Thandeka Percival

  Although there appeared to be a low turnout, it was mostly smooth sailing yesterday as members of the disciplined services cast their ballots in the historic 2016 local government elections (LGE).

The six political groupings vying for the 15 proportional representation (PR) seats on the Georgetown City Council last evening presented their plans for the management of the capital at the first ever Georgetown Debate.

The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) has asked government for massive pay raises over the next five years, which union president Mark Lyte argues is needed to ensure that teachers are paid a “living wage.”

  Finance Minister Winston Jordan yesterday rebuffed criticisms of his proposed $230B national budget by the opposition PPP/C, which he accused of deliberately misleading the public to stymie development and derail efforts at building national unity.

While City Hall has announced fees for operators using city minibus parks, many of them say they had not signed on to the proposal.

“I don’t have a job and I can’t get a job.

The proposed 2016 budget allocation for the education sector is heavily focused on improving the quality of education in Guyana’s hinterland region.

As the Ministry of Public Health continues to monitor the increasingly troubling Zika Virus, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Shamdeo Persaud is calling on members of the public to assist in controlling the population of the mosquito vector and using protection to avoid being bitten.

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is currently experiencing a critical drug shortage.

The government last evening used its parliamentary majority to supress an opposition motion seeking to have all Members of the National Assembly make public their tax returns to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) over the last 10 years, while arguing that such a move would violate privacy.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on Monday requested that Finance Secretary Dr Hector Butts compile for the Attorney-General a comprehensive list of cases for which various government agencies are awaiting his advice.

Amid objections from the opposition PPP/C, the government used its majority in the National Assembly on Thursday, to pass the Law Reform Commission Bill 2015 which seeks to establish a permanent Law Reform Commission to reform and modernise Guyana’s laws.

The Mayor and City Council of Georgetown (M&CC) plans to permanently end vending along the section of the Merriman Mall between Cummings Street and Orange Walk.

The Government of Guyana will be spending in excess of $60M to construct an all-weather access road to the Lusignan Landfill site to help ease the garbage problem caused by a fire at the main disposal facility on the East Bank of Demerara.

Disposal of garbage at a temporary landfill established by the Mayor and City Council at the Le Repentir Cemetery is to cease with immediate effect.

As the Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill continues to burn, a garbage crisis has developed in the city.

Aubrey Squires and Milton Massiah will be spending Christmas on the streets but to them that’s not a great problem.

The government has approved a $49 million package to help fight the Red Palm Mite infestation affecting the coconut industry but one exporter says efforts to combat the pest will not be successful unless all farmers simultaneously treat affected plants.

After three visits to Guyana, the International Children’s Heart Foundation (ICHF or Baby Heart) has left behind an important structure necessary for the surgical care of paediatric patients.

A Lusignan resident is calling for action to be taken against her neighbour, whose daily burning of wood, she says, is affecting her health.