CARICOM and the Cuba vote
Yesterday’s now annual vote at the United Nations on the crippling and pernicious US embargo against Cuba has again laid bare the farce of CARICOM unity.
Editorial
Some uncomfortable truths
While the sugar industry’s public good through drainage and other services remains incalculable, the 2025 annual report of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) reveals a staggering level of disingenuousness on the part of the government that should not sit well with any right-minded Guyanese.
Post-ICJ
For the past few months there have been articles in the Venezuelan media suggesting that a decision from the International Court of Justice on the Guyana-Venezuela controversy does not mark the termination of the matter.
The continuing traffic carnage
The carnage continues on the roads and will be reflected in the consolidated traffic figures whenever they are released by the police.
President’s task force on child safety
Any gathering with the aim of addressing the welfare and safety of children is welcome and to be lauded.
A political rivalry at the public’s expense?
The confrontation involving Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and Special Branch head Senior Superintendent Prem Narine has sharpened a question that the government can no longer answer with political denunciations: is the Guyana Police Force exercising its authority independently, or is it allowing itself to become an instrument in a bitter political rivalry?
The MV Barima Inquiry and institutional failures
The Commission of Inquiry into the MV Barima disaster is exposing a disturbing gap between the responsibilities entrusted to public institutions and their readiness to discharge them.
Waste oil shipment
Aside from the fact that so much waste oil is being generated from the operations of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), the country faces another potential disaster from a maritime transaction that should have been better managed.
The Karimbaksh investigation
Thirteen days ago, following mounting criticism over its handling of rape and threatening behaviour allegations against Deputy Commissioner of Police and Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit, Fazil Karimbaksh, the Guyana Police Force finally announced that he had been sent on leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
Anti-bullying policy
Nearly a year ago, the Ministry of Education launched its anti-bullying and anti-violence campaign, promising a comprehensive approach to a persistent problem that appears to be getting worse.
MV Barima’s beacon
If it will indeed take six months for the Commission of Inquiry into the catastrophic loss of 100 lives in the sinking of the MV Barima to wrap up its findings, it means that contemporaneous action has to be taken on important revelations from the hearings to improve safety on other vessels in the T&HD fleet.
Mr Jagdeo’s outpouring
A wake last Wednesday for the late Opposition Leader and PNCR Leader Robert Corbin produced an extraordinary outpouring from the PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo that will both confuse his party’s supporters and underline the anxieties linked to the rise of We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) which relegated the ruling party’s traditional bête noire to third place in last year’s elections.
MV Barima: From disaster to the first day of reckoning
When the MV Barima capsized and sank on July 18, 2026, during its voyage from Georgetown to Port Kaituma, the catastrophe immediately raised questions extending beyond the vessel itself.
The Guyana Police Force must explain itself
Recent events involving the Guyana Police Force raise serious questions about its leadership, the reliability of its public statements and its ability to investigate matters involving its own senior officers.
Another tourism conference?
Just days after Guyana hosted the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC), it has been announced that the country has been “selected” to host the 2027 Sustainability is Responsibility (SIR) Summit of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA), scheduled for March 7–10, 2027.
More action needed on the mental health front
Last Saturday, October 10, was World Mental Health Day and, on its website, the World Health Organisation offered the theme “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change”; aspirational, but not often translated into action.
Guyana’s gas ambitions
Last week, the Trinidad Guardian reported that approximately 350 employees were to be laid off as the Canadian fertilizer company, Nutrien moved to indefinitely shut down its operations in the twin-island republic.
The Ministers and the MV Barima CoI
In a lengthy opening statement on October 7th at a preliminary hearing at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre with the families of the victims of the MV Barima tragedy, the Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry, Godfrey P.
MV Barima and its inherited credibility problem
“I do not trust y’all.” Those words reverberated across the Arthur Chung Conference Centre as families stood, one at a time, to address the Commission of Inquiry into the MV Barima tragedy, Those words exposed the distance between the CoI, offering to establish the truth, and bereaved families struggling to believe another official promise.
Navi Pillay
In a world ravaged by war, growing disregard for fundamental human rights and the undermining of the rule of law internationally, yesterday’s Nobel Peace Prize award to the indefatigable South African judge Navi Pillay sends a powerful message to those leaders engaged in these transgressions.