Guyana Observer News

Jagdeo will no longer be visiting New York today. The President flew back to Guyana late last night after a brief meeting with T&T PM. A source close to Jagdeo said "President Jagdeo is embarrassed about all the negative publicity and as such has decided not to attend the function set for this evening in Queens...and that Mr. Jagdeo is afraid of another confrontation with protestors..."

 By Freddie Kissoon

‘Mr. Jagdeo is in Queens, New York where tonight at the La Guardia Hotel he will be given an award by a Guyanese association in connection with his so-called earth policy. This event was planned last month and three awardees were named including Jagdeo and US Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand. s. Gillibrand, this week, was bombarded with e-mails about Mr. Jagdeo’s fascist dictatorship in Guyana. She received letters denouncing Mr. Jagdeo and requesting that she stay away from the event because her presence would lend credibility to Mr. Jagdeo. Ms. Gillibrand was also in receipt of the dossier on extra-judicial killing handed to her by members of a Guyanese delegation that met at different times and separately with Senator Benjamin Cardin and US representative at the UN, Ms. Susan Rice. Both Cardin and Rice are in possession of the dossier.

…Chief Justice orders Commissioner to show cause

Businessman Peter Ramsaroop through his lawyer, Robert Corbin, has moved to the High Court to have the police return to him the seized hard drives (non-volatile storage device for digital data) and other equipment belonging to him that the police took. Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang has since ruled that the Commissioner of Police Henry Greene must, by tomorrow, at 14:30 hrs show cause as to why the equipment must not be returned. Corbin said that the police have not found anything incriminating on the computer hard drives but still refuse to return the equipment. He said that Ramsaroop has information on the computer that relates to his business and political life and needs the equipment.

 By Stella Ramsaroop

My column has always been from an observer’s point-of-view. I have long been an observer of Guyana on many fronts, but especially concerning the social and political issues. I have written numerous “Stella Says” columns from my safe desk, in central Texas. The Guyanese culture is unique and intriguing, so much so that those who move away continue to feel connected to their motherland for the rest of their lives. Even this observer feels the pull of this captivating land. When I quit writing this column two and a half years ago, I did not intend on a return to it. At the time, my health was at an all-time low and it has taken me the better part of two years to get back to semi-normal life. But if I am to be honest, there was another reason for my quick departure.

The government is mulling the option of providing free transportation to some schools as early as September as part of an initiative to ensure more children attend school punctually and regularly. Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir made the statement during an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA) yesterday at the Ministry’s Water and Cornhill streets Office. He revealed that the project is an element of the Tackling Child Labour through Education (TACKLE)  programme and would be backed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The other parts of the government initiative are the provision of free uniforms to every school-aged child and meals.