramotar (PPP), Khemraj Ramjattan (AFC) – on the question of how each of them would address domestic [...]
Living our Lives Wholly in the World: Tributes to Robert Carr
In last week’s column, ‘Homosexuals, Dirty Words…and Me,’ award-winning US based Guyanese singer Nhojj spoke of the dangers of living in a world that can “never reflect the full spectrum of our lives,” cutting us off not only from each other but from parts of ourselves. This week, which draws together tributes generously shared by [...]
Radical Labour: Another Reflection
Alissa Trotz is editor of the In the Diaspora Column. Over the weekend both Stabroek News and Kaieteur News ran important pieces that addressed the significance of May Day, now celebrated all over the world. In its Sunday editorial, titled Radical Labour, Kaieteur News reminded readers that May Day started in the United States in [...]
No Dr. Luncheon, this presidential retirement package is not like everyone else’s
Alissa Trotz is the editor of the Diaspora Column. A recent Diaspora Column by Dr. Arif Bulkan, ‘Would Cheddi have sold his house for $120 million?’ (March 7th issue) remains one of Stabroek News’ most popular columns in its online version, shared directly from the newspaper website with hundreds of people. It has been posted [...]
Playing Politics with People’s Lives: Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark
Alissa Trotz is editor of the In the Diaspora column In their descriptions of Georgetown, older Guyanese in particular talk about the negative stereotypes associated with living or coming from the area known as ‘south of the burial ground’. I was reminded of this when the December arrests of Mark Benschop and Freddie Kissoon for [...]
Law and Domestic Violence
Alissa Trotz is editor of the In the Diaspora Column In a column penned two weeks ago as the horrific details of Neesa Lalita Gopaul’s murder emerged, I noted that the paradox in Guyana “is that we seem to be faced with a situation in which proliferating legislation appears to be accompanied by an increase [...]
An Epidemic of Violence
Alissa Trotz is editor of the In the Diaspora Column We are facing an epidemic of violence against women and children. In a May 10 Diaspora Column titled ‘Stricken with Apathy: Indifference and Invisibility in Relation to Violence in Guyana,’ Savitri Persaud wrote that “every day as these atrocities riddle the headlines, it seems as [...]
Plenty talk, little action? NGOs, HIV-AIDS and Caricom Impacs
Alissa Trotz is editor of the In the Diaspora column For the past two weeks the Caricom Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (Impacs) has been featured in the Diaspora column, in which Arif Bulkan brought to public attention the organisation’s requirement that prospective employees undergo HIV tests in clear contravention of international best practices. [...]
In The Diaspora – Georgetown’s garbage crisis: The Government of Guyana eludes responsibility
Alissa Trotz is editor of the In the Diaspora Column As almost every Guyanese knows by now, Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall, recently asked if the government would prefer to deal with a health crisis rather than assist the City Council, is reported to have responded: “Well, if there is a health crisis in the [...]