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…back at Fidel

There was a time when there was nary a soul across the globe who wouldn’t have recognised the name “Fidel Castro” – along with his sidekick, Che Guevara!! They exemplified the word “revolutionary” – in the age of overthrowing imperialism!! Well, it was his 100th birthday recently, and your Eyewitness figures he knows the man well enough to confidently predict that if he were around to blow out 100 candles on his birthday cake, he’d likely manage a three-hour speech on the revolutionary physics of candle combustion before getting around to the cake itself!! Fidel wasn’t a man of few words!!
But for us, he should be known more for Jagan’s admiration of his Soviet-style communism – in an era when the US and USSR were duking it out for global supremacy!! When he not only survived the US-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion but also humiliated the Yanks, President JFK decided they weren’t gonna tolerate “another Cuba” in THEIR hemisphere!! And Jagan was out like a light!!
But Fidel survived – till a decade ago!! – and became a symbol of how the US could single-handedly unleash its wrath on enemies in their backyard!! Now over six decades since Washington first imposed its crushing economic embargo in 1960, the geopolitical landscape of Cuba remains a dark comedy of endurance!! The embargo was designed to turn Cuba into a cautionary tale of isolated economic ruin!!
But interestingly, Fidel’s magnetism was so powerful that Burnham – Washington’s replacement for Jagan – seeking to burnish his reputation in the Third World, led T&T, Jamaica, and Barbados to break diplomatic ranks with the US in 1972 to recognise Havana!! He even allowed Cuban troops heading to support Namibian guerrillas to refuel here!! The Yanks had to hold their nose – since the alternative was still the red Jagan!!
So, Cuba became a fixture of regional pragmatism as Washington exported sanctions and Monroe Doctrine rhetoric, while Havana exported thousands of doctors, teachers, and university scholarships!! We couldn’t resist!! Castro was the man who sent medical brigades to rescue our decrepit healthcare system – while Burnham flew in Castro’s plane to Non-Aligned Movement summits, feeling like a player on the Cold War chessboard!! Ironically, it was Cuban surgeons operating on his throat cancer at Big Hospital when he croaked on the table!!
Today, Cuba’s battling severe power outages and economic strain under renewed American sanctions!! But they stand less as a grand strategic victory and more as an ancient, rusting monument to bureaucratic momentum – outliving the man, outliving the Soviet Union!!
And leaving us in the Caribbean doing what we’ve always had to do – navigating the crossfire of bigger powers and trying to do what’s best for our development!!
Allying with the Yanks!!

…at India’s challenge
India’s broadcasting its goal of “Viksit Bharat 2047”, where it wants to achieve first-world status a century after independence.  The country launches spacecraft, builds digital payment systems, and produces software engineers by the millions – and is busy explaining to the world that the 21st century belongs to India. But however, there’s one small non-technological problem left to solve: its social operating system, long known as the caste system!!
First-world status ain’t measured by the number of billionaires, airports or skyscrapers – it’s measured by how efficiently a society allows all of its citizens to develop and deploy their abilities!! You can’t want to become a superpower while deliberately carrying hundreds of millions of people as excess baggage!! The irony is, India doesn’t need to abolish tradition – it just gotta abolish the idea that tradition should determine human potential!!
Very simply, if India really intends to become a first-world country, it gotta begin with the evidently revolutionary proposition – to them – that a person’s parents shouldn’t be their genetic career paths by caste!!

…for good leaders
As we digest director Nolan’s take on Homer’s Odyssey, let’s remember Thucydides’ caution: “The nation that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards – and its fighting done by fools.”

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…major consumers switch to self-generation during peak hours
…as Govt rolls out plan to conserve power, stabilise system

The current El Niño conditions, coupled with a growing customer base, have driven up electricity demand across Guyana, forcing the Government to implement a series of measures to not only enhance the power supply, but also conserve electricity and stabilise the aged national grid system.
One of those interventions is having large consumers across the country be removed from the national grid during peak hours, when demand is high. Public Utilities and Aviation Minister Deodat Indar explained that though these large customers have self-generating capacity, which is costly due to the soaring fuel prices, they are on the national grid to capitalise on the subsidised rates.
“During those two hours from 07:00h to 21:00h, we’re asking them to come off the grid. And it’s only three customers; we’ve asked to stabilise voltage – two in Berbice and one on the East Bank [of Demerara],” Indar noted during a press conference on Friday.

“The problem that you have is voltage levels at different points in the grid, where they have big customers that are using massive amounts [of power], and…the [transmission] lines can’t take the amount of power that is demanded in the area, so it trips. So, people get three to four [power] outages during the peak period.”
Those three consumers that have agreed to come off the grid during peak hours utilise a combined total of approximately three megawatts (MW).
Head of the Executive Management Committee at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc., Kesh Nandlall, added during Friday’s press conference that they are assessing the high-demand areas, and where necessary, they will similarly remove large consumers there during the peak hours in order to stabilise the aged-grid system.
“But we do have a list, and we’re planning it based on the demand right now…in specific areas,” Nandlall stated.

Generation capacity
Meanwhile, Indar went on to assure that GPL has adequate generation capacity to meet the growing demand across the country. Currently, there is a generation capacity of 256MW, while peak demand is at 242.64MW – a record high and an increase from last year’s 221MW.
According to Indar, “…the increase is due to one, the weather, the hotness of the temperature, increased housing expansion in the country, commercial operations, as well as industrial customers.”
But with demand projected to further grow over the coming months to some 266MW, GPL has already put systems in place to increase generation to approximately 280MW by the end of August.
Nevertheless, the Public Utilities Minister pointed out that all the regions across Guyana have excess generation capacity except Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), where power is being supplied by bauxite company Bosai Minerals Group.
While Bosai generates some 14.1MW, heightened industrial activities across Linden have pushed peak demand to over 15MW. In fact, Indar noted that there has been increased sawmill operations in Linden, which have added pressure on the region’s electricity system.

Sawmill operations
Region 10 currently has about 32 sawmills operators, utilising equipment such as Wood Mizer and high-speed motors, thus placing significant demand on the grid. As a result, the Government has engaged the sawmill owners to shift their operations to off-peak hours so as to ease the burden on the system.
“So, Linden has two peak periods. During the day between one to three pm, and then in the night as well, between seven to nine, there is another peak…[when] the demand spikes to a higher level. So, [the sawmill operators have] been asked to work between 22:00h to 06:00h… and it wouldn’t tax the grid further than it is already overtaxed, at this point,” Indar noted.
Some of those sawmill operators have already agreed to this arrangement, while Minister Indar and the GPL Head, along with Guyana Forestry Commission Commissioner Edward Goberdhan and Chief Executive Officer of Hinterland Electrification Company Inc Horace Williams engaged the others on Friday to follow suit.
Those discussions also focused on additional generation capacity for the region, and better coordination of commercial electricity use.

Conservation measures
But even as the Government moves to boost generation capacity and stabilise power in light of the growing power demand, it has rolled out a series of conservation interventions ahead of the hottest months.
Only recently, the Guyana Hydrometeorological Service advised the public to prepare for strengthened El Niño conditions from August through October 2026, that will bring hotter-than-normal temperatures, prolonged dry spells, and up to 80 hot spell days instead of the usual 30.
To this end, the Cabinet has taken a number of decisions to enhance conservation efforts, especially at the various Government Ministries and state agencies, where enforcement steps would be taken to ensure unused power is shut off outside of office hours.
Similarly, households and businesses are also being asked to conserve power during this high demand period; turning off lights, appliances, and equipment that are not in use.
Additionally, community sport grounds across the country will be monitored to ensure that floodlights are off when activities are not being held.
“So, we’re asking the general public to just be aware that we have a hot season [and] the grid is taxed at this point – it’s literally at the highest on record. And so, we’re asking the general public to look into conservancy initiatives. Anything they can do in the households and the businesses to reduce their own bill and by reducing their own bill, they will reduce the demand on the grid,” Minister Indar posited.

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The renewed regional focus on Mathematics performances presents an important opportunity for Caribbean education systems to reassess how Mathematics is taught, assessed, and understood. The challenge confronting several Caribbean territories at its core is the need to ensure that students acquire the mathematical understanding, reasoning, and problem-solving skills required to apply knowledge beyond the classroom.
Discussions at the 52nd Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) on Education, hosted by Guyana from August 12–13, are therefore timely. Education Ministers and regional education stakeholders, including the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), have placed Mathematics improvement back at the centre of the regional education agenda.
The recognition that several Caribbean countries are experiencing similar difficulties is significant. Rather than treating Mathematics performance as an isolated national concern, the regional approach creates space for Governments and education agencies to share experiences, examine successful interventions and develop strategies suited to Caribbean classrooms.
Education Minister Sonia Parag has appropriately highlighted the importance of moving beyond an examination-driven approach. Preparing students to pass an examination is necessary, but it cannot be the ultimate objective of Mathematics education. A student who can reproduce a formula for an examination but cannot understand when or how to apply that formula has not acquired the full value of the subject.
Mathematics should instead be presented as a tool for reasoning, decision-making and problem-solving. Students should be able to recognise mathematical concepts in practical situations, explain their reasoning, make connections between different areas of Mathematics and apply their knowledge to unfamiliar problems. Such abilities are increasingly important in a modern economy that depends on technology, science, engineering, finance and data-driven decision-making.
The regional conversation must therefore extend beyond the question of how to raise examination grades. Higher grades are important indicators, but sustainable improvement requires stronger learning outcomes. That means examining teaching methods, curriculum delivery, teacher support, classroom resources, assessment practices, and the extent to which students are mastering concepts at each stage of their education.
The emphasis on foundational learning is particularly encouraging. Weaknesses in literacy and numeracy at the primary level can become increasingly difficult to address as students progress through the education system. Early identification of learning gaps allows targeted interventions before those gaps become entrenched.
Guyana’s introduction of literacy assessments at Grades Two and Four, along with plans to introduce a numeracy assessment between 2026 and 2027, represents a constructive step in that direction. Effective assessment should not merely classify students according to performance. Its greater value lies in identifying precisely where students are struggling, and providing teachers and schools with information that can guide appropriate interventions.
Numeracy assessments, if properly implemented, can help establish a clearer picture of students’ strengths and weaknesses at an early stage. The resulting information can support targeted teaching, additional assistance for students requiring intervention and more informed decisions at the school and policy levels.
At the same time, assessment must be accompanied by adequate support. Identifying a learning gap without providing the resources, teacher training and instructional strategies required to address it will have limited impact. Mathematics improvement therefore requires a comprehensive approach rather than a single intervention.
The regional dimension of the discussion should also be strengthened as Caribbean countries share many educational challenges, including relatively small education systems, common examination structures and similar pressures on teachers and students. Regional cooperation can reduce duplication, encourage the sharing of successful practices and facilitate the development of approaches that reflect Caribbean realities.
The involvement of CXC in these discussions is particularly relevant as examination bodies, Ministries of Education, teacher-training institutions, and schools must work in greater alignment so that assessment reinforces meaningful learning rather than encouraging narrow preparation for examinations.
Improvements in Mathematics cannot be achieved through short-term initiatives alone. Strong foundations must be established early and reinforced consistently throughout primary and secondary education. Teachers must be equipped to explain concepts in ways that accommodate different learning needs, while students must be given opportunities to practise reasoning and application rather than memorisation alone.
The current regional focus provides a valuable opening to make Mathematics education more purposeful. Success should ultimately be measured by how confidently they can use Mathematics when confronted with real-world problems.

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Just over a year after the new Guyana Fire Service (GFS) Headquarters on Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown, was commissioned, the Government is undertaking several repairs to address defects identified in the building. On January 8, 2025, the new GFS Headquarters on Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown, was commissioned. The building was constructed at a cost of $614.5 million by Mohamed’s Enterprise – a company now sanctioned by the United States (US) Government. The company’s principals, US sanctioned and indicted, Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, are facing extradition to the US to face charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering over alleged gold smuggling and tax evasion. In a video posted to the Fire Service’s Facebook page on Thursday, Fire Chief Gregory Wickham disclosed that since occupying the building, staff have encountered several issues. “The specific issue I wish to make it abundantly clear [is] that from the moment we began occupying this structure, our headquarters, we have encountered several deficiencies and several issues that, over time, we had to be fixing in order to ensure that our staff have a good working environment,” Wickham said. According to him, the issues included a leaking roof, cracks in the walls and glass on the building, as amongst a vast majority of other issues.

“Such issues are for example, leaking roof, cracking of the walls, cracking of the glass on the surface of the building, poor issues and several moments we had to be looking at the fixtures in our lavatory washroom area, the plumbing work, ever so often we had to be effecting repairs over the years. At this point I wish to make it very clear that this building was constructed by Mohammed Enterprise,” Wickham said. In light of these issues, Wickham noted that the GFS, along with the Home Affairs Minister, decided to retender for the necessary works. The contract was awarded to Modern Engineering Supplies and Services at a cost of $7.2 million.
“These matters have been addressed in a holistic manner to the fact that after these defects were absorbed over a period of time, the Guyana Fire Service Administration and the Ministry of Home Affairs retendered for these works to be done. That contract was won by a contractor and as of the 6th of August 2026, that contractor has begun work, not fixing but changing those facilities that we had in the washroom areas. Like I said, that is a work in progress,” Wickham said. He also reiterated that the GFS has made significant strides in ensuring that its staff are equipped, ready and fit to respond to emergencies. He noted that firefighters are now being equipped with personal protective equipment, including breathing apparatus sets that allow them to work in environments that would not normally support life or breathing. He said the Fire Service takes pride in the health and welfare of its staff and remains committed to ensuring that firefighters operate in a good working environment. Wickham urged members of the public to have confidence that issues raised by firefighters are being attended to and acted upon by the relevant authorities.

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Alexander Leung and Alex Newton will represent Guyana at the Caribbean Cycling Union Caribbean Junior Road Cycling Championships in Belize on August 22 and 23.
Leung, who rides for Continental Cycling Club, and Newton of KFC Evolution will compete in the junior men’s individual time trial and road race.
The individual time trial will be contested over 20 kilometres (km) along Trial Boom Road on August 22, while the junior men’s road race will cover 93.6km on the Philip Goldson Highway the following day. The road race will comprise 12 laps.

Both cyclists will enter the championships after completing a two-week training programme at the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Cycling Centre Continental Development Satellite in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago.
Leung is in his final season at the junior level and has produced several strong performances recently. Newton has also shown good form and is regarded as a strong competitor when at his best.

National cycling coach Brentnol Carmichael will accompany the riders to Belize. Carmichael also recently completed a UCI Level Two Coaching Course, strengthening his technical knowledge ahead of the regional assignment.
The trip was confirmed after support from the Guyana Olympic Association and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport helped to meet the team’s expenses.
The championships will bring together the Caribbean’s leading junior cyclists for two days of competition.

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Dear Editor,
We have officially crossed the uncanny valley, and Guyana’s political landscape is dangerously exposed. As our nation navigates an unprecedented economic boom and heightened geopolitical visibility, the democratisation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has birthed a new era of frictionless fabrication.
Today, creating a hyper-realistic depiction of a Guyanese public official takes mere seconds. We are no longer dealing with crude Photoshop jobs; AI is now routinely weaponised to generate fabricated audio and video of public servants engaging in illicit, humiliating, or inflammatory acts, instantly broadcast across local Facebook pages and WhatsApp groups.
In the face of this epistemic crisis, legislative inertia in Georgetown is no longer an option. It is imperative that our national laws – specifically the Cybercrime Act of 2018 and our older, colonial-era defamation frameworks – be urgently re-examined and revised to hold individuals accountable when they misuse AI to sabotage public officials.
Historically, Guyanese law and the Constitution rightly protect free expression and political satire. However, generative AI breaks the traditional bounds of parody through sheer verisimilitude. In a society historically vulnerable to ethnic and political polarisation, a synthesised WhatsApp voice note of a minister uttering a racial slur or accepting a bribe does not provoke thought; it provokes unrest. Yet, perpetrators continually hide behind antiquated legal shields, claiming their deepfakes are mere “digital jokes”.
To understand the urgency of this statutory modernisation, we need only look at the global fallout of the past few months. In February 2026, France was rocked by the “Élysée Synthesis”, a scandal in which an AI-generated video depicted the French Prime Minister accepting a cash bribe. Before the video was debunked, markets dipped and riots erupted in Paris. In response, the French Parliament swiftly passed a Digital Integrity Law, which explicitly criminalises the unconsented, malicious biometric cloning of public figures.
Similarly, during South Korea’s April 2026 Parliamentary Elections, operatives utilised voice-cloning AI to release audio files of a prominent candidate using ethnic slurs. Rather than relying on sluggish civil defamation suits, Seoul updated its electoral laws to establish “algorithmic accountability”, holding individual uploaders directly liable for synthetic election interference.
By contrast, Guyana’s current legal framework is floundering in the face of this technology. Public figures are paralysed by traditional defamation standards that require proving actual malice and measurable damages. These standards were designed for print newspapers and traditional broadcasters, not a decentralised internet where anonymous prompt engineers can generate bespoke defamation at scale.
Updating our laws to hold AI abusers accountable is not an assault on our constitutional right to free speech; it is the preservation of a shared civic reality. Parliament must introduce specific legal categories for “malicious synthetic defamation”, mandate digital provenance protocols, and ensure that those who maliciously engineer algorithmic falsehoods face strict liability.
Democracy in a rapidly developing, diverse nation requires a baseline of empirical truth to function. If we refuse to edit our laws to punish those who use AI to poison that well, we are not protecting free expression. We are simply subsidising deception.

Yours respectfully,
Philip Inshanally

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President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Winston Anderson, has rejected recent allegations of “panel fixing” at the regional court aimed at securing particular outcomes – something which he says strikes at the heart of judicial independence. On Friday, Justice Anderson issued a 9-page statement describing the claims made as “wholly untrue”.
The issue, he explained, stemmed from the composition of a CCJ interlocutory panel constituted to hear a procedural preliminary application in a matter involving Trinidad and Tobago – D’Almada v Trinidad and Tobago. Justice Anderson said a fellow CCJ judge was removed from that panel over dress code concerns and had nothing to do with the merits of the case or the anticipated outcome.
“At the time of the removal from the interlocutory panel and replacement by another colleague, I made it abundantly clear in writing that the Judge’s removal from that particular panel was based solely upon the issue of judicial attire and that it had nothing whatsoever to do with the Judge’s opinions, participation in judicial conferences or deliberations, or the expression of judicial views,” the CCJ President contended.

Pointing out that the composition of panels has always formed part of the administrative responsibilities of the court’s President, Justice Anderson contended that this long-established institutional practice aims at ensuring the orderly, efficient and impartial administration of justice, and was never exercised to influence the outcome of any proceedings.
“Among the allegations that have recently surfaced publicly, perhaps the most serious wound is the suggestion that panels of the Court have been constituted or altered in order to secure a particular outcome in a case. Such an allegation strikes at the very heart of judicial independence and public confidence in the administration of justice. It therefore warrants a clear and direct response. The allegation is wholly untrue,” he emphasised.
In fact, the CCJ President noted that during that panel hearing, all five Judges unanimously agreed that leave ought properly to have been granted to permit the substantive matter to proceed, and he directed the matter to Full Bench which includes the judge who had been removed.

Unfounded and untrue
Nervertheless, Justice Anderson went onto outline that CCJ judges, over the past decades, have consistently discharged their constitutional responsibilities independently, impartially and without regard to national origin, political consideration or personal interest. He said suggesting otherwise not only undermines an individual Judge, but confidence in Caribbean justice itself.
Contending that independence of the judiciary is the cornerstone upon the regional court was establish, Justice Anderson asserted that no CCJ Judge can or should be restrained from expressing their judicial views or deciding any matter based on their independent assessment of the law and the evidence.
“It is therefore with particular concern that I have noted suggestions in the public domain that I have sought to influence the outcome of cases before the Court. Those allegations are entirely unfounded and untrue,” he stated.
According to the CCJ President, judicial conferences in any appellate court usually involve spirited discussion, differing legal analyses and careful consideration of competing views before a final judgment is settled. This, he argued, is not evidence of disagreement but of Judges conscientiously performing their judicial functions.
“Throughout my judicial career, both as a Judge and now as President, I have regarded judicial independence as inviolable. It is a principle that I have consistently defended and will continue to defend,” Justice Anderson declared.
Moreover, he further strongly condemned in Friday’s statement the unauthorised disclosure and publication of confidential material relating to the internal deliberations and confidential correspondence of the CCJ – something which he says erodes trusts in the region court.
In fact, Heads of Judiciary from across the Caribbean earlier this week expressing grave concern over the disclosure of the confidential internal communications among the court’s Judges.
On Tuesday, the Heads of the Judiciary of Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, Guyana, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago stated they would not comment on the merits of statements or allegations attributed to individual Judges, nor on matters arising from the court’s internal deliberative or administrative processes but reaffirmed their confidence in the CCJ.
Further weighing in on the controversy, Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall also stressed that the CCJ is Guyana’s final court and, as such, must be respected.

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