–as  Finance Minister urges ‘Buyer Beware’ of shady vendors   by Gary Eleazar The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has begun moving against businesses targeting unsuspecting consumers, by applying the 14 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on items which are zero-rated or exempt. This was confirmed by Tax Chief, Godfrey Statia, who on Thursday (March 2, 2017), met with ...

Trevor Thomas has been fired from the post of Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, in keeping with a recommendation by a Commission of Inquiry into procurement practices at that public service entity. Minister of State, Joseph Harmon said Thomas was relieved of his duties with effect from March 1, 2017. “His service as Permanent Secretary was terminated…He ...

The Guyana government is strapped for cash and would be introducing a number of austerity measures including recycling envelopes, while at the same time hoping that the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) and housing projects will kick-start the economy. “It means that you have to be a little more careful in how you spend your money so that it lasts. ...

by Gary Eleazar The Guyana Government has decided it will not be removing the application of the 14 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on private school fees, saying the anticipated revenue is critical to meet the funding for the $38B shortfall it has for its 2017 expenditure programme (2017 $250B Budget). This was disclosed by Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, ...

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo said President David Granger’s apparent failure to heed the advice of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and appoint several judges to the Court of Appeal and High Court is feeding perception that the Guyanese leader prefers to await the advice of a new commission when it is appointed. “The Leader of the Opposition adverted to a ...

President David Granger, Wednesday evening, met with Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, as is Constitutionally required, to consult on the appointment of an Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary and Acting Chief Justice, the Guyanese leader’s office announced. Following that meeting, Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon announced that effective today, March 1, 2017, that Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who has ...

General Secretary of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Oscar Clarke has rubbished claims by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo that earnings from parking meters are helping to finance that political party. “The PNC is not benefiting in any way financially or otherwise from this project,” he told Demerara Waves Online News. The PNCR General Secretary is an elected Councillor of ...

The government is not about to get rid of Head of Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), James Singh who has been asked to proceed on leave, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan said Wednesday. “No, not as far as I know. He is on leave. Everybody is entitled to his leave,” Ramjattan told Demerara Waves Online News when asked whether Singh’s engagement with ...

Four Guyanese, who were caught aboard a St. Vincent-registered fishing vessel with more than US$70 million worth of cocaine, are due to return to a United States Virgin Islands court on Wednesday for a detention hearing. Mohamed Nazim Hoseain,64,  Richard La Cruz,49,  Neville Jeffrey,68, and 30-year old Mark Anthony Williams were held aboard the Lady Michelle on February 16, 2017 ...

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo has  told President David Granger that he would be submitting another list of six names from which he is expected to pick one as the next Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) said in a statement. “In the interest of moving the process forward, today, the Leader of the Opposition wrote to ...