Editorial

Two weeks ago we carried a report on a letter sent by none other than the Director of Public Prosecu-tions Shalimar Ali-Hack to Police Commissioner (ag) Leroy Brumell. 

What should schools, families, communities and the state do with young children who abuse other children?

Hugo Chávez may be dead but chavismo is very much alive in the highly charged Venezuelan election campaign, due to come to a head on Sunday.

In our ‘World Beyond Georgetown’ feature last Sunday we focused on Providence, East Bank Demerara, a once small village, which is currently growing by leaps and bounds physically, being the location of the Guyana National Stadium, the Princess Hotel (formerly Buddy’s) and now a new housing scheme.

To many long-time observers, the current behaviour of the government of North Korea now led by Kim Jong-Un, is reminiscent of Winston Churchill’s 1939 comment on the Soviet Union under Stalin.

During his visit here in March Haitian President and sitting Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman Michel Martelly provided confirmation of what we already knew …that more than three years after a devastating earthquake that claimed thousands of lives and wreaked monumental physical damage, the country still faces a long and arduous journey on the road to recovery. 

One of the enduring failures of PPP governance in its now 20-year tenure is its inability or unwillingness to draw appropriate lessons from missteps and to find ways of ensuring that there is no recurrence.

Several commentators are calling Dr Ashni Singh’s recent magnum opus a ‘snap election budget,’ partly owing to its emphasis on the “individual taxpayer,” to use the words of one of them.

Last month the Lancet, an authoritative and prestigious medical journal, reported on air pollution in China.

According to a recent international study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), teachers are giving girls higher marks than boys in school-based assessments, not simply because they are brighter but because they are being rewarded for such attributes as attentiveness, eagerness and organisational skills.

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Over the last fortnight or so, the small, offshore country of Cyprus in the Aegean Sea has preoccupied the decision-makers of the European Union and the IMF on a daily basis.

When –as appears likely, at least at this juncture – general elections are held in Zimbabwe later this year under a new constitution Robert Mugabe will, in all likelihood, be running for office as President of the Southern African country again.

What separates this year’s budget from recent renderings is the clutch of budgetary measures inclusive of amendments to the tax regime.

There is one thing which doesn’t have a high profile in the Budget.

It is getting to be something of a habit, writing about Shivnarine Chanderpaul in these leader columns.

This year, the government has proposed that $3.1 billion of its $208.8 billion budget be allocated to the housing sector, “to continue the process of ensuring citizens have improved access to housing and a better quality of life”.

The United States, at its highest leadership level, travelled to the Middle East last week, presumably as a demonstration of its continuing deep interest in the Region as a second-term Obama administration begins.

By now this newspaper runs a serious risk of sounding like a stuck record on the subject of violence among schoolchildren and in schools.

When asked on Friday about the growing scandal over the issuing of radio licences and frequencies, President Ramotar failed spectacularly to address the many disturbing facets about the actions of former President Jagdeo in the days preceding the November 28, 2011 general elections.