Dear Editor,
In response to Mr GHK Lall’s letter to the Editor carried in the Stabroek News on Tuesday, June 14 2016, entitled, `Where have all the ministers gone’, I am happy to inform readers and Mr Lall that I left Georgetown on Sunday June 12th for an official visit to the Russian Federation. Out of sight does not mean out. In any case, I have a belief that in the entire year prior to May 11th 2015 Mr Lall had not seen me more than twice. No rational person should suggest that I was not working or not working in Guyana simply because of that.
Since I am asked however, I am pleased to inform readers that I left Georgetown on Sunday last (June 12th) for an official visit to the Russian Federation. During the preceding week I had to deal with the usual and not so usual problems of the Ministry such as unlocking problems being encountered in recruiting prospective candidates for senior posts. On Tuesday I attended Cabinet and was interviewed for a broadcast on my attendance and the outcome of the ACP and the ACS Heads of State Summits on Wednesday. I also attended to the Venezuelan President’s claim that Guyana had fabricated the report about the shooting incident on the Cuyuni River on May 31st. A press release was issued in that regard. During the course of the remainder of the week I received a number of Ambassadors and the UNICEF Representative and also briefed Dr David Pollard, Ambassador Designate to India on policy and his new assignment. On Friday I attended the National Day of the Russian Federation hosted by Ambassador Nikolay Smirnov & Mrs. Tatiana Styablina. Saturday prior to leaving I also had a briefing session with the team preparing for our visit to Russia. At the request of a former Minister who had some advice to offer regarding his concerns about foreign policy I had an intensive meeting to hear and address his concerns. The same may be said of a meeting with the representatives of the GTC pensioners regarding the non-payment of their pensions, a matter left over from the 1991 nationalisation of the company and not addressed by the PPP regime. Finally, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) team also worked with me on finalizing a Cabinet paper on a Border Institute for Guyana. In the event that all of this missed readers’ attention because it was not public enough I wish to add that I also read a tribute to former Minister Jules Kranenburg at his funeral on Friday.
Recently, a friend of mine has taken to telling listeners that when I was Minister of Finance and Planning, President Burnham once asked me when next I was planning to visit Guyana. I have been taking it as intended, a joke. It was also a reflection that at a time of economic crisis I was called on to be in frequent meetings with the IMF /IBRD and to be mobilizing pledged funds from the Support Group.
I assume that Mr Lall is aware that our paths do not often cross and that as an unusually well-informed observer he would realize that almost by definition Guyana’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs have been required to spend much time abroad attending meetings to put Guyana’s position and to speak on behalf of Caricom or wider groups for which Guyana is the spokesman.
Additionally, Cabinet has accepted that MFA should have a Ministerial presence at certain international meetings in order to deal with the security and stability problems generated by the escalating claims by Venezuela on Guyana’s territory.
If Guyana is to receive a receptive hearing of its concerns, when we speak internationally, we have to be seen as good members of that community and not only being there when we need the support of others. We cannot be known for not being around when other states are in need or when fundamental principles are being infringed. This is a basic principle of diplomacy. All our Ministers of Foreign Affairs have been involved in frequent travel. I do not travel more than any of the others have done. In my career outside of Guyana I have travelled to more foreign states if not more often than all the other members of the Cabinet taken together. I therefore have no appetite for official travel that is not absolutely necessary.
Unusual frequency of MFA travel cannot therefore be the problem bothering Mr Lall so maybe there is another. Someone when drawing his letter to my attention has suggested that he may be trying to point to a belief that I am less vocal and visible than when I was in Opposition. That is certainly true as a general rule. It is not true of Foreign affairs matters however. Unlike an Opposition MP, who may be free to speak on most subjects even when they fall outside of one’s portfolio as long as no-one else addresses the matter, Ministers have specific portfolios and should respect areas of Ministerial responsibility. Failure to observe that principle has already led to much confusion and give the impression of a free–for-all of lack of clear direction. My responsibilities outside of the MFA are far less than they were prior to May 11th 2015. As you can see from last week’s list of meetings however whilst I am often on travel duty and out of Mr Lall’s sight, that does not affect the overall quantity of MFA work I am called on to do and actually execute.
Yours faithfully,
Carl B. Greenidge
Vice President & Minister of
Foreign Affairs
