…Cabinet to announce policy position on GuySuCo

GOVERNMENT on Tuesday took definitive actions on several major issues and there is now greater clarity among all ministers, President David Granger has said.
He made the disclosure on the sidelines of a ministerial conference at State House, the Ministry of the Presidency has reported. According to the ministry, the conference discussed major policy positions on a number of key areas, such as Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), the education and housing sectors and foreign relations.

The ministry said following the close of the meeting, which includes both Cabinet and non-Cabinet Ministers, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, is expected to provide a full briefing on definitive decisions that have been taken. The MOTP reported that while Cabinet meetings are held weekly Tuesday’s forum allowed all ministers of government to discuss major development plans and programmes for 2017 and it ensures coordination of work programmes and policies. “We haven’t finished the discussions at this point in time but what I would say is that we have taken more definitive action on things like foreign policy, education, housing policy [and] GuySuCo… There is greater clarity on those issues now among all of the ministers,” Granger is quoted by the ministry as saying.

Meanwhile, according to the MOTP release, President Granger spoke about the relationship among coalition parties, saying that it remains strong and expressed full confidence that Raphael Trotman, who is the new leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), is just as committed as his predecessor to making the political alliance work. “Whenever problems have arisen these have been resolved by discussions between the two sides, but I will say, so far, in almost exactly two years, we have not had any major disagreement on the form of the [Cummingsburg] Accord,” President Granger said.

Emphasising the importance of consistent communication and discussions among ministers of government, the President explained that all of them bring important perspectives and represent a wide cross section of constituents. “It is important that we speak to each other frequently so that there is no misunderstanding or lack of coordination in the various positions that we take,” he said.