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标签： Guyana

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  • Jamaica’s Prime Minister on State visit to Guyana

    Jamaica’s Prime Minister on State visit to Guyana

    On the morning of Thursday, June 25, 2026, Jamaica’s head of government Andrew Holness touched down at Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan International Airport, launching an official four-day state visit to the South American nation that had not been pre-announced to the public beyond a single social media post. Accompanying Holness on the trip is Jamaica’s Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith, making for a high-level bilateral delegation focused on advancing cross-country cooperation.

    Holness was formally received at the airport by his Guyanese counterpart, Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips, and Dr Frank Anthony, Guyana’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs. A photo released with the announcement captures a cordial greeting between Holness and Anthony, with Phillips present to witness the welcome ceremony.

    The Jamaican prime minister travels to Georgetown directly from neighboring Suriname, where he recently participated in a major regional conference focused on the oil and gas sector. This stop follows his engagement on energy industry issues, hinting at potential energy cooperation discussions during his time in Guyana, a country that has seen rapid growth from its own offshore oil discoveries in recent years.

    Notably, the only public advance confirmation of the visit came via a post on the Facebook page of Guyana’s Department of Public Information (DPI) on Thursday morning. Beyond that single announcement, the Guyanese government released no prior details about the visit’s agenda, scheduled meetings, or expected policy outcomes, leading to lingering uncertainty about the specific priorities of the diplomatic trip. As the visit gets underway, observers are waiting for further official updates on the bilateral talks and any agreements that may emerge from the four-day engagement.

  • Guyana ready to assist earthquake-devastated Venezuela

    Guyana ready to assist earthquake-devastated Venezuela

    On the afternoon of Wednesday, June 24, 2026, a rare pair of powerful back-to-back earthquakes hit central Venezuela, leaving a trail of destruction, dozens killed and hundreds injured that has shocked the region. Just hours after the disaster unfolded, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali issued an early public statement Thursday extending a hand of solidarity and assistance to neighboring Venezuela, despite long-running territorial tensions between the two nations.

    According to updated international reporting as of Thursday morning, the two quakes struck just 60 seconds apart, registering magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 respectively. The second temblor marks the strongest seismic event to hit Venezuela since 1900, a record that underscores the rare intensity of the disaster. The tremors hit at 6:04 p.m. local time, when most Venezuelans were at home celebrating a national public holiday, amplifying the risk to human life.

    As of the latest official count from the BBC, at least 32 people have been confirmed killed, more than 700 others have sustained injuries, and hundreds of structures across the affected region have been reduced to rubble. The hardest-hit areas are the country’s capital, Caracas, and the coastal La Guaira state, where rescue teams have been working through the night to sift through collapsed buildings, with reports of survivors still calling for help trapped beneath debris.

    In his statement posted to Facebook early Thursday, President Ali emphasized the bond of neighborhood between the two South American nations. “As neighbours, we are ready to offer assistance within our capacity. Our love, prayers, and thoughts are with the families of those affected and the people of Venezuela,” Ali said. He added that Guyanese citizens across the country are deeply saddened by the scale of destruction brought by the powerful quakes, and that the entire nation stands in solidarity with Venezuela in the wake of the tragedy.

    The offer of aid comes against a backdrop of longstanding territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela. Since Guyana discovered significant commercially viable oil reserves in the Essequibo region in 2015, Venezuela has ramped up diplomatic and aggressive actions to assert its long-held claim to the resource-rich territory. The International Court of Justice is expected to issue a landmark ruling on the legal validity of the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award, which established the current border between the two nations, either by the end of this year or early 2027.

  • Dominican Republic has six months to find oil in Berbice Block

    Dominican Republic has six months to find oil in Berbice Block

    Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat announced Wednesday that the Dominican Republic has been given a six-month deadline, requiring the Caribbean nation to launch on-the-ground oil and gas exploration operations in the country’s Berbice Block before the end of 2025. This timeline mandates that all preliminary site preparations and initial exploration activities get underway within the half-year window, closing a chapter of prolonged negotiations between the two nations.

    The Berbice Block, a 3,300-square-kilometer exploration area predominantly made up of onshore territory, was originally held by a joint venture between Canadian energy firm CGX Energy and ON Energy. The partnership relinquished all rights to the block in 2022 after failing to meet exploration commitments, opening the door for new stakeholders to acquire the exploration license. In a recent bilateral agreement struck last month between government representatives of Guyana and the Dominican Republic, the block was officially reassigned to the Dominican state, with Guyana retaining majority ownership of the asset.

    Under the terms of the finalized deal, the Dominican Republic’s state-owned national oil refining company Refineria Dominicana de Petróleo S.A. (Refidomsa) will hold a 10% non-operating stake in the exploration project. A key highlight of the agreement is that the Dominican side is not required to contribute any upfront capital investment toward exploration costs. If commercial volumes of oil or natural gas are discovered in the block, the Dominican Republic will secure long-term access to extracted hydrocarbons at preferential pricing, a provision designed to support the country’s energy security and deliver sustained economic benefits for its domestic market.

    Industry analysts note that the agreement marks a strategic expansion for the Dominican Republic’s national energy portfolio, while also allowing Guyana to leverage international partnership to advance under-explored acreage in its onshore basins, complementing the rapid growth of its offshore oil industry that has turned the South American nation into one of the hemisphere’s newest major oil producers.

  • Storm batters over 100 Essequibo Coast buildings; one injured

    Storm batters over 100 Essequibo Coast buildings; one injured

    On Wednesday, 24 June 2026, a severe windstorm with gusts exceeding 30 kilometres per hour swept across Guyana’s Essequibo Coast, leaving a trail of destruction across more than 100 public and private structures, local authorities confirmed. The extreme weather event left one person injured and forced four residents to temporarily leave their damaged homes in Henrietta village.

    Visual evidence shared on President Irfaan Ali’s official Facebook page shows multiple structures with their entire roofs torn away by the strong winds. One local resident described the sudden violence of the storm, recounting that wind combined with heavy rain lifted all the zinc roofing from his home and dragged it across the property, leaving all of his personal belongings destroyed with nothing salvageable.

    Retired Colonel Nazrul Hussain, head of Guyana’s Civil Defence Commission (CDC), told local outlet Demerara Waves Online News that the injured person was a teacher working at Riverstown Primary School, who was hurt when a section of the school’s wall collapsed under the wind. No other injuries were reported at the school, and the teacher has been placed under ongoing medical observation to monitor her recovery. “They are conducting all necessary precautionary tests to confirm she is out of danger and on track to recover,” Hussain stated.

    The four residents displaced by the storm, all elderly, have been moved to stay with relatives while repair works are carried out on their damaged properties. Regional administration for Pomeroon-Supenaam (Region Two) alongside Guyana’s central government have already launched full rehabilitation efforts, with the displaced residents’ homes prioritized for rapid repairs to allow them to return as soon as possible. Outside of the Essequibo Coast, damage across other parts of Guyana remained minimal, Hussain added.

    Among the damaged infrastructure was an under-construction regional stadium, which sustained mild to moderate damage from the gale-force winds. “Overall damage is not widespread across the region, but we have seen a partial structural collapse in Charity and measurable harm to the new stadium currently under development,” Hussain explained. A senior Region Two official briefing President Ali and Junior Public Works Minister Madanlall Ramraj confirmed that the storm caused severe damage to both government and privately owned properties along the entire Essequibo Coast, with 10 roofs destroyed in the village of Lima alone.

    In response to the disaster, President Ali announced that the Guyana Defence Force’s Engineering Corps has been deployed to support the CDC’s roof replacement and recovery operations. The storm also knocked out power across the entire Essequibo Coast, but utility crews from Guyana Power and Light quickly restored service after clearing fallen utility poles, downed power lines and wind-torn mangled zinc roofing that had tangled electrical infrastructure.

  • BREAKING: Cuban woman’s body found, policeman arrested for murder

    BREAKING: Cuban woman’s body found, policeman arrested for murder

    Authorities in Guyana have confirmed that the remains of 26-year-old Dailen Paneque Gómez, a Cuban national who vanished last week, have been discovered in a bushy thicket in a village along Guyana’s East Coast Demerara. A serving police officer, who was reportedly in a romantic relationship with the victim, has been taken into custody in connection with her death, law enforcement officials confirmed Wednesday.

    Deputy Police Commissioner Wendell Blanhum, who heads the Guyana Police Force’s Criminal Investigations Department, told reporters the arrested officer led investigators directly to the site where he allegedly disposed of Paneque Gómez’s body after killing her. Investigations have officially been reclassified as a murder probe following the recovery of the remains.

    “There were key developments in this case over the past 24 hours. The investigation is now being treated as a murder. A serving Police Constable has been arrested and placed in custody, and he is currently assisting detectives with their ongoing inquiries,” Blanhum stated in an interview with Demerara Waves Online News.

    Paneque Gómez, who worked at the Lusignan Health Centre, was last seen early on the morning of June 18, when she left her residence to head to her workplace. No contact with her has been recorded since that day, prompting an immediate missing person search after her disappearance was reported.

    Before the recovery of her body, members of Guyana’s local Cuban community had launched a public appeal for urgent action, reaching out to top national officials including President Irfaan Ali, Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond, and Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, urging all competent state agencies to deploy full resources to locate Paneque Gómez and investigate her unexplained disappearance.

    The case has drawn close public attention in Guyana, with investigators continuing to process evidence and interview witnesses as the probe moves forward.

  • High Court orders govt to pay outstanding monies for 2022 to IDPADA-G

    High Court orders govt to pay outstanding monies for 2022 to IDPADA-G

    On Wednesday, June 24, 2026, Guyana’s High Court delivered a mixed ruling that finds fault with the Guyana government’s sudden termination of public funding for the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDPADA-G), while dismissing most of the organization’s core legal claims.

    The case, which dates back to a 2023 legal challenge filed by IDPADA-G against the government’s funding cut, centered on the government’s 2022 decision to halt an annual subvention of roughly GY$18 million that the organization had received. When the government cut the funding, it restructured how it allocates resources for programming related to the UN International Decade for People of African Descent, choosing to disburse funds directly to individual community groups instead of routing them through IDPADA-G. The government’s move came amid claims that more than GYD$500 million in prior disbursements had failed to reach a large share of the African Guyanese community that the programs were intended to serve.

    In her judgment, then-Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire—who currently serves as Chancellor of the Judiciary—clarified that there was no formal binding contract between the government and IDPADA-G or its affiliated incorporated body for the provision of the subvention, nor was there sufficient evidence to uphold the organization’s claim of a legitimate legal expectation that funding would continue indefinitely. She also ruled that the applicant body that brought the case was not the proper legal entity to file the action, and dismissed all of the organization’s substantive claims for broader legal remedies.

    Even so, the justice underscored a clear procedural failure on the part of the government: regardless of the lack of a formal contract or guaranteed long-term funding, the government was required to give IDPADA-G advance formal notice before ending the subvention. As a remedy for this procedural error, George-Wiltshire ordered the government to release all outstanding funding owed to IDPADA-G for the final three months of 2022: October, November, and December.

    IDPADA-G CEO Olive Sampson told Demerara Waves Online News that the outstanding funds are urgently needed to settle existing organizational debts, confirming that the organization had relied on the GY$18 million annual subvention to support its operations prior to the funding cut. No order for legal costs was issued, given the court’s finding that the applicant was not the proper party to bring the suit and that the substantive claims lacked merit.

  • NIS vouchers can now be encashed at MMG, Bill Express, Moneygram

    NIS vouchers can now be encashed at MMG, Bill Express, Moneygram

    On Wednesday, June 24, 2026, Guyana’s National Insurance Scheme (NIS) launched a transformative new payment network for its pensioners, adding three private digital and retail payment channels to the existing traditional payout infrastructure. The launch ceremony, held at Georgetown’s Herdmanston Lodge in Queenstown, was timed to mark the NIS board’s 600th monthly meeting.

    Before this update, more than 39,000 of NIS’s total 60,000+ pensioners faced long waiting lines and limited access to their benefits, restricted to encashing paper pension vouchers at only a handful of public locations: 14 NIS regional offices, 63 national post offices, and a small network of commercial bank branches. Even as direct bank deposits have grown in popularity in recent years, a large share of pensioners still relied on this clunky, inconvenient voucher system.

    According to NIS Board Chairman Ramesh Persaud, the new framework allows pensioners to collect their monthly benefits through three widely available services: Mobile Money Guyana (MMG), Bill Express, and Massy’s MoneyGram. Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh outlined the dramatic expansion of access the update delivers: the new channels add a combined 4,779 payout locations across the country, broken down into 52 Bill Express outlets, 55 MoneyGram locations, and 4,672 MMG access points that reach deep into rural and underserved communities.

    “For too long, pensioners have been forced to waste hours waiting in line just to access the benefits they earned over a lifetime of work,” Dr. Singh said at the launch. “There is absolutely no reason why they should have to join a line and wait on their pension.”

    The expansion comes alongside steady growth in direct deposit adoption for NIS pensions. In 2020, only 11,932 pensioners received their benefits directly to personal bank accounts. That figure has now climbed to 24,415, according to government data. Dr. Singh has called on the remaining 39,052 pensioners who still use paper voucher books to switch to direct bank deposits, and urged NIS leadership to roll out an urgent, accessible mass public education campaign to help pensioners make the switch, using plain language that avoids bureaucratic jargon.

    In addition to the payment upgrades, Persaud shared that NIS has made major progress in cutting down on backlogs for pension claims. Monthly claim volumes have dropped to fewer than 3,000 submissions per month, with roughly 2,000 of those processed fully within a two-week window, a marked improvement from previous wait times.

    Looking ahead, the social security agency is developing a full suite of online service platforms that will allow Guyanese to complete interactions with NIS entirely remotely from their homes, with a launch targeted for either late 2026 or 2027. The new digital infrastructure is part of a broader push to modernize Guyana’s social security system and improve service delivery for the country’s growing retiree population.

  • Collision protection installed at new Demerara River bridge

    Collision protection installed at new Demerara River bridge

    Guyana’s Ministry of Public Works announced Wednesday, June 24, 2026 that a purpose-built collision protection system for the Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge has been successfully completed and put in place, marking the finalization of a key permanent safety upgrade for the critical national infrastructure.

    According to official statements from the ministry, the installation project was wrapped up on June 18, 2026, delivered by the CRCCI-CRCCCL-CRBG Joint Venture, the contracted firm responsible for the works. The specialized system has been fitted around the main tower pile caps that sit beneath the water surface of the Demerara River, addressing a core safety risk for the river-crossing structure.

    The core function of the new system is to shield the bridge’s most vital substructural components from accidental damage caused by wayward vessel collisions. Engineering design allows the system to absorb and dissipate the kinetic force of a collision before that force can reach the main tower pile caps and other key supporting structures, preventing severe structural damage that could threaten the bridge’s integrity and disrupt navigation.

    As a key active shipping corridor in Guyana, the Demerara River has seen consistent vessel traffic since the bridge opened to traffic. Official data shows that 4,323 vessels have already passed safely under the bridge span, underscoring the ongoing demand for reliable navigation access and the urgent need for enhanced protection for the crossing.

    Ministry officials emphasized that the collision protection system is an integrated part of the bridge’s permanent safety and protection framework. Beyond safeguarding the structure itself, the upgrade will boost the overall resilience of the crossing, create safer operating conditions for marine traffic transiting near the bridge’s main span, and lay a solid foundation for the stable long-term operation of this major national infrastructure asset.

  • ‘Make public transport sexy’ with scheduling, revised bus fares says Caribbean expert

    ‘Make public transport sexy’ with scheduling, revised bus fares says Caribbean expert

    Road congestion has emerged as a growing economic and social headache across Caribbean nations, and industry experts gathered at a recent Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) forum are calling for a fundamental reimagining of the region’s public transportation system to reverse the trend.

    Hosted under the CDB’s Edge X initiative themed *Unlocked – Stuck in Traffic: What Congestion Is Costing the Caribbean*, the event brought together leading regional infrastructure specialists to outline actionable changes for public transit. Leading the call for a radical shift is Dr Rae Julien Furlonge, managing director of regional transportation consultancy LF System, who argued that public transit must be made appealing to both riders and service providers to draw commuters off overcrowded private roads.

    “Until you make public transport sexy, it is not going to draw you,” Furlonge told attendees, emphasizing that a reliable scheduled service is the non-negotiable foundation of an attractive transit network. He explained that without guaranteed, fair compensation for bus drivers, operators have no incentive to adhere to fixed timetables, instead lingering at stops to fill buses to full capacity before departing – a practice that creates long, unpredictable wait times and pushes commuters to use private vehicles. “The first thing you have to get is that public transport could never become attractive without scheduling, and you can never get scheduling unless the drivers get a good fare,” he said.

    Furlonge pushed back against the long-held regional strategy of keeping bus fares artificially low, noting that this approach is unsustainable. He added that transit planning must account for fluctuating peak and off-peak commuter volumes, integrating these dynamics into operational policy and long-term development. He also discouraged the common practice of negotiating fares directly between operators and government regulators, stressing that public transit requires structured, centralized administration rather than ad-hoc fare agreements. To further improve service, Furlonge noted that fleets should be tailored to the specific needs of the communities they serve, taking into account diverse road users from daily commuters to school children, pointing to existing service gaps in Saint Lucia as an example of what happens when fleet planning ignores local needs.

    echoing Furlonge’s call for reform, William Ashby, acting division chief of CDB’s Economic Infrastructure Division in the Projects Department, noted that minibuses form the backbone of most Caribbean public transit systems, and greater targeted regulation is needed to align private operator interests with the public good. Ashby emphasized that any new regulatory framework must include fair compensation structures for small-scale bus operators, who make up the majority of the region’s transit workforce.

    “They need to be able to earn a reasonable income for the service they provide,” Ashby said. “But by enhancing regulation, looking at tariff structures that provide appropriate return for those business owners, we can, in turn, get them to recognise the changes that they also need to bring to the system to provide for a more efficient, reliable, affordable public service.” The forum’s recommendations come as Caribbean governments increasingly grapple with growing private vehicle ownership, worsening congestion, and economic losses from delayed travel and increased carbon emissions, making public transit reform a top infrastructure priority across the region.

  • Ali 2022 gifts to Biden sent to US archives

    Ali 2022 gifts to Biden sent to US archives

    A set of diplomatic gifts presented by Guyanese President Irfaan Ali to former U.S. President Joe Biden years ago have officially been transferred to the United States’ National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), according to a recent public filing published in the U.S. State Department’s Federal Register.

    The disclosure details three separate items gifted during 2022, all of which exceed the annual minimum value threshold for mandatory public reporting and archival transfer that is set each calendar year by U.S. federal guidelines. For 2022, that reporting threshold stood at $415, a mark all three gifts easily surpassed. The first item, a landscape painting titled “At Parika Stelling (Guyana)”, was received by the White House on March 2, 2022, and carries an estimated assessed value of $650. Five months later, on August 8, 2022, Ali gifted a second set of items: a gold brooch and a lapel pin printed with the Guyana national flag, which are together valued at approximately $736.

    In its official filing, the State Department noted that the gifts were accepted under the rationale that declining the presents would have caused unnecessary diplomatic embarrassment for both the Guyanese donor and the U.S. government. Per longstanding U.S. federal law, the president, cabinet members, and other senior federal officials are required to publicly disclose all gifts received from foreign sources that exceed the established annual value threshold.

    NARA, the independent federal agency tasked with preserving government records and historical artifacts, holds official responsibility for managing and archiving all gifts — both foreign and domestic — given to sitting U.S. presidents, and the three items have now been formally transferred into the agency’s permanent collection. The public disclosure marks a routine compliance with federal transparency rules governing diplomatic gifts to senior U.S. leaders.