Editorial

On September 21st we referred in these columns to the case of a young woman who had recently faced disrespect and mistreatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) – the country’s main public health facility.

President Irfaan Ali appeared before the UN General Assembly last week to condemn the threats from Venezuela about Guyana’s auction of offshore oil blocks.

Asked in Washington last week how disappointed he was that only six companies had made bids in Guyana’s offshore block auction, President Ali predictably bristled and quickly came up with an excuse: “We went out to auction at a time when major economies in the world are basically saying to oil producers ‘we’re not going to finance you’ so you’re going to a market where raising of capital is an issue.”

This country has some remarkable top CSEC students.  While comparative data with the rest of the region has not yet been announced, it is not unreasonable to suppose that some of them will secure awards for individual subjects, given their astonishing results.

On Sunday, even as World Patient Safety Day was being observed, readers of this newspaper had access to the first-hand account of a young woman who had recently faced disrespect and mistreatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).

Last year, on 30th March, with much fanfare, it was announced that commencing in September 2022, the final rounds of the next three seasons of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the region’s Twenty20 cricket competition, would be hosted by Guyana.

One of the primary reasons (though not the only one) why we are now confronted by numerous longstanding law and order-related anomalies is almost certainly linked to the seeming elevation of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) above official criticism or vigorous reprimand and the serious pursuit of corrective action. 

Around midnight on September 14, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued a release headed  `Statement on audit of ExxonMobil expenses’  in which it said that the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat had endorsed the position outlined earlier in the day by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo that the Guy-ana Revenue Authority (GRA) is the “competent authority” to lead all audits for expenses incurred by ExxonMobil Guyana and its partners.

Friday was International Democracy Day which brought in its train the expected commentary from government on the five months’ suspension of democratic norms here some three years ago.

Seventeen-year-old  Anthony Richard drowned the other day in a sea of mud.

The matter of reparations has raised questions of history, yet again because there is a suggestion that indentureship should be included in the claims, and not just slavery.

Much like the polymer it was named for, Plastic City seems destined to be a forever issue.

As we are fast becoming totally consumed by the subject of oil, its accompanying distractions – profits, barrels, taxes, etc – and the politics for the control of the coffers, our level of awareness of who we are, as a people and a nation, is quietly seeping through our fingers.

This newspaper’s allusion to the barefaced `shakedowns’ and various other pockets of shocking lawlessness that obtain in traffic administration in its Tuesday, August 29 editorial (‘Going with the flow) was by no means an attempt to hold the Guyana Police Force (GPF) up to public ridicule.

If there ever was any doubt, it is now clear that President Ali has no intention of moving towards substantive appointments to the positions of Chancellor of the Judiciary and the Chief Justice (CJ) as long as the current acting holders of the posts are the ones who are in line for confirmation.

There seems to be no end to the Cuyuni River saga. 

Al Jazeera recently rebroadcast a fascinating documentary series entitled “Blood and Tears: French de-colonisation”.

Three days ago when commissioning a new primary school at Tuschen, President Irfaan Ali announced that schools would be given greater autonomy to manage their own affairs.

Last Saturday, while witnessing the harvesting of a bio-fortified rice variety at Lesbeholden, Black Bush Polder, Berbice in the presence of farmers, officials from Caricom and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha declared that India’s ban on rice exports would open the market for Guyana.

When a person applies for a position, he/she submits a resume which includes suitable qualifications and relevant experience.