标签： Guyana

On Friday, April 10, 2026, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali held a high-stakes one-day bilateral meeting with Trinidad and Tobago’s newly installed Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in Port-of-Spain, with the two leaders aligning on a sweeping set of agreements to deepen economic integration, resolve long-standing cross-border bottlenecks, and unlock untapped collaborative opportunities between the two Caribbean nations.

In an official joint statement released after the talks, both governments confirmed two core outcomes of the summit: the establishment of a cross-border working group with representation from both the public and private sectors of both countries, and a commitment for Persad-Bissessar to undertake a reciprocal official visit to Guyana, with details of the visit’s timing still being finalized.

The working group’s core mandate is to identify and eliminate trade barriers, streamline bureaucratic hurdles, and boost competitiveness between the two countries, while exploring and advancing joint development opportunities across a wide range of priority sectors. During the closed-door negotiations, the two leaders mapped out a shared development, trade and economic agenda designed to bring closer alignment of the two nations’ economies and improve people-to-people connectivity. Key areas of discussion included strengthening regional food security and attracting cross-border investment in the sector, advancing cross-grid energy integration, facilitating technology sharing, supporting human capital development initiatives, and boosting collaborative security efforts.

President Ali opened the meeting by formally thanking Persad-Bissessar and the Trinidad and Tobago government for its unwavering public support for Guyana’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty, a gesture of alignment that he noted carries deep meaning for the people of Guyana. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing close collaboration across all agreed priority areas to progressively deepen the bilateral partnership. The Guyanese delegation accompanying Ali to Port-of-Spain included senior cabinet officials: Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat, Public Utilities and Aviation Minister Deodat Indar, Public Service, Government Efficiency and Implementation Minister Zulfikar Ally, and Labour and Manpower Planning Minister Keoma Griffith, alongside a cohort of private sector representatives from Guyana. On the Trinidad and Tobago side, Persad-Bissessar was joined by her own senior leadership team, including Attorney General John Jeremie, Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister Sean Sobers, Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath, and Energy and Energy Industries Minister Roodal Moonilal.

Speaking at a business forum hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry & Commerce following the leaders’ meeting, President Ali pressed for urgent action to cut through bureaucratic red tape that he said is holding back the full potential of the bilateral partnership. In blunt remarks to the business audience, Ali argued that if both nations are committed to building collaborative cross-border consortiums and a unified regional economic front, leaders must prioritize resolving long-standing frictions. “If we care about partnership, if we care about building consortiums, if we care about building a joint economic front between Guyana & Trinidad and Tobago then we must care about fixing the problem and let’s get in that room, lock ourselves up for 72 hours and fix the damn problem,” Ali stated.

The Guyanese president also highlighted that partnership opportunities extend far beyond the energy sector, pointing to existing collaborative potential in agriculture: Guyana’s growing soya bean export sector and Trinidad and Tobago’s globally renowned cocoa production present immediate avenues for joint growth. He praised regional conglomerate ANSA McAL for its early and successful investment in Guyana, including the development of a new large-scale shopping mall, but noted that Trinidad and Tobago investors have so far missed out on major opportunities in Guyana’s booming gold mining sector, where no Trinidadian consortium has yet established a meaningful presence. Ali also called out unnecessary immigration bureaucracy in Trinidad and Tobago, noting that lengthy, cumbersome entry processes are holding back Caribbean Airlines from reaching its full operational potential in the region.

A brewing ownership dispute over a prime Georgetown waterfront property has erupted into open controversy, with Georgetown’s top municipal administrator publicly distancing herself from an unauthorised High Court lawsuit filed against the Guyanese government and a private security firm.

In a statement issued to Demerara Waves Online News on Friday, Town Clerk Candace Nelson clarified that court documents naming her as the applicant in the legal action against the Attorney General and RK Security do not carry her signature, nor do they reflect any formal decision by the Georgetown City Council. Nelson, who is currently on official leave, emphasized that the listing of her name on the filing is only a procedural legal convention that places council-related legal actions under the office of the Town Clerk, not an indication of her personal or official involvement.

Nelson detailed that when she was first approached about the potential lawsuit last Thursday, she immediately flagged concerns about the validity of the claim and pushed for formal procedural steps to be followed. She instructed Councillors Clayton Hinds and Lelon to consult with Mayor Alfred Mentore, submit an official memorandum, and circulate a round-robin poll among council members to authorize another official to sign the required court documents. To date, that signed round-robin has never been delivered to her office, she said.

“I never signed that document. I had nothing to do with it,” Nelson reiterated, noting she had already been formally recused from the matter after the council assigned another representative to handle related issues. The lawsuit, which was filed in the Town Clerk’s name, demands High Court orders and injunctions to force the government and RK Security to vacate the Water Street property that formerly housed the City Constabulary Training Complex, claims GY$5 million in damages, and alleges the defendants trespassed on land the council says it has owned since the 1800s.

Nelson also directly disputed a key claim laid out in the court filings: that the Georgetown Municipality passed a formal resolution at an extraordinary March 27, 2026 meeting authorizing the mayor to pursue legal action to protect the council’s claim to the training complex. According to Nelson, the extraordinary meeting was convened exclusively to address the central government’s takeover of several municipal roads, and no resolution related to the Water Street training complex was ever approved by the full council. While the mayor briefly raised the property issue during the session, no vote or formal decision to proceed with litigation was taken, she said.

The controversy has deepened with other council members also denying knowledge of the legal action. Don Singh, a People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) representative on the city council, told reporters none of the PPPC councillors were notified of the lawsuit or received the round-robin poll for approval. “As a councillor of Georgetown, I have no knowledge of this. No action was taken by the council to officially vote, that I am aware of, to proceed with legal proceedings,” Singh stated.

Attempts to reach acting Town Clerk Carlyn Joseph to ask whether she authorized or signed the court filing have been unsuccessful to date.

The legal action was launched after Mayor Mentore discovered members of the Guyana Police Force and representatives of RK Security on the property on March 27, with a new official sign posted on the site’s perimeter fence. The dispute has roots in competing claims of ownership: Local Government Minister Priya Manickchand has recently affirmed that the property is state-owned, with title dating back to the colonial era, while Mentore maintains the city council holds formal documentation proving its ownership.

A high-stakes legal dispute over ownership of a prime historic property in central Georgetown, Guyana, has escalated to the country’s High Court, with the city’s Mayor and City Council taking both the national government and a private security firm to court over allegations of illegal trespassing and wrongful occupation.

The vacant Water Street building, which previously served as the City Constabulary Training Complex, is at the center of the conflict. The legal claim was formally filed by Town Clerk Candace Nelson on behalf of the municipal government, acting in accordance with a formal Council resolution that authorized Mayor Alfred Mentore to pursue legal recourse against the two respondents: Attorney General (representing the Guyana government) and private security provider RK Security.

According to court documents, the municipal government argues the 200-plus-year-old property has been legally owned by public municipal transport authorities since the 1800s, meaning neither the national government nor the private security firm have any legal right to occupy or remain on the site. The claimants are asking the High Court to officially affirm their ownership rights and confirm the trespassing allegation.

The legal action was triggered after Mayor Mentore made a critical discovery during a site visit on March 27, 2026, when he found members of the Guyana Police Force present on the property and a new official signage posted along the site’s perimeter fence, signaling an imminent government takeover. Beyond a declaration of trespassing, the municipal government is also seeking two key court orders: a mandatory directive requiring the government and RK Security to immediately vacate the building and all premises, and a permanent injunction barring the respondents from entering the site or carrying out any construction or development work on the land.

Compounding the legal claims, the Mayor and City Council is also seeking GY$5 million in general damages, in addition to covering all legal costs associated with the court proceedings. The dispute has already sparked public disagreement from top government officials: Local Government Minister Priya Manickchand has publicly asserted that the property legally belongs to the State, with ownership tracing back to the colonial era. However, Mayor Mentore pushed back on these claims in a public statement this Friday, affirming that the municipal council holds concrete, verifiable documentation proving its long-standing ownership of the Water Street site.

The case marks a significant public conflict between municipal and national authorities in Guyana over land rights, with the outcome set to set a key precedent for intergovernmental property disputes across the country.

A growing procedural dispute over the reappointment of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett has opened a rift among regional member states, with Trinidad and Tobago’s top diplomat doubling down on claims that proper governance rules were violated during the February 2026 summit. In a press conference held Thursday, April 9, 2026, Foreign Affairs Minister Sean Sobers pushed back against public claims from Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, who has defended the reappointment process as consistent with protocol used for Barnett’s first appointment five years earlier, and asserted he was satisfied with her performance in office.

Sobers stopped short of an open public confrontation with Ali, emphasizing respect for the sovereignty of fellow CARICOM member states. “I respect His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and his own positions adopted. He is a President of a sovereign country and his views are his own, our views are our own. We’re a sovereign nation as well,” Sobers told reporters.

The minister directed his sharpest criticism at two public figures who have questioned Trinidad and Tobago’s position: former St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, and former Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Minister Amery Browne of the previous People’s National Movement (PNM) administration. Gonsalves recently claimed Sobers skipped a key summit retreat meeting on the island of Nevis because he suffered from sea sickness and was unable to make the short boat trip from neighboring St. Kitts.

Sobers dismissed that claim as a deliberate distraction from the core procedural violation at the heart of the dispute, labeling both Gonsalves and Browne as “political has-beens” seeking to divert attention from the real issue. He emphasized that the reappointment of the Secretary-General never appeared on any official meeting agenda, was not flagged for discussion on the morning of the leadership retreat, was never referenced in the summit’s final communique, and was not mentioned during the post-summit press conference. These omissions, he argues, directly contradict CARICOM’s foundational governing document, the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

“Don’t cast any red herrings here for people to hold on to and then forget about what the real issue is which is that the procedure was not followed, which is that it was not an agenda item that was listed… That’s the real crux of the matter,” Sobers said.

He further detailed that after the heads of government of Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, and The Bahamas departed the summit, foreign ministers serving as heads of national delegations were formally excluded from the closed leadership retreat, despite having participated in earlier caucus discussions. This detail, he noted, has been confirmed by both CARICOM’s Secretary-General and the Chef-de-Cabinet of the organization.

Sobers added that member states could have been formally notified if the reappointment had been raised under “any other business,” and the issue could easily have been tabled for discussion at a future leaders’ meeting, a step that was never taken.

Five weeks after the February 24–27 2026 CARICOM Summit concluded in the region, CARICOM Chairman and St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew issued a public statement confirming Barnett had been reappointed by the “required majority” of regional leaders. Sobers confirmed that Drew has since responded to formal correspondence from the Trinidad and Tobago government, which has raised objections to the process.

The minister noted that the current Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led administration remains dissatisfied with the process to date, and that Trinidad and Tobago’s Cabinet must first review and approve the government’s official response to Drew’s correspondence before any further details are released. He added that the outcome of ongoing clarification efforts will determine whether Trinidad and Tobago participates in two upcoming CARICOM gatherings: a virtual summit scheduled for April 2026, and an in-person summit planned for July 2026 in St. Lucia.

On Monday, April 6, 2026, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali addressed public speculation surrounding the newly launched Border Patrol Unit (BPU), emphasizing that the community-centered initiative is designed to complement—not undercut—the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the country’s primary military body tasked with defending national borders and airspace against external threats.

Ali, who also serves as Guyana’s Minister of Defence and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, made clear that core national defence and security responsibilities will remain firmly with the GDF, which continues to receive sustained investment and capability upgrades. “This is not an either-or situation,” the President told Demerara Waves Online News in an interview. “The BPU works in support of the GDF, drawing on local knowledge and existing community infrastructure that the military cannot easily replicate.”

The core advantage of the new unit, Ali explained, is its reliance on hyper-local human intelligence gathered from residents living directly along Guyana’s lengthy border regions. By centering community participation in border protection, the administration aims to create a more responsive, visible security presence that leverages indigenous residents’ intimate knowledge of remote terrain.

Leading the new BPU is Daniel Seeram, a retired GDF captain with prior experience as Chairman of the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Council. Ali first publicly announced Seeram’s appointment as BPU Coordinator during a community gathering in Kurutuka, Rupununi last week, noting that Seeram’s professional security background made him the ideal candidate for the role. Seeram will report directly to the President in his new position.

The rollout of the BPU will begin in three priority border communities, which will each receive an all-terrain vehicle to support patrol operations. The administration is building the initiative on the existing foundation of Guyana’s Community Policing Groups, particularly in remote Indigenous communities that make up much of the country’s borderlands. Over time, the unit will be expanded to additional high-priority border regions.

Integrated fully into Guyana’s broader national security architecture, the BPU will work in close coordination with local police, GDF personnel, and the National Intelligence Security Agency (NISA) to collect and share intelligence. Ali noted that the new structure will speed up information flow, increase on-the-ground presence, and expand situational awareness across both Guyana’s land borders and its Exclusive Economic Zone, with planned investments in surveillance technology to boost these capabilities.

When asked whether BPU members would be armed, Ali declined to comment, but confirmed that all personnel will receive training in technology use and standardized reporting protocols, and the unit will be fully outfitted with necessary transportation assets.

The appointment of Seeram has drawn quiet attention due to his recent political trajectory: he was elected to the Region Four chairmanship on a ticket from the opposition A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU) coalition, backed by coalition lead the People’s National Congress Reform, before later aligning with the incumbent People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration while refusing to step down from his regional post. Ali pushed back against any implicit criticism of the pick, reiterating that the appointment was based solely on Seeram’s relevant security training and professional skill set, not political affiliation.

On Monday, April 6, 2026, Guyana’s top law enforcement leadership launched an immediate internal investigation into a reported altercation involving an off-duty senior police officer, following the circulation of a viral video on social media platforms that captured the incident. Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken has ordered the force’s Office of Professional Responsibility to launch a full review into the details and context surrounding the confrontation, according to an official statement released by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

The viral footage, which the GPF confirmed in its public announcement, shows an unidentified man alleged to be the off-duty assistant superintendent threatening another individual with a deadly threat, stating clearly “I would kill you”. Two uniformed on-duty police officers were also recorded on camera intervening to de-escalate the conflict and calm both parties involved. While the GPF has formally acknowledged the incident and the video’s authenticity, the agency has not released the name or any additional personal details of the off-duty officer under investigation at this stage of the probe.

In its statement, the GPF emphasized that every member of the force, regardless of rank or duty status, is required to adhere to strict standards of professional conduct, emotional restraint, and public accountability. “Any behaviour found to be inconsistent with the standards of the Force will be addressed in accordance with the law and established disciplinary procedures,” the statement read. The agency also committed to updating the public with new details as the investigation progresses, and reassured citizens that it remains dedicated to upholding the highest levels of professional practice and maintaining public trust. All allegations of officer misconduct, the GPF noted, are treated with the full level of seriousness they deserve.

Alongside the announcement of the new investigation, the GPF also indirectly addressed an ongoing high-profile case involving another senior officer. Senior Superintendent Himnauth Sawh, who was sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in June 2025 over allegations of involvement in international narcotics trafficking, remains on administrative leave from the force. Sawh was serving as the Commander for Region One (Barima-Waini) in September 2024 when a joint operation conducted by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) discovered 4.4 tonnes of cocaine buried underground near an unapproved airstrip on the outskirts of Mabaruma. No additional updates on Sawh’s status or the related investigation were provided alongside the announcement of the new probe.