Editorial

There is an old saying that, ‘behind every successful man, there is a woman,’ which traditionally has meant that successful men owe their achievements in life to their wives, partners and/or mothers who supported and encouraged them in reaching the heights which they attained.

Last week we made some comments on Prime Minister Kamal Persad Bissessar’s initial response to requests for assistance first from St Vincent and the Grenadines, and then from St Lucia in the face of  Hurricane Tomas’ onslaught.

An official enquiry into the Neesa Gopaul tragedy was clearly very necessary.

So the proverbial cat is out of the bag. The government lulled the country into believing that a landmark, revamped Amerindian Act had been in force since 2006.

The details surrounding the murder of Neesa Gopaul were so harrowing and caused such a public outcry, that the authorities were under enormous pressure to punish officials who may have been derelict in their duties in respect of the teenager. 

With the carnage of the recent midterm elections safely behind them, what remains of the American left has begun to reflect on its losses.

Following the death and destruction wrought by the passage of tropical storm Tomas across Barbados, St Vincent and St Lucia, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has aroused a storm of a different sort with a comment that has been interpreted by the local media, opposition parliamentarians and the general public to mean that there will be no help for countries seeking assistance without benefits to Trinidad and Tobago.

Following a spate of maternal deaths at hospitals around the country, 19-year-old Shinnel George a first-time mother of West Demerara was also very nearly another statistic.

When in 1972, President Richard Nixon visited Mao Tse Tung in China, this visit to the People’s Republic, executed in deep secrecy, signalled to the rest of the world, and in particular America’s major partners, that the United States had recognized a force in the world that would not permit its exclusion from global affairs.

In a reply to Mr Sherwood Lowe’s remark in a letter that the PNCR has an uphill battle to motivate its supporters who do not believe that Gecom can deliver a fair election, the Public Relations Officer of the elections body rattled off an impressive list of accomplishments in a letter in the last Sunday Stabroek entitled ‘Gecom can deliver a fair election and it is impossible to believe that anyone should think otherwise.’

Following a spate of maternal deaths at hospitals around the country, 19-year-old Shinnel George a first-time mother of West Demerara was also very nearly another statistic.

While responding to a tax relief call made by the GAWU General Secretary on Wednesday at the GLU Triennial Delegates Conference, President Jagdeo almost casually slipped in that another US$20M will be needed to secure power generation to meet peak demand and ensure stability in supplies.

“Except with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and information without interference and freedom from interference with his correspondence.”

Last month, realizing that his party faces a rout in the upcoming midterm elections, President Obama told the audience at a fundraising dinner:  “Don’t compare us to the Almighty, compare us to the alternative.”

It has not been a good week for regional leaders; indeed, it has been rather a sad week for Latin America and the Caribbean.

There is a sickness that is pervading our local health services.

When, two weeks ago, our editorial concerned itself largely with the changing political fortunes in the leadership of the Barbados Democratic Labour Party, there was already widespread speculation in that country that the serious illness of Prime Minister David Thompson was almost certainly one of the considerations in former Prime Minister Owen Arthur’s decision to mount a challenge to Ms Mia Mottley.

In May of this year, the people of this country became aware of a major construction scandal which enveloped the Supenaam Stelling.

In a lengthy defence of the Grow More Food campaign by way of a letter in the September 29th edition of Stabroek News following a series of hard-hitting reports in this newspaper on farmers’ complaints, the Head of the Guyana Marketing Corporation Mr Nizam Hassan asserted that there has been much success.

Ten years ago – and four years ago too, for that matter – presidential candidates for the two largest parties were a foregone conclusion.