President Bharrat Jagdeo last evening rebuffed what he called “implied comments” from outgoing British High Commissioner, Fraser Wheeler on the failed security reform project saying his government did not need UK funding to push security reform here.
Referring to comments Wheeler made on security reform a few minutes prior his address at a reception to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s 84th birthday, the President said government has been driving security reform in the country and that it continues to focus on this despite the failed project. He said Guyana “unfortunately” lost the funding from the UK project, noting that he would not use the occasion last evening to address the reasons why.
Wheeler, who is leaving the post shortly, spoke briefly on the project saying his government worked hard over the last few years to support such reform in Guyana. “In the end, you know this was not taken forward”, he said, noting there is a general recognition in the country that only a comprehensive and holistic solution will adequately address the problem. “I hope very much that Guyanese will get what they want and deserve”, he added.
The President, in rebutting Wheeler, made a reference to the statements relating to Guyanese getting what they deserve saying the comment has certain implications. But he also suggested that Wheeler might have said it without any intention.
The UK’s reform proposal for implementation was aimed at building a sustainable foundation for improving national security and reducing serious crime in Guyana by 2011.
It spoke of the need for implementation of a national security plan among other things, but the Guyana government criticised it, saying it deviated from the basic architecture of management agreed to by both and also raised the issue of sovereignty.
The President also pointed to another statement Wheeler made in relation to London’s increasing focus on regional projects, noting that it raises the question of whether bilateral programmes would suffer. Jagdeo, in questioning the motive of the new approach, said he believes in strengthening bilateral programmes because “regional projects are too opaque”.
Wheeler, who spent four years in Guyana serving as High Commissioner, mentioned the initiatives taken by the UK to boost economic growth in the region, noting that a new major fund will soon be launched in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Canada to boost the competitiveness of the private sector in the region. He said the UK is increasingly channeling funds through the multilateral institutions such as the European Union, and the World Bank.
The UK spends some 80m pounds sterling a year in the Caribbean and according to Wheeler they have been focusing on some Guyana-specific projects which include the UK’s support for the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). He said the UK government is looking past last year’s Copenhagen summit and that it hopes to push hard for a legally binding treaty at the upcoming Cancun, Mexico summit, in close partnership with the Government of Guyana, and others.
He also zeroed in on the growing violence in the Guyanese society against women and children saying it is a daily occurrence in the newspapers. “I recommend that not a moment be lost in taking the action necessary to rid the country of this curse- a priority I suggest for not just the government but all across the political spectrum and in civil society”, he noted.
He said his government continues to support efforts here to counter the violence and he noted the assistance the government here received from British judge John Sessions, who was here to offer advice on the Sexual Reform legislation, “which I am pleased to see has finally been passed”.
He said implementation will be critical, noting that in the meantime women here continue to be badly beaten and killed by their so-called partners or those acting on their behalf.
