Editorial

‘Vigilante justice’ is defined as the ‘extrajudicial punishment’ of an individual and is usually driven by the absence of functioning system of law and order, or general dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the justice system by the populace.

On Monday last, the body of 14-year-old Akeem Grimmond was found in a drain some 300 feet away from his home; he had been suffocated and a man has since been held in connection with his murder.

A call by Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart  to his Democratic Labour Party supporters not to “jump ship”, and advice to voters to rally once again in the party’s support, suggest that he is beginning to feel confident that the difficult days of economic reform for Barbados are coming to an end, and that his party can begin the task of pulling back those alienated by the harsh economic policies which his government, on the advice of the international financial institutions, has felt it necessary to pursue since the last elections of February 2013.

At the conclusion of South Africa’s recent local government poll the ruling African National Congress (ANC) lodged a formal objection in response to its loss in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, the province that had produced party stalwarts like Nelson Mandela, the icon of the liberation struggle as well as legends like Oliver Tambo, Govan Mbeki and Raymond Mhlaba.

As the life of this administration progresses, the public will have an excellent opportunity to test the promises of the APNU+AFC government and evaluate the efficacy of its policies.

This year’s Caribbean Education Secondary Certficate (CSEC) results presented the nation with the expected crop of high-flyers, led by Ms Fatima Karim, with 20 astonishing passes, 19 of them Grade Ones.

A triple-double sounds more like an ice-cream order than the summary of a sprinter’s Olympic career – but that is what Usain Bolt achieved two nights ago, shortly after the evening drizzle eased up in Rio.

One year before the 2015 general elections were held, few Guyanese might have been familiar with the name ‘Sandra Granger’.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that last month’s fire at the Drop-In Centre in Hadfield Street, which took the lives of Joshua and Antonio George, was a tragedy waiting to happen.

The decision by the government of the United Kingdom, resulting in a referendum that produced a 52%-48% decision in favour of departure from the European Union (EU) and the resignation of David Cameron as Prime Minister of the country, continues to provoke agitation in British politics.

It is not so much the fact that the official report into last month’s fire at the Hadfield street Drop-In Centre was due to be handed to government yesterday as just what the report and its recommendations will mean for the quality of care that children in the custody of the state can expect, going forward, that is relevant at this time.

This has got to be the irony to end all ironies.

On Friday evening the Ministry of the Presidency issued a press release stating that the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology had been “air-marked” – not earmarked, it seems − for a major upgrade and change of location. 

The Brexit vote and the rise of Donald Trump indicate that a large number of the British and American voters have lost faith in a globalized world.

Since assuming office, the David Granger-led coalition government has been guilty of sending a series of mixed signals to the population, specifically, his ministers and other party functionaries appear to be making several administrative false steps and public relations blunders, requiring the subsequent intervention of the President to assuage the ire of the populace and countervail whatever crisis was looming.

It is generally known that no one enters into any business for any other reason than to make money.

As November 8th, the date of the next United States presidential election draws closer, the polls appear to be clarifying the voters’ perceptions of the candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties.

For what is unquestionably a landmark industrial relations engagement, the current wages and salaries talks between the government and the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) are, at least up until now, proceeding in a decidedly low-key manner.

So much has been found to be wrong with the secret contract signed between the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and Smart City Solutions (SCS) for parking meters over a 49-year period that it is amazing that it hasn’t been cancelled as yet.

The flurry of claims and counterclaims about responsibility for the costly failures at projects such as the high-value Kato Secondary School and the Good Hope Bridge is enough to send the tax-paying public into apoplexy.