Editorial

Over the last year at least, the British government of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has been faced with calls for decisions on the political character of the United Kingdom.

This past week or so, two foreign investors, one Canadian, the other Chinese, made public some of the pertinent details of what would appear to be pretty impressive plans to invest in the country’s gold mining and forest products sectors.

When FIFA and CONCACAF swooped into Guyana two weeks ago to attempt to settle the  fractious state of affairs in football, it must have dawned upon many citizens that the public disputation on any and every issue here is causing enormous damage to the inherent trust between individuals and groups and to the country’s prospects.

Anyone who has any feeling for the architectural heritage of Georgetown must be in despair every time they pass City Hall – if they can bear to look at it at all, that is.

In 2006, the year before he died, Arthur Schlesinger Jr was asked what he thought of President Bush’s policy on torture.

On the human level, there is a lot of sympathy for Hugo Chávez in his battle against an unspecified cancer in a Cuban hospital.

A very serious allegation has been made that, if true, points to a major deficiency in a sector that should be serving/protecting our young and vulnerable.

As the year turned and Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller addressed the people of Jamaica, their main concerns seem to have been to hear from her some indication of when, and on what basis, the now prolonged discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be concluded.

Last weekend’s announcement by the Chinese company Bai Shan Lin that it is seeking to recruit 700 workers with various types of skills to work in areas associated with its multi-sectoral investment in Guyana got the attention of most, if not all, of the media houses – and with good reason.

This morning, the Ministry of Agriculture is convening a conference to move the coconut industry forward and to review a work plan for 2013.

The governing party is never short of rationalizations to explain why something which is required to be done, has not been done.

For Guyanese living abroad there are times when reports from home read like a litany of bad news; a succession of depressing accounts of domestic abuse, violent crime, political wrangling, inefficiency and corruption.

In the movie, The Life of Pi, when the protagonist’s father seeks to reinforce his argument for the family’s move to Canada, he proudly declaims, “We will sail like Columbus!”

There have been at least 5 cases in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court alone for this year already, involving the battering of women by their husbands or partners.

As the old year turned, new regimes took hold in both the United States and China, acknowledged by most people in the Caribbean and elsewhere as the countries most likely to determine the international frameworks within which our countries will find it necessary to function. 

The government, it seems, has decided to employ a transparent and, frankly, not particularly ingenious ruse in order to adjust the public perception of policing.

Home Affairs Minister Mr Clement Rohee’s disquisition last Monday on security before a diverse audience was a dramatic departure from the usual approach of PPP/C ministers but both its form and content leave key concerns unanswered.

The election which took place yesterday in Venezuela was of a certain significance.

During the last two weeks, the governments of China and France have both tried to remove the shield of anonymity that allows internet users to voice opinions without being held accountable for them.

President Donald Ramotar’s statement in his New Year’s message that the 250th anniversary of the Berbice Slave Uprising, the 175th anniversary of Emancipation and the 175th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in Guyana “are significant to all Guyanese,” is most welcome.