Editorial

While stunning in their scale, the allegations levelled by police detective Dion Bascom in relation to the murder of Ricardo Fagundes outside of Palm Court on March 21st 2021 were not surprising.

Mr Aubrey Norton’s reputation was built on his credentials as a street politician.

A remarkable aspect of the country’s road system is the almost complete absence of signage to encourage safer and more sociable driving or even to give directions to a particular town or place. 

Anyone who thought Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai could be depended upon to work in the interest of an Indigenous community blighted by the presence of illegal miners, should think again. 

There were two recent occurrences, both reported in the media,  that sit firmly on the incredulity scale.

Fifty years ago this week, the then fledgling Cooperative Republic of Guyana attracted the world’s attention when it hosted its largest international event to date.

As the issue of global food security comes into sharper focus in the wake of the seemingly never-ending food-related crises in some regions of the world which have been accentuated by the Russia/Ukraine hostilities, it is entirely appropriate that we in the Caribbean pay keener attention to our own circumstances.

It becomes clearer with each passing day that nothing will be allowed to stand in the way of the bullet train-like development of the oil and gas sector.

Maybe it is something to do with the time of year, but this is the season for political folly it seems. 

Most readers of this newspaper’s editorials cannot meaningfully appreciate the struggles of a working class mother to feed, clothe and house herself and her children in current times.

Overseas the news is grim. War in Ukraine, world food shortages, soaring energy prices, inflation, substantial cost-of-living increases and the like.

The first solid plans for President Irfaan Ali’s envisioned Silica City were ventilated at this year’s building expo, held at the National Stadium, Providence, late last month.

 Last week Sunday, 24th July, the curtains came down on the 18th edition of the IAAF World Athletic Championships (WAC) Oregon22, staged at the famous Hayward Field, at the University of Oregon, USA.

Were the question to be asked as to which challenges  pose the greatest threat to the well-being of the international community, the likelihood that food security and climate change would be right ‘up there’ with the ‘front runners’ is particularly high.

Last year, it was clear that neither the PPP/C nor APNU+AFC was interested in holding the scheduled Local Government Elections (LGE).

Last week President Ali discovered what his predecessors before him always knew:  there is nothing like an official visit abroad to boost morale, massage the ego and provide a feel-good infusion for the spirit.

Back in February 2021 President Ali told a local content forum that “While it [oil and gas] will be one critically targeted area, the local content policy is one that will cover every sector of the country.

Land transactions in this country quite often degenerate into contention and confusion.

Last week, finally, the government initiated steps that will soon, one hopes, lead to the decriminalisation of attempted suicide, a crucial measure in grappling with the stigma attached to fatal and non-fatal self harm.

Fifty years ago this month, the attention of the world’s media was sharply focused on the city of Reykjavik.