Editorial

A hard time she had of it. The very dead of winter.

While the governing PPP/C did make some political inroads into the councils of Georgetown and New Amsterdam following local government elections in June, they had no success whatever where Linden was concerned; that municipality remained uncompromisingly in opposition hands.

Supporters of the Government and many national and regional commentators have been saluting the summit meeting between President Irfaan Ali and President Nicolás Maduro, and the outcome document, the Joint Declaration of Argyle, as a resounding success for President Ali and diplomacy.

Considering that there is considerable traffic between Guyana and Suriname at the level of the ordinary citizen, remarkably little is publicised here about the government of our eastern next-door-neighbour. 

This month, a Chinese medical student who aspires to become a researcher, wrote from the heart about the need to balance academic excellence with sound mental health.

Today, everywhere we turn, it seems as though we are engulfed by a swarm of ‘The Entitled’ – those members of our society, who, for some reason unbeknownst to everyone else but themselves, think the world owes them.

Up until several weeks ago, it has been rare for the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to come into the national spotlight as it did and continues to do, up to this time.

Following his attendance at the quite remarkable confabulation on December 14 in St Vincent and the Grenadines that featured Presidents Ali and Maduro, Attorney General Anil Nandlall on Saturday sounded a note of caution about what he termed “reckless speculative pontification” and “loose public statements” on the Venezuela controversy, arguing that such had harmed this country in its border issue with its neighbour to the east, Suriname.

For the ordinary Guyanese it must have been something of a mystery as to why President Irfaan Ali should agree to meet with a man who has ‘annexed’ three-fifths of our territory, has been making moves which suggested a preparedness to invade and then had the effrontery to accuse the Guyana government of aggressive rhetoric and behaviour.

Sitting across the Hudson River from its far larger and more affluent neighbour, the city of Newark, the nation’s third oldest, and the largest in New Jersey, is rebirthing with splendour.

Those of us who live on the coast probably have very little idea of what goes on in some of our border regions. 

In view of the danger speeding poses to road safety, the World Health Organisation (WHO), in collaboration with four global partners, recently launched the second edition of a Speed Management Manual which it hopes will help curb the burgeoning scourge of road traffic deaths and injuries through managing speed on the world’s roads.

Last Friday, as the nation, still in shock, mourned the loss of five members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier (retired) Gary Beaton, Colonel Michael Shahoud, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Charles, Lieutenant Colonel Sean Welcome, and Staff Sergeant Jason Khan, in a catastrophic air tragedy, the news broke that two other sons of the soil, Joe Solomon, and Clyde Butts, former West Indies Test cricketers had also passed away.

If there is anything that we, as Guyanese, must seek to learn from the recent quixotic behaviour from a Venezuelan President long in the throes of fending off his own political demons, is that, in our particular circumstances, we need to move with due haste to understanding the true meaning of our national motto, One People, One Nation, One Destiny and to apply that meaning to the process of expunging the various kinds of internal divisions in which we have historically indulged.

One of the many ways in which the state can show respect for the sacrifice made by the five servicemen who perished in Wednesday’s tragic crash: Brigadier (Rtd) Gary Beaton, Colonel Michael Shahoud, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Charles, Lieutenant Colonel, Sean Welcome and Sergeant Jason Khan is to ensure that there is a full and independent investigation of the circumstances and the condition of the helicopter to ensure that there is never a recurrence.

Now that the Venezuelan National Assembly has passed a law naming Essequibo as the 24th state of Venezuela, and President Maduro has issued six decrees relating to the administrative measures to be applied there, the question arises as to how Caracas intends to go about incorporating into its territory what is, and always has been, our patrimony. 

There are several demand and supply factors that are causing the current softness in the world price of crude oil which slipped below US$70 per barrel (WTI) this week.

On Sunday December 10, the world will observe the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 34th anniversary of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.

If the situation were not so dangerous, it would be clear that President Maduro was in the wrong profession. 

The last fortnight has been a roller coaster ride of mixed emotions for West Indies cricket fans, as the past, the present and the future appeared to be whirling simultaneously in a time gyroscope to generate disappointment, joy, anger, hope, nostalgia, worry, and euphoria.