Editorial

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.

One of the issues that arose out of what one media report quizzically described as a ‘playful incident’ that resulted in the death of an 11 year-old Strathspey Primary school pupil, Mark Harrypaul, would appear to have to do with whether or not our teachers are exposed to potentially life-saving protocols in the event that a child, for whatever reason,, encounters an unforeseen medical emergency that could be fatal if that emergency does not benefit from some immediate intervention.

Given the spate of dangerous violence that has been seen in and around schools it was only a matter of time before there was a fatality.

On Friday the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled in favour of Guyana.

“The extent of unreported and unrecorded economic activity is cause for concern in any modern economy.

Today we await the decision by the International Court of Justice regarding our application for urgent provisional measures in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 1899.

Romona Lall, Danielle Charles and Chooromanie Tulsie were murdered in November.

Last Thursday, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s world governing body, announced that former West Indies One Day International (ODI) Captain Marlon Samuels had been banned from cricket for six years after he was found guilty in August by an independent anti-corruption tribunal of breaching four counts of the ICC anti-corruption code.

Not a few observers hold firmly to the opinion that violence in schools ranks high on the list of challenges to the stability of the country’s education system.

In his seminal series ‘The road to first oil’ in this newspaper, commentator Christopher Ram has underlined again the grave shortcomings of the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), this tIme by comparing it with what exists in fellow CARICOM country, Belize.

The week before last the Ministry of Agriculture launched an action plan to eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

“The fire safety in (Mahdia) dormitory as major concern – The buildings have no fire alarm system, Guidelines to use the fire extinguishers (need more with fire buckets and training) Windows have metal bars and doors are locked at nights- to prevent students misbehaviour Fire exit doors need to be openable for emergency exit.

At the beginning of this month President Irfaan Ali attracted criticism for saying that it was no longer realistic to wait on the City Council to undertake important works in the various wards.

The sloganising of public service announcements (PSAs) is a clever marketing campaign dating back to early television and still in use today.

The cover story of the most recent issue of The Economist magazine, 18th November, is titled “The World Ahead 2024”, and provides an extensive 90-page guide to the coming year.

In response to a news item in Stabroek News, the General Manager of the New GMC, Teshawna Lall in a letter of November 8th defended her agency’s performance.

Following criticism of her position on the tensions between Guyana and Venezuela over the referendum that Caracas plans for December 3rd on its claim to Essequibo, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley spoke again on the question on Saturday but there was still no unequivocal condemnation of the aggression that has emanated from our neighbour to the west.

No one should be impugning the allegiance to this country of any of our leaders, past or present.