Decades of varying degrees of state control of the media in Guyana has retarded the growth of a culture of unhindered two-way information flow between government and governed, a condition customarily associated with democratic behaviour.
On August 26 last year, the Minister of Governance with responsibility for natural resources Raphael Trotman told Stabroek News that after the government took up office in May it found evidence of rampant gold smuggling to the United States and other countries and had therefore made tackling it a priority.
If it weren’t for the fact that the incident involving Sergeant Robert Pyle ended in such tragedy, the sequence of events leading up to the fatal crash in Carifesta Avenue on December 30 might have been termed a comedy of errors.
Earlier this week, as economies in the developed world anxiously awaited the fallout from China’s tumbling stock market, key international aid agencies issued a warning that a severe El Niño event this year will likely produce drought, crop failures and food shortages for millions of people during the next few months.
Firdose Moonda, the South African cricket journalist, has written a wonderful article (‘Africa applauds a son of transformation’) on ESPNcricinfo, on the significance of Temba Bavuma’s century against England, on Tuesday, in the just concluded Test at Cape Town.
Whatever it takes, the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown, under its present configuration and when it takes its new form after local government elections, must make safe disposal of garbage a priority.
Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s address, at the end of last year, to the people of Trinidad & Tobago following his People’s National Movement’s victory at the polls, has laid out the problems, particularly in the economic sphere, confronting the country.
President David Granger has made a particular point of commending Ms Simona Broomes for her work in the Ministry of Social Protection even as he made the announcement regarding her move to the newly created Ministry of Natural Resources, amongst various other ministerial adjustments.
Now that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has rejected the key recommendation of the Caricom Cricket Review Panel (CCRP) for an immediate dissolution of the board the stage is set in this New Year for the ultimate test of wills.
Mr Bharrat Jagdeo is very much a political being and his comments on many subjects, therefore, should be placed within a political context.
As the season of rejoicing and renewal draws to a close, amidst rituals of repetition – whether of the spiritual or the spirituous kind – thoughts naturally turn to the New Year ahead and what it has to offer.
When we focus too narrowly on what happens close to home — whether that be Guyana, Caricom, or the Americas — we tend to forget how difficult and uncertain political, social and economic progress has been in many other countries.
Our Caricom heads of government effectively ended a year of international relations activity with their participation in the global Climate Change conference in Paris, following which they have been able to claim that the concerns of small states, including small island states in the Caribbean, were given substantial consideration.
There exists a category of public sector employee, condescendingly titled sweeper/cleaner.
On December 23, Guyana and the Inter-American Development Bank signed a grant agreement for surveys in several areas including unemployment.
For those idly ruminating on what they would wish the country for the New Year, opinions probably diverge wildly.
You don’t have to be a Christian to enjoy Christmas, but it probably helps.
Compassion lies at the heart of the Christian story celebrated tomorrow, as it does for the tradition celebrating the Prophet’s birthday today.
Hardly anyone would welcome the turn of global events at year’s end as having shown substantial improvement over the last twelve months.
In the few remaining days left before we celebrate Christmas, the likelihood that criminal activity could intensify will be one of the things uppermost in the minds of Guyanese.
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