News

Guyana is on the verge of signing an agreement with ExxonMobil for its Payara Development Plan that would provide for hefty fines for flaring and the dumping of untreated water back into the sea, Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat said Friday. He told News-Talk Radio Guyana 103.1 FM/Demerara Waves Online News that the actual fines were still under discussion ...

Members of a Venezuelan sindicato gang opened fire on a joint patrol of Guyanese police and soldiers on the Cuyuni River, the Guyana Defence Force said. The army said no one was injured during the incident that occurred on the bordering river on Wednesday, September 23. “None of the ranks received injuries and they returned fire,” the GDF said. The ...

Former Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix on Thursday defended the then APNU-AFC government’s decision to sole-source about 500,000 birth certificates from a United States (US)-based company controlled by People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) executive member, Larry London. Mr Felix said the sole-sourced contract of GYD$23 million contract was awarded by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) after the ...

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr. says a national registry of artists and cultural workers  would be established in keeping with Guyana’s commitments under the Caribbean- European Union Economic Partnership Agreement. He told the House during consideration of the 2020 National Budget estimates that the registry would also be in line with the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) free ...

Two of Guyana’s leading secondary schools on Thursday joined others across the Caribbean in condemning the apparent poor grading of students at the 2020 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency (CAPE) examinations, with Queen’s College already threatening legal action and possibly lobbying for withdrawal from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). “If CXC does not bend, we will ...

The Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, Ann Greene says sexual activity with a six-month old baby girl is among 529 reported cases of child sexual abuse for this year during the coronavirus pandemic. “During this period of the pandemic, we received a report of a six-month old chubby ...

A recent study by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) shows that since the start of the the coronavirus, COVID-19, farmers are losing income by between 20 and 50 percent, causing government to decide to buy produce directly from them, according to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha. He noted that due to COVID-19, restaurant and food establishments are opening limited hours ...

Former Minister of Education Nicolette Henry and current Education Minister Priya Manickchand on Wednesday took on each other over questions about  COVID-19 learning packages” for schools, with Henry charging that Manickchand was trivialising her explanations and Manickchand blaming her for holding on to power instead of getting work done. During consideration of 2020 Budget estimates of expenditure  COVID-19 accelerated programme, ...

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on Wednesday said the GYD$15,000 cash-grant programme for each registered school age child would not be a one-off payment. Responding to questions by opposition coalition parliamentarians, she said the grant would eventually be increased to GYD$50,000. “We have no concerns about it being sustained or sustainable because when we get money we invest it back ...

Reeling from the devastating impact that the coronavirus has been having on international air travel, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has gotten a GYD$600 million bailout to ensure that the regulatory agency remains internationally compliant, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said. Responding to a question from Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs, Gail Teixeira about why GYD$609 million was ...