PLEASE allow me the space to add my few cents on an issue that has been receiving national coverage over the past few weeks CARICOM’s non-renewal of the contract of Carl Greenidge. The reaction to Greenidge’s expression of his personal opinion, flawed as it maybe, at the funeral of Winston Murray was to me, very understandable given that he was tasked with negotiating on behalf of CARICOM, of which Guyana is a part and one can assume that Guyana’s development may have been undermined as a result of his stance.
As a senior diplomat and one who served as a senior minister during the despotic tyranny of the PNC, one would have assumed that he would’ve adhered to the basic decorum of a negotiator attached to such a prestigious Caribbean institution. I suppose that it was asking too much.
Greenidge publicly criticised the government of Guyana’s economic framework, while he was attached to CARICOM as trade negotiator. In response, and it follows logic, the Government of Guyana protested, since his baseless proclamations not only demonstrated an inherent prejudice for this government but more importantly, a lack of patriotism.
The Government of Guyana adhered to protocol, something Greenidge could learn, by filing an official complaint to Greenidge’s employer, CARICOM. Coincidentally, CARICOM due to budgetary constraints was unable to renew Greenidge’s contract. Carl Greenidge was privy to this prior to his flawed critique. Yet he sought to evoke sympathy for the non-renewal of his contract in order to be endorsed as the Presidential candidate of the PNCR.