标签： Guyana

As of Tuesday, 1 September 2026, new details have emerged regarding an outstanding property tax debt tied to the business affiliate of one of Guyana’s main political opposition groups. Multiple informed sources confirm that Maikwak Limited, the commercial arm of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), currently carries an unpaid rates and taxes liability of between GY$20 million and GY$25 million connected to its Congress Place property.

The current debt figure comes after a comprehensive reassessment of the account carried out earlier in 2026, which cut a previously reported massive debt of roughly GY$6 billion down to the smaller current sum. Accounting adjustments that drove this reduction include a series of interest waivers granted to Maikwak over multiple years that had not been properly incorporated into earlier debt calculations. Sources note that the company had already made payments aligned with the approved waivers, and the updated assessment simply corrects the historical accounting error to reflect the accurate outstanding balance. As of press time, full details of the total amount Maikwak has paid to date have not been publicly released.

There remains a split in official positions regarding the debt: while one insider insists the PNCR-affiliated firm must immediately settle the full outstanding amount, a senior City Hall official confirmed that no formal payment demand has yet been served to Maikwak for the adjusted balance.

In a separate development, City Council has recently implemented a broad change to its debt calculation rules, scrapping the long-standing policy of daily compound interest on unpaid taxes in favor of a simpler simple interest structure. However, council insiders confirmed this new, more lenient regime will not be applied retroactively to Maikwak’s debt. The firm is not eligible for the adjusted interest terms, and officials have ruled out any further consideration of extending the policy to this account.

The news comes just one week after PNCR leader Aubrey Norton publicly announced that the party’s business arm had been reactivated to generate critical internal revenue for the political organization, bringing new public attention to the entity’s financial standing.

Last updated on 31 August 2026, this report outlines a major policy shift that has turned around the long-troubled finances of Guyana’s Georgetown City Council. For decades, the local government body struggled with low compliance on unpaid property rates and taxes, driven by a punitive daily compound interest system that left many residents owing more than the total value of their properties. That dynamic shifted dramatically earlier this year, after council leaders implemented a 2021 High Court ruling retroactively to 1997, replacing the previous compound interest model with a far more manageable simple interest structure for all outstanding debts.

Speaking to Demerara Waves Online News, Lelon Saul, chair of the Georgetown City Council’s finance committee, explained that the 2021 High Court judgment had already mandated a switch to simple interest going forward from the ruling date, but did not require the change to apply retroactively to older outstanding debts. It was not until early July 2026 that the council voted to extend the simple interest policy back to 1997, excluding only those residents who had already fully settled their compound-interest calculated debts to avoid administrative and financial disruption.

The policy change has delivered immediate, measurable benefits for both residents and the city’s bottom line. Saul noted that the reduced interest burden has brought substantial relief to hundreds of delinquent ratepayers, incentivizing thousands to settle long-outstanding debts that they had previously been unable to afford. The result has been a marked jump in municipal revenue that has eliminated the council’s long-standing cash flow crisis.

“In typical years, we spend July and August tip-toeing around our budget just to meet payroll for city staff,” Saul explained. “This year, we paid our workers on the exact same schedule as central government employees, and we even had enough surplus to complete a GY$4 million infrastructure improvement project in Albouystown. One of our top near-term priorities now is finally finishing the new city administration building, a project that has sat partially constructed for more than 15 years, funded entirely with city funds.”

Preliminary revenue data confirms the sharp upward trend. From January to July 2025, the council collected a total of GY$892.4 million in general revenue; that figure rose to GY$921.1 million over the same period in 2026. The increase is even more pronounced in monthly rates and taxes collections: July 2024 brought in GY$87 million, July 2025 fell to GY$54 million, and July 2026 saw collections surge to GY$116.6 million. Saul added that collections for August 2026 are already outpacing historical averages for the month.

Georgetown Mayor Alfred Mentore first announced the policy shift and its early results during the launch of events celebrating the city’s 184th anniversary on 21 August 2026. Mentore emphasized that the interest restructuring was designed to deliver meaningful relief to city residents while addressing the council’s persistent revenue shortfalls. For residents who continue to hold substantial unpaid debts after the restructuring, the council plans to pursue legal action, but Mentore stressed that the body prefers negotiated solutions over seizing and selling properties.

“Our goal is not to take homes from residents,” Mentore said. “If we do have to proceed to court, we will push for arrangements that allow property owners to take out mortgages to meet their obligations rather than forcing a sale.”

The mayor also called on Guyana’s central government to uphold its commitment to funding local government bodies, arguing that central authorities often criticize local councils for poor performance without providing the necessary resources to deliver core services. “Had we the requisite resources, we would be able to do a lot more for our residents,” he noted.

Even with the current revenue windfall, finance committee chair Saul reiterated that long-term fiscal stability for the city will require additional action. Current property rate assessments are outdated and far below market levels, he explained, meaning the city cannot generate enough consistent revenue to meet all its service obligations. In lieu of updating assessments, Saul said central government could provide ongoing operating subsidies to support the city’s work.

On August 30, 2026, Guyana’s leading opposition bloc We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) marked a key milestone in its pre-election strategy with the formal inauguration of its New York chapter, a move designed to mobilize support from the large Guyanese diaspora community in the United States ahead of the 2031 general and regional elections.

In a pre-recorded video address delivered to event attendees, WIN leader and Opposition Leader Mohamed — who cannot travel to the U.S. due to active extradition proceedings stemming from alleged financial crimes he and his father Nazar Mohamed are currently contesting — made a direct appeal to overseas Guyanese to throw their weight behind his party. Urging supporters not to wait for the official election campaign season to begin organizing, Mohamed pushed diaspora members to plan early travel back to Guyana to coincide with voting and campaigning. “Guyana’s future is too important for any Guyanese whether at home or abroad to say ‘that is not my business’,” he stressed, adding that momentum for the upcoming vote must be built starting immediately. “I cannot do this alone,” he told the New York gathering.

WIN secured 16 seats in Guyana’s national parliament during the general and regional elections held one year prior, and has positioned itself as a vocal anti-corruption opposition. Mohamed reaffirmed the party’s core commitment to rooting out graft, stating: “We are willing to confront corruption wherever we may find it. We are willing to expose wrong-doing and we are willing to say what ordinary Guyanese are thinking but are afraid to say.”

The opposition leader repeated longstanding allegations of corruption against Guyana’s sitting President and several cabinet ministers — claims that incumbent officials have strongly and repeatedly denied over the past several months. He also criticized the government’s management of the country’s booming oil sector, arguing that hundreds of millions of dollars in oil revenue have been squandered through mismanagement, with little benefit trickling down to ordinary Guyanese citizens.

“My position is simple: Guyana’s oil must not create a new political oligarchy, it must not enrich a small circle of politically connected families when the people, who own the resource, are left behind,” Mohamed said. He outlined his vision for a more equitable Guyana, where national wealth is broadly shared rather than concentrated among political allies and wealthy elite, and corrupt officials face meaningful consequences for wrongdoing.

Mohamed challenged the newly launched New York chapter to evolve beyond a simple party outpost, framing it as a hub for Guyanese professionals, entrepreneurs and skilled workers based in the U.S. who want to contribute to rebuilding their home country. “When we take leadership of this country, we will need you. We will need your skills, we will need your experience,” he told attendees.

Vishnu Panday, a senior WIN executive member, addressed the relatively small turnout at the launch event, noting that turnout strength in this context was measured by quality of attendees rather than raw quantity. “The audience that we have here tonight is not a mammoth crowd; it is a quality crowd,” Panday said.

Guyana’s main historical opposition political party, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), has launched a major overhaul of its operations following a historic defeat in last year’s general and regional elections, party leader Aubrey Norton announced Friday. Speaking at the unveiling of the PNCR’s new diaspora honour wall, Norton confirmed the party has activated a dedicated commercial arm to generate critical sustained revenue, ending the party’s long reliance on small-scale community fundraising events.

Multiple sources close to the party confirm Maikwak Ltd. has been registered as the official corporate vehicle to advance the PNCR’s business and investment agenda. The move comes nearly 12 months after former finance minister Winston Jordan, who served in the previous APNU+Alliance For Change government, publicly urged the party to move beyond low-yield fundraisers like community fish fries and corn house events, instead recommending that the party leverage its existing real estate holdings, launch formal commercial entities and pursue public and private sector contracting opportunities.

The announcement follows a devastating election result that saw PNCR, part of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition, lose its decades-long position as Guyana’s official opposition. In last year’s vote, the new political movement We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) secured 16 parliamentary seats, becoming the second-largest party in parliament behind the incumbent People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC). Political analysts attribute WIN’s surprise rise in part to its substantial campaign funding and aggressive, well-executed social media strategy — gaps that the PNCR is now moving to address.

Norton, who also serves as chairman of the APNU coalition, acknowledged that the party’s traditional grassroots operating model is no longer sufficient to compete in modern Guyanese politics. He called on party members to bridge the gap between the PNCR’s historical grassroots organizing roots and cutting-edge digital tools, including artificial intelligence, to shape public narrative.

“Facts seem not to matter. Perception! and we have got to work on creating perceptions that we want created,” Norton told attendees, emphasizing that modern information technology has reshaped how political parties connect with voters. The long-term path to rebuilding, he added, centers on combining a reinvigorated on-the-ground volunteer leadership corps — a core structure from the party’s early years — with updated digital engagement strategies.

A longstanding advocate for youth leadership development, Norton has repeatedly pushed for investment in training and preparing young party members to take on senior leadership roles over the coming years. Most recently, the PNCR leader clarified his own political future: he intends to retain his position as head of PNCR, but will step aside to allow a new candidate to stand as the APNU coalition’s presidential nominee in the next election cycle. As of now, two names have emerged as early frontrunners for the nomination: Georgetown-based businessman Dr. Terrence Campbell and Dr. Dexter Todd.

The strategic shift marks one of the most significant internal reforms the PNCR has undertaken in decades, as the party works to rebuild its electoral support and relevance amid a shifting political landscape in Guyana.

Suriname has installed Ivan Fernald, a former national defence minister who held the cabinet post from 2005 to 2010 under the Ronald Venetiaan government, as its newly accredited top diplomat to neighboring Guyana. The swearing-in ceremony also welcomed Andy Atmodimedjo, who will take up the role of Suriname’s ambassador to Indonesia.

At the official event, Surinamese President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons laid out clear priorities for Fernald’s tenure, emphasizing that advancing stronger bilateral ties between the two South American neighbors and closely monitoring ongoing border issues sit at the top of the agenda. She underscored that protecting Suriname’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, paired with commitments to mutual respect and reciprocal benefit, are non-negotiable guiding principles for the ambassador’s work.

Fernald’s appointment comes at a tense moment in bilateral relations. Currently, the two countries are locked in a standoff over Suriname’s decision to suspend operations of the MV Canawaima, the cross-border ferry that runs along the Corentyne River. Suriname has also rejected Guyana’s offer of a temporary replacement vessel to keep the critical supply and passenger route active. Beyond the ferry dispute, the neighboring nations have grappled with a decades-old unresolved territorial claim over the 15,600-square-kilometer New River Triangle, a long-running point of friction that has defied diplomatic resolution to date.

Beyond addressing these ongoing challenges, Geerlings-Simons tasked Fernald with expanding Suriname’s political and diplomatic engagement with Guyana, growing bilateral trade and investment flows, and promoting Suriname’s national identity and the untapped potential of its economy and people. The president stressed that the ultimate goal of this diplomatic posting is to position Suriname as a credible, strategic, and dependable partner for Guyana and the broader region.

Geerlings-Simons also noted that the bilateral relationship with Guyana holds unique significance in Suriname’s foreign policy framework. Long before formal diplomatic ties were established between the two independent nations, the people of Guyana and Suriname have been connected through cross-border family bonds, cultural exchange, historic trade routes, and free movement of communities. “As neighbors, we focus on what unites us rather than what divides us, without losing sight of the challenges involved,” she stated.

A decades-long land rights dispute in Guyana has reached a new flashpoint, with the country’s leading Indigenous advocacy organization calling on the government to block gold mining operations on community-held territory that an established miner has entered despite ongoing legal claims to the area. On Thursday, the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) issued a formal appeal to state officials to stop the recent incursion by veteran miner Wayne Vieira, a move that comes as residents of Chinese Landing, the Indigenous community that holds official title to the contested land, have already blocked mining equipment from entering the site. The call to action is rooted in a demand that the government uphold constitutionally protected Indigenous rights enshrined in national law.

In its official statement, the APA outlined its core demand: “We are calling on the government to take immediate action to halt these operations, uphold the rights of Chinese Landing, and find a peaceful resolution between the parties that protects the rights-holders while not impeding their livelihood.”

However, Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat has pushed back on the appeal, explaining that a prior ruling from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) leaves the government and national regulatory body the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) with no legal authority to interrupt Vieira’s activities. “Vieira has a decision from the CCJ which tied the hands of GGMC. This is the crux of the matter. It is not government or the GGMC’s inaction,” Bharrat told Demerara Waves Online News.

The 2017 CCJ ruling in question struck down a 2010 GGMC cease-and-work order issued against Vieira, ruling that the mines officer who authorized the order had exceeded their legal authority and failed to demonstrate that the order was absolutely necessary to protect public peace or third-party property rights. The court established that such orders can only be issued in extreme circumstances where no other alternative exists, setting a binding precedent that constrains current government action.

The APA argues that the government’s inaction and Vieira’s advance violate multiple layers of Guyanese law, including Section 48 of the Amerindian Act and Section 80 of the Mining Act. Both provisions explicitly require Indigenous communities to grant free, prior consent before medium-scale mining operations can proceed on their traditional titled lands. The association also notes that the incursion violates multiple articles of Guyana’s Constitution that protect the property rights of the Chinese Landing Village Council, which is currently waiting for a ruling from the Guyana Court of Appeal on its formal substantive land claims to the entire Tassawini area where mining is underway.

Trust in ongoing mediation efforts between the community, the miner, and the state has collapsed completely, the APA confirmed, after Vieira began moving heavy mining equipment into the area on August 21. The Village Council was given no advance notice of Vieira’s move and had never granted formal consent for mining to proceed in the Tassawini sector. “Unfortunately, the actions taken by Vieira have broken trust in the current mediation process,” the statement reads. The APA added that continuing mining activity without a good-faith resolution has left Chinese Landing residents facing growing security risks and threats linked to the incursion.

Beyond legal and security concerns, the APA alleges that Vieira’s long-running mining activities in the area have already caused measurable environmental harm and social disruption for the Chinese Landing community, though specific details of these harms were not outlined in the latest appeal.

The association has reaffirmed its full solidarity with Chinese Landing’s Toshao (Indigenous community leader) Nikita Miller, the Village Council, and all local residents, who have been engaged in this standoff to defend their land for nearly 30 years. “The current standoff in Chinese Landing highlights the level of desperation faced by the community, and the lengths to which they must go to secure their land and the future of generations to come. This highlights the crucial support that Chinese Landing needs in order to protect its lands as its rights continue to be violated,” the statement says.

To contextualize the dispute, the APA laid out the long history of Chinese Landing’s legal ownership of the territory: the community first received official land title for the area in 1976, with a reissued title granted under the State Lands Act in 1991. This was nearly two decades before Vieira received his first prospecting permits for the Tassawini area in 1998. A fully demarcated Certificate of Title was reissued to the community in 2018, formally confirming that the entire mining area falls within Chinese Landing’s legally recognized boundaries. Negotiations between the community and Vieira collapsed in 2004 after the two sides failed to renew a 1998 access agreement that had permitted limited exploration, and low-level incursions have continued ever since.

The APA also reminded the government of binding precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Human Rights Committee (IACHR) in 2023, which require the Guyanese state to take all necessary steps to protect the right to life and personal safety of Chinese Landing residents. The IACHR measures also explicitly require that the Village Council be consulted and give consent to any resolution framework adopted to end the dispute between the community and Vieira. The APA says Vieira’s latest incursion directly violates these international human rights requirements.

In a separate 2023 development, the Guyanese government imposed a mining ban on the Tassawini area without consulting the Village Council, but the ban was never uniformly enforced: multiple reports confirmed Vieira continued mining operations in the disputed zone throughout the ban’s implementation. As the legal standoff continues, Chinese Landing’s formal land rights case remains pending before the Court of Appeal, with no timeline for a final ruling announced as of Thursday.