finance minister Ashni Singh is still waiting on a 25M Euro cheque from the European Union saying no credible reason has been given why it hasn’t arrived yet.

The silence from the EU and its ambassador here Robert Kopecky only leads to more anxiety and embarrassment for the government, and Singh comes across as slightly desperate when he told reporters yesterday, “We have, in writing, confirmation that we have discharged all of our obligations associated with qualifying for those payments…. We’ve taken the necessary actions we have implemented the necessary conditions…” But have they met all the indicators to qualify for certain tranches? The EC is a highly bureaucratic organisation that takes time to get around to publicly addressing issues especially as they relate to small countries and Guyana will have to wait although it might not like the response when it arrives. Meanwhile Singh is racing to have his budget ready in time to present to the non existent parliament.

The main reason for the press conference was to announce that Guyoil will unilaterally be cutting its prices for fuel by some 30%… ($695 per gallon for gasoline). However in a sleight of hand the government actually increased the excise tax even further to the maximum 50 per cent on gasoline and 45 per cent on diesel. So essentially what it is doing is forcing the other oil companies to lower their prices without losing any excise revenue. Pretty hardball but the government must have done its maths and thinks they are making excess profits at the moment and can afford to drop their prices. Then again Guyoil might simply run out of fuel with the rush it will get.  Something to watch.

In brief …

The Guyana Times is reporting that Ramotar will call the election “any moment now“. Add that to imminent and “soon soon” “Should an announcement be made now by the President, the date for elections will likely be around late April or early May.’

Two aviation stories..the pilots involved in the near collision at JFK involving a Caribbean Airlines flight have been taken off duty pending an investigation. The pilots apparently ignored three warnings to stop short of the runway but reports are they were on the wrong frequency so could not hear the instructions. SN via the Trinidad Express has a transcript of the conversation. And the search for the ASL plane that went down near Mahdia on December 28 has been called off.

The cocaine ship has set sail having paid its fine and forever known to SN as the Delta Dies. No word on the amount. The SSS tonic case has also set sail.

finance minister Ashni Singh is still waiting on a 25M Euro cheque from the European Union saying no credible reason has been given why it hasn’t arrived yet.

The silence from the EU and its ambassador here Robert Kopecky only leads to more anxiety and embarrassment for the government, and Singh comes across as slightly desperate when he told reporters yesterday, “We have, in writing, confirmation that we have discharged all of our obligations associated with qualifying for those payments…. We’ve taken the necessary actions we have implemented the necessary conditions…” But have they met all the indicators to qualify for certain tranches? The EC is a highly bureaucratic organisation that takes time to get around to publicly addressing issues especially as they relate to small countries and Guyana will have to wait although it might not like the response when it arrives. Meanwhile Singh is racing to have his budget ready in time to present to the non existent parliament.

The main reason for the press conference was to announce that Guyoil will unilaterally be cutting its prices for fuel by some 30%… ($695 per gallon for gasoline). However in a sleight of hand the government actually increased the excise tax even further to the maximum 50 per cent on gasoline and 45 per cent on diesel. So essentially what it is doing is forcing the other oil companies to lower their prices without losing any excise revenue. Pretty hardball but the government must have done its maths and thinks they are making excess profits at the moment and can afford to drop their prices. Then again Guyoil might simply run out of fuel with the rush it will get.  Something to watch.

In brief …

The Guyana Times is reporting that Ramotar will call the election “any moment now“. Add that to imminent and “soon soon” “Should an announcement be made now by the President, the date for elections will likely be around late April or early May.’

Two aviation stories..the pilots involved in the near collision at JFK involving a Caribbean Airlines flight have been taken off duty pending an investigation. The pilots apparently ignored three warnings to stop short of the runway but reports are they were on the wrong frequency so could not hear the instructions. SN via the Trinidad Express has a transcript of the conversation. And the search for the ASL plane that went down near Mahdia on December 28 has been called off.

The cocaine ship has set sail having paid its fine and forever known to SN as the Delta Dies. No word on the amount. The SSS tonic case has also set sail.