Terror on Thursday
‘Rupununi uprising’ hostage remembers the siege Almost 40 years after the Rupununi uprising, the bloody insurrection in which six people were killed when armed ranchers overran Lethem, Steve Sagar can still remember the heat of the sun on his face as he lay on the road, uncertain whether the men pointing shotguns at him would [...]
Signs point to slump in tourism
– time not right for new hotels, official says With occupancy rates possibly the lowest they have been in a decade and other negative impacts pointing to a slump in the tourism industry, a leading industry official believes that this would not be a good time to build new hotels. Occupancy rates at hotels have [...]
Lighthouse may not withstand pile driving needed to build new hotel – engineer
A local construction engineer has expressed concern over whether the foundation of the 103 ft, 178-year-old Kingston Lighthouse could withstand the heavy pile driving that would be required for the building of a hotel. A site in the area has been earmarked for the construction of a US$52 million 160-room hotel with casino, nightclub, restaurants [...]
Zoom Inn Hotel for sale
The Zoom Inn Hotel, located at 109 Croal Street, Georgetown is on the market, only a year and a half after it was opened to business during the Cricket World Cup hype with high expectations. It is believed that the sale is a result of poor occupancy. According to an advertisement in the Guyana Times, [...]
Latest sugar output figures depressing – Agri Minister
Says GuySuCo making too many excuses Amid a start-up fiasco with the new Skeldon sugar factory, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud says that the latest industry output figures are depressing and the excuses being offered by GuySuCo are not good enough. The non-commissioning of the new US$181 million Skeldon sugar factory which initially had been due [...]
Major loss looms from sugar factory woes
Agri Minister signals displeasure GuySuCo is likely to lose substantial revenue as the commissioning problems with the new Skeldon factory mean that little grinding for this crop will be done and the Agriculture Minister yesterday signalled his government’s displeasure at the situation. The problems at the much vaunted US$181M Skeldon sugar expansion project means that [...]
US presidency may come down to who ran better campaign
–former democratic party chair As the US presidential election draws nearer, former National Chairman of the Democratic Party Dr Donald Fowler says that race is close enough that the winner will be determined by how effective senators John McCain and Barack Obama ran their campaigns. The elections would be the most expensive in conventional US [...]
Caribbean culture too diverse to be labelled – Prof Nettleford
The awesome complexity of Caribbean life and culture, which ranges from language and religion to artistic manifestation in the literary, performing and visual arts, is more than “the binary syndrome of Europe suggests,” University of the West Indies Professor Rex Nettleford has said. In a presentation at a symposium recently on the subject ‘Expressions of [...]
Sir Shridath’s noted service a credit to Guyana, Caribbean
- McDonald and Nettleford It was a credit to Guyana and the Caribbean that Guyanese Sir Shridath Ramphal distinguished himself as the longest serving Commonwealth Secretary-General as well as on five world commissions dealing with development and security issues. This was the view of both Trinidad and Tobago-born Guyanese Ian McDonald and Jamaican Professor Rex [...]
Van West Charles set to return to active political, community life in Guyana
International civil servant and former central executive committee member of the PNCR, Dr Richard Van West Charles proceeds on pre-retirement leave early next year and is making preparations for a return to an active community and political life within the party. Van West Charles, a Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Special Advisor on Partnerships with [...]
Nurturing cultural industries must be joint enterprise
-Carifesta symposium hears Legislation creating institutions and building systems to develop cultural industries should be seen as a joint public and private sector task. This was the common view shared by four panellists at one of the Carifesta X symposiums held at the Guyana International Convention Centre, Liliendaal yesterday to discuss the subject, ‘Are we [...]
Jagdeo: Premature to commit to Manning’s union proposal
As Trinidadian Prime Minister Patrick Manning discusses economic and political integration with some of his colleagues, President Bharrat Jagdeo has said that Guyana would have to see the model being proposed and consultations held before any commitment is made. Jagdeo told the media at a press conference held at the Office of the President on [...]
Bills deferred
Parliament sitting put off after opposition concerns Following the PNCR-1G’s and the AFC’s opposition to an extension of the parliamentary session into the recess, the sitting of the National Assembly scheduled for Thursday for debate on five important bills has been postponed. The bills – including one for wiretapping – are now unlikely to be [...]
Deferring of EPA signing on the horizon
-Brussels source As Guyana prepares to hold a series of national focus groups consultations on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) that Cariforum countries are scheduled to seal with the European Union in the near future there are signals that there may be a deferral of the signing. Stabroek News has learnt that even as Cariforum, [...]
PPP Central Committee votes …Ramkarran disappointed, cites lobby against him
Nagamootoo surprised PPP Central Committee Member and Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran is disappointed at the low vote tally he received for his seat on the Central Committee of the PPP at its recent congress and cited a lobby against him as the reason for his decline in the party rankings. In an [...]