Blog

– initiative is more than roads & infrastructure – Pres Ali

By Andrew Carmichael

Bush Lot, Bath Settlement, and Hopetown along the West Coast of Berbice (WCB) in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), are being positioned for sweeping physical and economic transformation under the Government’s Model Village Initiative.
These plans encompass improved roads and drainage, safer pedestrian spaces, upgraded bridges and utilities, recreational facilities, landscaping and other infrastructure intended to change both the appearance of the communities and the quality of life of residents.
But President Dr Irfaan Ali says the ambition goes considerably further than rebuilding physical infrastructure. Addressing residents during consultations on the initiative, Ali said the Government wants communities across the country to experience the level of transformation increasingly visible in the capital and other major development areas.
He described the initiative as part of a broader journey towards building “stronger communities, more resilient and sustainable communities”, while giving citizens, regardless of where they live, an opportunity to benefit from the country’s transformation.

The plans being developed for Bush Lot, Bath Settlement and Hopetown form part of the Government’s wider Model Village Initiative, under which communities are being examined not merely in terms of their immediate infrastructure deficiencies but as places where people should be able to live, work, raise families and pursue new economic opportunities.

More than roads and drains
The president said creating a modern village requires consideration of its economy and how that community can be integrated into emerging economic opportunities. “We have to look at not only the creation of the modern village but also how the modern village is integrated into modern economies and modern opportunities,” he said.
Pointing to agricultural production in Region Five, the President raised the possibility of moving beyond the sale of primary produce into processing and other value-added activities.
He spoke, for example, about shallot and pepper production and the potential to dehydrate seasonings, package them for export and extend their shelf life – creating greater value from what farmers already produce. Shallot production is particularly associated with the Bath Settlement area.
Ali also pointed to opportunities that could become available through the proposed Guyana Development Bank, saying officials would return to communities to discuss how financing could be leveraged for community-orientated projects and enterprises.
“Those are the things that a modern village speaks to indirectly,” he said. “Because a modern village and what we want to achieve are villages that are sustainable, resilient, villages that are empowering, villages that you want to live in, villages in which there is peace, harmony and dignity.”
That economic integration, the President suggested, must be accompanied by better planning within communities.

A different look and feel
The physical plans presented to residents provide a glimpse of what that transformation could mean on the ground.
Across the initiative, attention is being placed on road rehabilitation, concrete drainage, bridges, pedestrian access, street lighting, utility infrastructure, road safety, landscaping, recreational and green spaces and beautification.
Conceptual designs presented during the consultations depict an environment markedly different from the traditional village streetscape, landscaped parapets, covered concrete drains, defined pedestrian areas, improved road shoulders, organised parking where space permits, trees and flowering plants, modern lighting and upgraded bridges.
The plans also take account of utility infrastructure, with Guyana Power and Light and the Guyana Water Incorporated expected to coordinate necessary works before major construction begins, avoiding situations in which newly completed infrastructure has to be broken to facilitate utility works.
Ali said changing communities and changing lifestyles also demand different public infrastructure.
People are building larger homes and consuming more electricity, and communities themselves are expanding, he observed, making facilities such as properly positioned utility poles and fire hydrants increasingly important.

Bath Settlement
At Bath Settlement, the proposed transformation covers a substantial community footprint, with plans addressing the road and drainage networks alongside public safety, recreational and other community infrastructure.
The project area is approximately 446 acres and encompasses 54 streets, with some 21.425 kilometres (km) of roads and approximately 42.85km of drains identified within the area.
Plans presented for the community include 55 fire hydrants, bridge and drainage interventions, public and recreational spaces, beautification and other supporting infrastructure.
The designs envision not only rehabilitated streets but also an integrated community environment in which drainage, pedestrian movement, public spaces and landscaping are developed together.
The proposed works are also expected to be sequenced, with utility coordination and preparatory works preceding drainage and access works, pedestrian infrastructure, road improvements and greening.
For an agricultural community such as Bath Settlement, the physical transformation is intended to sit alongside the economic opportunities Ali outlined, including moving local agricultural production further along the value chain.

Bush Lot mapped for extensive works
At Bush Lot, Education Minister Sonia Parag walked residents through detailed plans showing how individual streets and public spaces could change.
The community covers approximately 391 acres and has 49 roads, with a combined length of 16,205 metres (m). More than 300 households are located there.
The proposed interventions include six roads requiring work and approximately 14,854m of concrete drain construction.
Plans also provide for some 1960m of walkways and 3407m of hard shoulders, along with five culverts, assessment and intervention involving 100 utility poles, the planting of 590 trees, 12 fire hydrants and upgrades involving 11 bridges.
Also proposed are community signs, garbage bins and hundreds of streetlights. Parag said the infrastructure is intended to address practical, everyday concerns for residents.
The concept designs show how different types of streets could be treated according to the space available.

Hopetown part of transformation
Hopetown, too, forms an integral part of the Region Five Model Village programme, with its development being approached within the same broader framework of improved infrastructure, safer and more functional public spaces and stronger community development.
The community is not being treated as an appendage to the works at Bath Settlement or Bush Lot but as one of the three Region Five villages around which the initiative’s broader objectives are being pursued.
The final shape of the interventions will also be influenced by the consultation process, through which residents are being asked to identify the needs and priorities particular to their own communities.
Ali stressed that the plans should not simply be handed down to residents.
“That is why we want the community, this consultation; we want the community to be involved in the decision-making,” he said.
Residents may identify different priorities, he noted, including land that could potentially be developed for agro-processing or other community economic ventures. Those ideas, he said, can be integrated into individual community development plans.

The post Model Village Initiative-Bush Lot, Bath Settlement & Hopetown to undergo infrastructure & economic transformation  appeared first on Guyana Times.

Dear Editor,
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Region 10, strongly condemns the disruptive protest staged by the Opposition parties during Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo’s Government Outreach in Linden on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.
The outreach was organised to provide residents of Region 10 with direct access to Government Ministers, agencies, and public officials to address concerns relating to housing, agriculture, employment, land ownership, health care, education, social services, business development, and other matters affecting their daily lives.
Hundreds of residents took advantage of the opportunity to engage directly with cabinet Ministers, members of Parliament, senior Government officials, and regional officers to seek solutions to issues that may have been affecting them. It must be noted that the outreach proceeded successfully despite the demonstration.
Rather than allowing our citizens to benefit from this important engagement, Opposition political leaders organised a protest at the Watooka Guest House Complex, where the outreach was held, with an apparent effort to distract the Government’s efforts to deliver services and engage directly with the people, but they failed miserably. While every citizen has a constitutional right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression, those rights must be exercised peacefully and without intimidating members of the public or disrupting the legitimate activities of others.
The PPP/C believes that Linden residents deserve constructive leadership focused on development, job creation, improved infrastructure, better housing opportunities, and expanded public services, not political confrontation and unnecessary disruption.
The Vice President Dr Jagdeo reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to Region 10 by outlining measures to address the housing backlog, regularise eligible lands, and continue investments in community development, massive expansion in agriculture, and expanded business opportunities. These initiatives demonstrate the Government’s determination to ensure that Region 10 receives its fair share of national development.
The PPP/C Region 10 welcomes the overwhelming participation of residents who chose dialogue over division. Their presence demonstrated that the people of Linden are prepared to engage constructively with the Government to improve their communities.
We call on all political stakeholders to respect democratic principles by allowing Government outreach programmes to proceed without interference while respecting the right of citizens to express their views peacefully and within the bounds of the law.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic remains committed to working with every community across Region 10 and Guyana as a whole, regardless of political affiliation. Our focus remains on delivering better roads, expanded housing opportunities, improved health care, quality education, employment creation, and sustainable economic growth for every resident.
Together, we will continue building a stronger, more prosperous, and united Region 10. We commend the residents who participated respectfully in the outreach, and thanks to the public servants, Government agencies, and all my colleagues who ensured that the programme proceeded safely and effectively.

Thank you,
Andrew Forsythe

The post PPP/C Region 10 condemns disruptive protest appeared first on Guyana Times.

Guyana is developing at an impressive rate. The economy is growing rapidly, and significant investments are being made in critical sectors such as education, infrastructure, health, and sanitation.
One area that stands to benefit from this trend is the improvement of communities across Guyana, particularly under the Government’s Model Village Initiative.
This is a positive development because it comes at a time when Guyana has the chance to reimagine what modern communities should look like going forward. Too often in the past, development was equated with building roads, drains, and structures. The Model Village concept takes a more expansive approach that gives attention to making communities safer, cleaner, better organised, more economically active, and more sustainable.
The outreach carried so far shows that the Government is not building from a distance; it is building alongside the grandmothers, the farmers, the small business owners, and the young parents who know their communities best. This is what true partnership between a Government and its people looks like. so far is instructive in this regard, citizens are learning about plans to upgrade their communities, and have the opportunity to provide input on projects before the completion date.
This is a good approach, and something that should continue as the plan rolls out to additional villages. For one, every community has its own unique circumstances. The needs of an urban village on the East Coast will differ from those on the West Coast, or even villages in rural, riverine, or hinterland areas.
The beauty of this concept is that it should raise the bar for services while taking into account the history, culture, and identity of each community.
How does this happen? Officials can work with residents to identify areas for improvement. Simple things like drainage, upgraded recreation areas for children and families, planting more trees, painting facilities, and installing better security and fire-safety measures can significantly enhance the daily lives of community members.
None of these things are glamorous on their own. But when bundled together, they can have a transformational effect.
Plans to increase economic activity are welcome. Many of Guyana’s villages are home to vendors, bricklayers, carpenters, painters, farmers, transportation services, and other small business owners who provide much-needed services to their communities.
Designating areas for vending, providing commercial spaces for businesses, allocating space for industrial activities such as parking trucks, and creating spaces for entertainment can allow vendors to thrive while avoiding unnecessary conflict between vendors and residents.
Citizen buy-in is another benefit of this project. Too often, Governments can build schools, hospitals, roads, and facilities, only for them to be vandalised or neglected by the very citizens who stand to benefit from them.
Community clean-up campaigns, respect for public property, and taking pride in one’s home are all ways that residents can help their Government’s efforts. The model village concept should seek to empower residents to take greater ownership of their spaces.
Of course, no two Guyanese villages should look the same. Maintaining the unique character of each community is important and should be celebrated. However, baseline standards can and should be set when it comes to essential services.
Residents of a small village far away from Georgetown should expect their environment to be as clean as someone living in a more developed urban area. They should be able to enjoy recreational spaces, use playgrounds without worrying about medication, and benefit from strong drainage and road networks.
They should feel safe walking along the streets at night just as much as anyone else in Guyana. The Model Village Initiative has the opportunity to bring this type of equilibrium to communities across Guyana.
Commendation is due to the Government for taking this holistic approach to community development. Now it is time to ensure that the proper consultations are held with residents, plans are rolled out transparently and quickly, and maintained properly once completed. Most of all, every community should have an equal opportunity to benefit from this noble endeavour.
Guyana is developing for tomorrow. Let’s not forget to build stronger villages today.

Yours respectfully,
Philip Inshanally

The post A New Dawn for Our Villages: The Model Village Initiative Brings Hope to Every Community appeared first on Guyana Times.

…Burnham as GOAT

Apart from his pugilistic skills, Muhammed Ali had a way with words that made his mouth more than match his fists!! But it was his wife in the nineties who introduced a word that’s now entered the English language – GOAT or G.O.A.T. – when she used it to describe her husband as the “Greatest Of All Time”!!! It has caught on and transcended its early sports affiliations. The irony is the lower-case version – goat – has always been the complete opposite!!
Well, down here in Ole Mudland, as we continue grappling with our MV Barima tragedy and the greatly diminished PNC leader Aubrey Norton struggling to retain some relevance – he just announced that among Guyanese leaders, Burnham was the GOAT!! But let’s be honest – based on his history, wasn’t he more like the lower-case version – a goat?? Let’s count the ways to justify our evaluation! We can do worse than start with the notable tragedy of mass deaths in Burnham’s days – compared to the Barima. Quick now – didn’t NINE HINDRED AND EIGHTEEN people die up in the Northwest where the Barima was headed?? It has tagged our country ever since as a living hell!!
Now THAT tragedy is normally dismissed as being an American one since the dead were all from Stateside. But weren’t they human beings trying to carve out a piece of our Mudland to make it habitable and productive?? And more to the point, weren’t they supportive of Burnham and the PNC – not only at the national level, but even providing sexual succour to some big ones in the PNC?? And after their mass death, had their gold and jewellery scooped up by a PNC big one who’s still around??
But what was really incredible was Norton describing Burnham as a man of “integrity”!! So a man who went on the CIA payroll – at US$5000 monthly according to the Committee 303 Declassified files – to trigger racial hostilities that linger with us today – has integrity??!! Or ordering the assassination of one of our nation’s best and brightest – Walter Rodney – as proved by a Commission of Inquiry attesting to his integrity??!!
Then, to add insult to injury, Norton boasted that Burnham ensured our nation was housed, clothed and fed during his regime?? Is this why the 1989 McIntyre Report pegged us as the second poorest country in the hemisphere – just above Haiti – from being on par with TT in 1964?? Then SURE education was free – free to wallow at the bottom as our educational system collapsed – while teachers survive by selling “sweetie” to students!!
You can fool some of the people some of the time – but never all of the people all of the time!!
Burnham the goat!!

…the western hemisphere
Last year, the Trump Administration launched its “National Security Strategy” – quickly dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine”!!  It sought to secure hemispheric dominance by asserting a hard-line US sphere of influence across the region. More explicitly, it also aims to shut out strategic competitors – primarily China, but also Russia and Iran – from controlling vital infrastructure, resources, or military positioning in the region!!
As an operational subcomponent, it then launched Joint Task Force-Southern Spear with 18 countries – including Guyana – to counter narco-trafficking and its train of criminal activities that’s destabilising our countries. Well, on Tuesday, Southern Spear was transitioned to Joint Task Force-Western Hemisphere, which is gonna build “on a legacy of excellence to secure the region and defeat all threats”!!!
It will be “a purpose-built force synchronising US military operations with allies and partners to counter threats, strengthen regional security, and respond rapidly to crises across the Western Hemisphere”!!
Yep… we have gotta move from snuffing out those boatloads of drugs heading north to cutting them off in their local lairs!!

…warped heritage
A boat without proper licences and safety certifications was hired by Sanction Man to take him to Moruca – and was turned back!!
What do they expect from a fella who cut his teeth on illegal smuggling? Paperwork??

The post Claiming… appeared first on Guyana Times.

Dear Editor,
We live in a time when information is the driving force behind shaping perceptions and perspectives; whether what is disseminated is true or not entirely depends on how the population can comprehend, and, rather, if they are able to comparatively understand political statements from fact, logic, truth, and reality.
It is without question that we have a large portion of this country that is less academically inclined to understand the narratives they support; that lack of understanding is being exploited by politicians, not for building a nation, but rather to score cheap political points. Arguments from Opposition politicians follow a trend whereby simply whining and pointing a finger at the Government is the only medium by which they show their existence – no solution, no alternative, nothing constructive to outshine the existing Government – just an obsession with exploiting anything to cast blame for political relevance in the interest of seeking power.
Today, the political atmosphere has shifted from acting in the interest of Guyanese to now telling them what to think, where facts are replaced with conspiracies, where information overload makes it difficult to understand the truth, and where political opponents try to erase history from exposing their hypocrisy.
Editor, in the eyes of the sensible, it is clear that the playbook of modern politics is for power and influence. The cost? Expanding the current division within our country for generations to come. Is this what politics has come to? What a shame!
Gone are the days of politics with integrity, morality, and a large degree of conscience, where personal differences and attacks were considered irrelevant when it came to national development, where political debates were structured around discussion – not inciting conspiracies. Where there was order, not a barrage of empty barrels desecrating Parliament with their “clown cart politics”.
Evidently, we have an Opposition of hurt souls, where one set seeks protection from prison, and the other set is vexatious because they believe they have been robbed of their “divine right” to rule. These are individuals devoid of reality who instead lock themselves in a bubble, pretending to forget their actions in the past, seemingly blind when it comes to the development happening in front of them, and somehow speak as if they have solutions to every problem, but their performances stop when the camera cuts off.
These are the politicians that prefer their support bases to remain uneducated and arrogant, so they can avoid being critical thinkers and instead parrot (not question) whatever narratives they’re told. The cheap political intentions are so shallow that their support base is essentially being told to avoid Government assistance just so that their political idols can use that as justification to claim persecution.
The APNU/AFC, when in Government, was probably the most hypocritical political establishment in the history of this country, because despite their outward presence of virtuous intent, behind the scenes, they are the primary “schemers” of the division that exists today.
In 2014, they killed the hydro project for reasons they themselves cannot logically prove; in 2026, they are critical of the Government for hiring power ships to support the current electrical demand. Think for a minute – had the project been approved in Parliament 10 years ago, then the country would not be in need of hiring power ships.
Twelve-year-old Marlon Jupiter died in March 2026 because he was unable to secure the funds necessary to fight his cancer. The APNU was critical of the Government for not being able to secure the infrastructure to provide these services, but in June 2015, it was the same APNU/AFC that killed the speciality hospital project. Had this not been the case, then that innocent child would have gotten access to treatment right in his own country.
In fact, the same APNU/AFC Administration that promised “a good life for all” couldn’t even build one hospital! Yet somehow managed to spend $2 billion a year on dietaries (food to eat).
The APNU/AFC signed the oil deal and kept it secret for two years until public pressure mounted on them to release the details of the contract.
We saw what they agreed to; even the global witness report showed how much more Guyana could have gotten had they negotiated better. Yet they exist in Parliament today like «brain-fogged barnacles», critical of the Government over the oil industry, when they were the ones who signed the deal leading to this same outcome, down to the NRF they passed while squatting in Government, essentially giving the bank card of that fund to the then-finance Minister with zero accountability in Parliament on deposits and withdrawals.
When that was changed, they turned it into a political embarrassment in Parliament, trying to physically bully their way to stop the vote, presenting an image of fighting for the right thing when in reality they wanted to avoid having to abide by the law governing the act and its several redundancies geared towards transparency, should they return to power.
The CoI they launched to conduct investigations into GuySuCo recommended not closing these estates, yet the APNU/AFC did close them, displacing 7000 Guyanese with no alternative for them to survive economically, all this despite their political campaigns prior to assuming office that “we will protect sugar.” Today, they pretend to forget about it.
The WIN political party is no different; their mere existence today serves one purpose: to protect Azruddin’s bank account. He knows that if the US extradition is successful, all that he earned through alleged illegal means will be flushed down the drain. Don’t believe me? Take Roger Khan as a prime example. Azruddin was unknown before the investigation into his business dealings. They lived lavishly while many complained about the cost of living.
Did they care then? What changed? The sanctions did. As ludicrous as it might sound, I am almost certain that none of his supporters ever asked themselves that question! His entrance into politics is a game he knows he is losing. His primary objective for immunity was miserably dystopian; his political aspirations for bringing fresh, radical shifts in the existing spectrum are evidently hollow, as he engages in the same playbook as the hypocrites seeking power over the purse on the same side of the house.
WIN knows their support base will do and say anything for money, so they are exploiting this to advance and curate his image as a modern-day Robin Hood. But the reality is he is fearful of the committal proceedings ahead.
Why? Because everything he spent the last year denying will be made public: wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and gold smuggling, all of which he has denied, will be revealed through these proceedings for the whole world to see. Guyanese assume his case that went to the CCJ was to fight off the extradition, but it was a delaying tactic to further curate his image. That’s why you saw him videoing dogs and cows all over the place these past few months. They knew they would lose, but time was more important.
Now that he has a whole month before the proceedings continue – courtesy of our legal system – it is no doubt that we can expect more bizarre and seemingly desperate attempts to portray himself as a “messiah” for the people, possibly even finding another issue to use in the courts to derail and delay.
While the Government pushes ahead, they are not perfect; they have a lot of internal cracks that need to be fixed. But the facts remain: we can see and feel the visible changes nationally, all of this operating outside the typical noise of opposing politicians who are segregated from reality. Therefore, the question must be asked: what is more important, national development for the benefit of all or fighting behind certain politicians who seek only for themselves?

Kind regards,
Dev Harry

The post We have an Opposition of hurt souls appeared first on Guyana Times.

A brawl among a group of men along Water Street, Georgetown, on Friday has left two men dead and another being taken into custody. The deceased have been identified as 23-year-old Junior Browne, a vendor of Corentyne, Berbice, and 36-year-old Tyrone Captain of Eversham Village, Corentyne, Berbice. Based on reports received, the incident occurred at about 09:30h in the vicinity of Bounty Supermarket on Water Street. Police have confirmed that Browne sustained one stab wound to his neck. In an attempt to escape his attacker, he ran a short distance but collapsed and died.

On the other hand, Captain, who was stabbed to his neck and chest, died while receiving treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. Following the incident, a 29-year-old salesman of Industry, East Coast Demerara, was taken into custody.
A knife suspected to be the murder weapon was reportedly recovered at the scene. Investigations into the fatal incident are underway.

The post 2 Corentyne men stabbed to death during Water Street brawl appeared first on Guyana Times.