MINISTER of State, Cabinet Secretary Joseph Harmon, has said that for the next four months, all Cabinet meetings will continue to be held at the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Headquarters at Camp Ayanganna in Georgetown, because the Ministry of the Presidency is undergoing renovation.Minister Harmon made it clear that Cabinet meetings have to be hosted in a secure location, and discussions relative to the business of the people of Guyana must be done in a secure environment.

“It has to be in a place where the conversations or the discussions of Cabinet cannot be easily picked up on, or understood by, or learned by, anybody else who is not entitled to receive that information…. In the view of Cabinet, the safest option was the Officers’ Club at Camp Ayanganna — which provided the facilities for Cabinet to meet; for Cabinet to be able to do its recording; (for) discussions to be (held) in a secure place, which is not easily accessible; (and where discussions are not) easily heard by persons who are not authorised to receive the information of Cabinet discussions,” he explained.

The cost of acquiring the venue was also considered, he explained, as he disclosed that Government had explored using other locations.

Pointing to the Arthur Chung Convention Centre at Liliendaal, ECD, he noted that that venue is also soon to be undergoing repairs for four months, starting from December 4.

“There was a contract for the repairs and renovation to be done to the Cabinet Room here in this building (Ministry of the Presidency). I also announced a contract for the rehabilitation of the fence (and) gate as you come in from Shiv Chanderpaul Drive into the Ministry of the Presidency. There is a lot of work to be done on these buildings. You’d recognise that, since we came into office, we had to do a tremendous amount of work in this complex to bring it to the state (in which it now is),” the Minister explained.

Harmon noted that the Cabinet Room, which is also used for swearing-in ceremonies and accreditations, has to undergo some form of rehabilitation; and he highlighted an issue with the air conditioning unit: “…it is old and it needs to be fixed, and we have to fix that.”

“(Cabinet Room) is not only for the members of Cabinet; it is for the Guyanese people at large (who) have to do business here in Guyana,” he said. “When ambassadors or foreign dignitaries come to present their credentials and so on, they come here; and we have to ensure at all times that this country’s image is always at its best. And therefore the works to be done here at the Cabinet were identified very early in 2016,” he explained.