Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter ` Guyana still to nominate Ambassador to Gulf countries’ written on a matter pertaining to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by Mr Ray Chickrie and published by Stabroek News on July 31st. The letter suggested, inter alia, that whilst Ambassadors such as Dr Pollard and Mr Halim Majeed have been accredited to more than one country, Dr Shamir Ally has not. This it is suggested is undesirable. Additionally, it is claimed that Guyana has rejected a Kuwait offer to open an Embassy in Guyana notwithstanding Kuwait’s assistance with the establishment of ours in Kuwait.
As a rule, I enjoy Mr Chickrie’s contributions to foreign policy debates because he brings an unusually strong and informed Muslim flavour or community slant to the table. Intensity of interest is, however, is not matched by accuracy in this case.
First, there is no reason for an Ambassador to assume that he/she will be accredited to more than one state, let alone to all the countries in a region in which he/she is resident. No such commitment has been given to Dr Ally. Contrary to Mr Chickrie’s allegation, other Heads of Mission such as Ottawa and Port of Spain, Trinidad have only been assigned to a single country. The number of countries assigned to Missions varies significantly and depends on the demonstrated performance of the Ambassador and his team, availability of financial and mix of human resources available and, of course, plans for the deepening of our relations with the different neighbouring states.
Similarly, we are not aware that Kuwait has proposed to open a Mission in Guyana.
Additionally, the Ministry has made public its involvement in discussions about opening an Embassy in the UAE in the course of 2019 and we are in the process of determining the allocation of countries of the region between this Mission and that in Kuwait.
In making decisions about establishing Missions, account frequently has to be taken of reciprocity and of other countries’ plans and rules for servicing their bi-laterals. Saudi Arabia, for example, does not permit or accredit non-resident Ambassadors. Additionally, some countries may be serviced from Georgetown rather than from physically close neighbours in the region.
There is no requirement for a new Mission Head to be accredited to the same states as his/her predecessor. Individual competence, the capacity of the team assigned to the Mission, and the state of bilateral relations, all of which vary over time, can be expected to influence the decision at the beginning of each cycle. That is the case here. Finally, Dr Ally has already been posted for three years which constitutes a cycle.
Yours faithfully,
Carl Greenidge
