— President Granger tells local diplomats

PRESIDENT David Granger told local diplomats on Monday that the Foreign Service is not a place for “party patronage”, but a “place for hard work and professionalism”.The President said that although the concept may be difficult for some persons to accept and understand, because of their belief that there should be a reward system, the ambassadorial appointments should be meritorious.

“…it is not an appointment for party supporters,” the President emphasized, while making it clear that his administration’s ambassadorial appointments were based on merit.
His advice was, however, simple and to the point: represent the national interest. The economy, political government, social cohesion and security are four critical areas that impact the development of the country, the President pointed out.

For far too long, Guyana has been heavily dependent on rice, bauxite, gold, diamond, sugar and fish. It is time for the country to further diversify its economy by focusing on non-traditional products and services, such as eco-tourism. However, in moving forward, Guyana needs the Caribbean Community, the President said as he underscored the importance of having under-developed and developing countries work together to achieve a common good.

Amidst concerns about the progress made by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the quest to truly establish a Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), President Granger said that, regardless of one’s evaluation of the Caribbean Community, it is the economic basis on which Guyana’s turnaround will occur.

“We need the Caribbean; we need to be able to sell our products not to 750,000 persons, but to five million or 10 million or 15 million (persons). So it is not the matter of option, it is obligatory for us to enter more forcefully into the Caribbean; and even if it faltering, fortify it so we can have a market for our produce,” he told the Guyanese diplomats.

In the area of security, President Granger said it is important for the country to resolve the ongoing territorial controversy with Venezuela.

“Unless we solve the territorial problem, we will not be able to attract the quality of investors we need, the number of investors (we need),” he posited. “In fact, the Venezuelans have been scaring away investors for 50 years, contributing to our underdevelopment,” President Granger added while alluding to the threats made by Venezuela’s Ottawa Ambassador to the Guyana Goldfields Inc., which operates mines at Aurora in Guyana’s Cuyuni-Mazaruni region.
In October, 2015, Venezuela had issued a letter to the Canadian mining company, objecting to its operation here.

President Granger called on all diplomats to educate themselves on the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy and similar issues of national and international interest. “You must understand it inside out,” he advised them.