`We are not going to relent one inch’ – Luncheon
GUYANA is holding firm to its position that promised British aid to boost the security sector here cannot compromise national sovereignty, but does not expect this to affect bilateral relations, Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon said yesterday.

“We are not going to relent one inch, even a percentage of an inch on that matter…security sector reform will go on, with or without the British”, he declared at a press briefing at the Office of the President complex in Georgetown.

He acknowledged that the anticipated aid of some G$1billion from the British Government will help improve security but stressed, “I am not going to give up our dignity, our sovereignty for the contribution that could come from an engagement on both sides. I am sorry.”

He said negotiations on national security with an external partner are always fraught with difficulty and sensitivity and does not expect the current disagreement to lead to any significant deterioration in relations between the two countries.

“The time that we have spent (and) the commitments that we have made – it’s in our mutual interest to go together where security sector reform is concerned. We are not to be led in this process.”

Luncheon indicated that the British have tried to convince Guyana that “we are suffering from a capacity constraint in the area of project implementation…a contention I would dismiss out of hand.”

“We have been implementing projects…I can’t believe that the sum nor the technical aspects of…security sector reform is so beyond us that we have to be led…shown the way comprehensively from top to bottom; that we would just have to be passengers in this activity.

“This is what I find so offensive…This is what led me to resign. I had a fear that I would respond unpredictably to this outrage”, he said.

He earlier this week accused British Government representatives of being insincere and inconsistent in the negotiations and asked President Bharrat Jagdeo to be relieved of responsibility for the process.

But Luncheon told reporters yesterday that the President, while sharing his feelings of outrage at the British position, has declined his resignation request and he continues to be Guyana’s main negotiator in the process.

He explained that the two sides concluded a policy position last December that he and British High Commissioner Fraser Wheeler signed and Guyana was told it had be to be adopted by the principals in the British Government.

Luncheon said nothing was heard from the British until April when documents which in effect compromised Guyana’s national sovereignty were presented to the government here.

“Fundamentally, my experiences with the British representatives have revealed how insincere and inconsistent they have been with regards to our concerns about national ownership of the process by Guyana”, he said in a letter to the President asking to be relieved of the responsibility.

The request by Luncheon, also Cabinet Secretary and Secretary to the Defence Board, follows reported frustrations by British High Commissioner Fraser Wheeler about delays in implementing the British-funded security sector reform plan.

Wheeler was earlier this week reported by some local media as saying he was frustrated by the delay in implementing the plan and that “some people in government…are quibbling about administrative details”.

The Stabroek News on Tuesday reported him as saying, “We have to use this money; it has been hanging around for a long time, and as I say, in the current economic climate, we need to use it or we will lose it.”

Luncheon said frustrations may have been motivated by the delays in moving forward but argued that this cannot be laid at “our or my doorstep”.

Noting that the agreed policy positions were with the British Government from December 2008 until April, he said he was last month told that the document that “allowed us to implement the policy faithfully captured what we had agreed to in December.”

He said both sides had recognized the principle of Guyanese ownership of the security strategy and policy formulation, adding that this is a hallowed principle in international relations.

“The bedrock, the underpinning is Guyana ownership. What was presented to us in April was offensive where that was concerned. What led to the reversal of respect for that principle that was agreed to on both sides and captured in written documentation has not been explained. We have sought meetings with the High Commission; we have been unable so far to have a meeting held”, Luncheon said.

“The important thing is that we do have an agreement to which we both subscribe of December 2008. That’s where we are going to start.”

He said that after the time and effort that went into the negotiations up to December 2008 what was presented to Guyana last month was putting it mildly “rather uncharitable”.

He said President Jagdeo, while sharing his feelings of outrage, did not agree to his request to “abandon the boat at this point” and he remains main negotiator with the British.

“Guyana ownership of the process is inviolate and if this sum of money, this support that is being offered is seen as sufficient to undermine, or for us not to hallow this principle, that might be someone else’s consideration – not ours”, he declared.

The British High Commission on Wednesday said, “We remain committed to Guyana’s national ownership of the Security Sector Reform programme and to build the capacity of national institutions to implement it.

“We remain open and ready to discuss any issue in relation to the programme.”