The National Assembly on Thursday passed the Fiscal Management and Accountability (Amendment) Bill, thus making the legislation an Act of Parliament and guaranteeing the financial independence of several constitutional bodies. As was the case on all previous sittings of the 11th Parliament, the opposition party – The Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) – did not show up, and as such ...

by Zena Henry The long-awaited Local Government Elections are expected to held in December, according to Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan. He made the announcement during his contribution to parliamentary debate on Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2015. The main opposition People’s Progressive Party Civic’s parliamentarians continued their boycott of sittings. Bulkan said, “The (Guyana Elections) Commission at its next scheduled ...

by Zena Henry The Guyanese government on Thursday announced that steps have been taken to demarcate the  country’s jurisdictional zone in keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Though not directly related, the decision comes weeks after Venezuela issued two decrees unilaterally including the Atlantic waters off  the Essequibo in its integral maritime defence ...

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) will not be making any rash decisions as it is left to evaluate the collateral damage it can suffer by taking two charged former ministers to National Assembly. Former Public Service Minister Jennifer Westford and one of her staff were placed on a combined $2M bail yesterday on attempted larceny and forgery charges related to ...

Guyana’s National Budget for 2015 will be tabled in the National Assembly on Monday August 10, Finance Miniuster Winston Jordan announced on Thursday. The budget would only be valid for the remainder of the year. The package of revenue and expenditures should have been introduced and passed in the House by April 2015 but the previous governent had suspended the ...

Former Minister of Health, Bheri Ramsaran was Thursday arraigned on a charge of using insulting language against women and children rights activist, Sherlena Nageer earlier this year. Appearing before Whim Magistrate, Charlyn Artiga, Ramsaran pleaded not guilty to the offence that he allegedly committed on April 20, 2015. He was released on self-bail (his own recognizance) when he appeared  at ...

Minister of Finance Winston Jordan will soon issue an order for the Lotto Fund be paid directly into Guyana’s consolidated fund. The Government Information Agency (GINA) reported that the announcement was made by Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman today at a post-cabinet media briefing, held at the media centre of the Ministry of the Presidency. Minister Trotman explained that a ...

The almost 1,000 residents of Akawini, Pomeroon River are benefitting from a GUY$42 million community development project that includes improved housing, better transportation and a boost to small business. The initiatives in the Region Two community were funded by the non-governmental organisation, Food for the Poor.            The project, which is the brainchild of the former Toshao of Akawini, Rudolph Wilson, ...

Investigators were Thursday continuing their probe into the alleged poisoning of a nurse while on duty at the New Amsterdam Hospital, according to police sources. Still hospitalized is Nurse Tameka Carter. Crime sleuths have already taken away the remaining amount of a soda that the nurse consumed and caused her to vomit blood. Sources said all the persons, who worked ...

by Zena Henry The criminal trial against former Minister of Public Service, Jennifer Westford and Chief Personnel Officer of the said ministry, Margret Cummings, will be heard at the Georgetown Magistrate Court as the women have opted to be tried summarily. They pleaded not guilty to four counts of attempted larceny and intent to defraud by forgery respectively.  They faced ...