Shabna Rahman

Life would be made easier for working people when the Giftland Mall opens its FoodMaxx supermarket that offers “next generation shopping” at competitive prices, the company says.

With the price for paddy remaining below $3,000 per bag for the past two years, President of the Rice Producers’ Association (RPA) Leekha Rambrich says less land is being planted and more farmers are “falling out” of the industry.

Henry Hinds, a process foreman at the Wales estate, received severance payments three months ago and failing to secure another job, has decided to invest the money in fixing his car to work taxi.

Cane-cutters and cane transporters of the Wales estate and their families and workers from the Enmore estate yesterday staged picketing exercises in front of the Ministry of the Presidency and Parliament building over severance payments and the end of sugar operations at the West Bank Demerara estate.

Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Cui Jianchun says he is impressed with the operations of the state-of-the-art seafood plant and the tuna factory at Pritipaul Singh Investment Inc.

Tuna fishing is new to Guyana but local business entrepreneur Pritipaul Singh has undertaken a US$15 million venture, which has seen success since it was established about six months ago.

With a drop in the paddy price from $4,500 per bag over two years ago to less than $3,000 per bag, farmers have been advised to focus on increasing their productivity so that their yields can become higher.

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson came under fire yesterday in the National Assembly after it was discovered that $500M was allocated to his ministry to pay off debts for the controversial D’Urban Park Development Project (DPDP) and the private company which mobilized cash and kind for it.

Photos by Shabna Rahman   Ignatius Jones, self-employed, ‘I just plan to have a normal Christmas with my aunt who lives with me.

The deplorable state of the Skeldon Estate and the expenses it is incurring have pushed the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Board to look at the options of either selling or diversifying it.

Sporting a pink t-shirt, with the words “Together let’s fight against cancer,” 12-year-old Shelly Debideen could be found busily assisting the volunteers at a cancer outreach at Kuru Kururu, on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway last month.

When 22-year-old Vishnu Singh of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo developed a fever on October 5, his parents never realized that it would turn out to be malaria and lead to his death.

While saying the coconut industry can potentially increase foreign currency earnings through the export of its myriad products, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin yesterday stressed that now is the time to get serious about the “miracle fruit.”

Meeting with executives of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence on Thursday made a proposal to rebuild the Palms Geriatric Home and construct a shelter for survivors of abuse.

The owners of the Gafoors Houston Complex only recently secured insurance coverage for the US$2M stocks that went up in flames on Monday and an investigator from the US has been hired to determine what transpired.

As private cane farmers sat under a shed at the Wales Estate waiting for their cane to be discharged from trailers, they contemplated their future knowing that their main source of income is about to crumble.

The Hydrometeorological Service has commissioned a $1.6 M Climatological Station at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) that is expected to assist with seasonal forecasting to improve agricultural production.

With Lethem having been declared a town close to a year now, the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) is calling on the government to improve its infrastructure so that Brazilians can continue to give the local economy a boost.

Interviews and photos by Shabna Rahman This week on What the People Say, residents of Rupununi, Region Nine commented on issues affecting them and what they would like the government to change.

The hustle and bustle for the back-to-school shopping is in full swing around Georgetown as parents are busy picking up items to get their children ready for the new school term beginning on Monday.