– Hunt’s farewell message to Guyana

THE outgoing Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, Bryan Hunt, has called on Guyana’s leaders to brace themselves for this country’s unprecedented transformation through petroleum prospects. But Hunt similarly called for changes in Guyana’s social and political climate that challenge “social exclusion.”Offering five points of what he called “free advice” at a farewell gathering Friday evening in his honour at the US Ambassador’s Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara residence, Hunt championed the need for the decentralisation of power as the first point of his five-point advice.
Acknowledging notable divisions within the Guyanese society, Hunt said “Regardless of who sits in central government, about half the population feels completely excluded. This has to change.” Hunt not only called for a decentralisation of political power at the national level as well as an abolishing of the “winner-take-all system.”
Hunt championed the need for more power to be given to local government bodies. His comment comes at a time when there are still questions surrounding the stalemate in the National Assembly to have the Local Government Commission fully established, thus stripping the Communities Minister of his grip over the nation’s local government system.
“Remember that the parliament ultimately belongs to the people not the political parties,” Hunt said in his address, adding that “Party interest must be subservient to national interest.”
On Guyana’s anti-corruption measures, which have not fared well under international evaluations, the outgoing diplomat called for “conflict of interest legislation and enforceable asset disclosure requirements.”
Just recently Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo received a re-worked Code of Conduct for Ministers, Parliamentarians, and Public Officials, but even the Prime Minister is cognizant that this conduct must be included within the Integrity Commission Act, thus granting the Integrity Commission, a body which is yet to be revamped, power to enforce some level of integrity in the execution of their public duties.
Hunt called for political parties to adopt “zero-tolerance” against members who violate their responsibilities as public officials, thus asserting public interest over party interest. “Anyone who has stolen, is stealing, or in the future attempts to steal state resources must be criminally charged and held accountable before a court of law,” Hunt continued.
Even as the public procurement commission is still to be established, Hunt called for a regularised system of annual forensic audits, as well as an adoption of “regulations and legislation that fix the loopholes in the current system that allowed the issues identified in the recent forensic audits.”
While calling for Guyana to “maintain a diversified economy and avoid the dangers that come with a dominant petroleum sector,” thus avoiding the “Dutch disease,” Hunt welcomed the role of civil society and the media even as government’s transparency could be bolstered once this country becomes part of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
“Revenues from the petroleum sector will transform this country… the money that will flow into state coffers will be unprecedented and the quantities… far exceed the comprehension of most Guyanese,” Hunt charged.
Recognising that building close relations with the rest of South America would be beneficial to Guyana, Hunt underscored infrastructural development as well as a need for liberalized telecommunications, lower energy and an improved climate for doing business in Guyana.
He pin-pointed the floated ‘Linden to Lethem’ road, hydro-electricity, cellular and power grids as well as greater power sector management as some of the areas which should be prioritised as part of infrastructural development.
Turning his attention to the social scourges in the country, Hunt said violence against women and children must “not only be criminally prosecuted but [also] must become socially and politically unacceptable.
On Guyana’s LGBT community who continue to sit on the margins of national conversations, Hunt called for anti-discrimination legislation to protect the LGBT community and for a change of societal attitudes “to embrace all people as equal, regardless of who they love or how they express their gender.”
“It is essential that social exclusion comes to an end,” Hunt noted, adding that “besides being the right thing to do, it guarantees that Guyana has the full availability of all productive members of its society.”

Domestic Terrorism
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who also spoke at the farewell event, touched on the challenge of domestic terrorism in the country. The Prime Minister drew a nexus between Guyana’s domestic terrorism and the recent Orlando, Florida massacre that left 49 patrons of an LGBT bar dead in its wake.
“In Guyana we have seen the ugly head of domestic terrorism which have been appearing on our streets and internet,” Mr Nagamootoo said as he called on Guyanese to be on guard and vigilant to “nip all attempts of domestic terrorism” before something as severe as the Orlando massacre happens in this country.
Hunt served this country as the US Embassy’s second-in-command for three years, and will now be relocated to Mozambique, in Africa.
Reflecting on his Guyana experience, Hunt told the gathering that this was memorable and expressed hopes for an opportunity to return to the “Land of Many Waters.”