News

by Zena Henry Former President Bharrat Jagdeo is not accepting blame for the failed Skeldon Sugar Factory stating that the then government acted based on information by from a technical team, Booker Tate which was hired to revitalize the ailing industry. The US$200m Skeldon Factory was built during the Jagdeo administration and the former president had declared publicly that should ...

Likely Leader of the Opposition, Bharat Jagdeo, says that Guyanese will see their salaries increased by half the amount stated in the 2015 Estimates because the increase is retroactive to July 1st. “What bothers me significantly is the date that it is effective from…I have to divide all of those by two as it is effective for six months of ...

The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) will finally be  taking up its seats in the National Assembly next week for the commencement of the 2015 Budget debate,  Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo announced on Tuesday. Budget debate begins on Monday, August 17, 2015 at 1 PM. Jagdeo says if the salaries for certain categories of parliamentarians are increased, he will not ...

During the presentation of Budget 2015 on Monday, Finance Minister, Winston Jordon, said “…we can all agree that no women should die giving life,” before announcing that “over $133.1 million will be spent on the expansion of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) maternity unity, increasing that facility’s bed capacity by 50 beds.” He also said that ongoing works at ...

As revelations about the former administration’s mismanagement of the PetroCaribe Fund continue to be made, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, on Monday disclosed that having driven the Fund to a point of near depletion, the former administration pressured the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) pay Venezuela amounts it was due to ensure timely cash payments to rice farmers.  This is according to ...

The coalition government appears set to fight the scourge of drug trafficking aggressively if the more than doubling of its allocation of funds to the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) is anything to go by. The Estimates for the 2015 National Budget show that allocations for the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) are spread out under the Home Affairs Ministry and ...

by Zena Henry Minister of Finance Winston Jordan has proposed an amendment to the Income Tax Act Cap. 81:01 to do away with taxes placed on National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions. The Minister in his Budget speech said that the amendment seeks to insert after Section 16(b): “(i) National Insurance contributions by employees.” Jordan highlighted that with this amendment, “workers ...

by Zena Henry With GUY$500 million being plugged into the restoration of the nation’s capital by the PPP last year, the new government is injecting another $300million to boast the looks of Georgetown. This came from Finance Minister Winston Jordan’s 2015 budget, Monday August 10. He said, “As proud Guyanese, we need to restore Georgetownto its pristine state. This will ...

by Zena Henry The government has increased old age pension by $4000, while public assistance has grown by $600. This revelation came during the 2015 Budget speech. He said that, From September 1, every pensioner will benefit equally from a monthly pension of $17,000, a 30 percent increase on the present amount of $13,125. “Every pensioner, whether he resides in ...

by Zena Henry By September 1, 2015, government will reduce the Berbice Bridge toll for passenger cars and buses from $2,200 to $1,900, while other types of vehicles will be reduced by 10 percent. This is according to Finance Minister Winston Jordan who presented the 2015 Financial Statement, 2015. The new government promised this reduction and stated the reductions. “With ...