PRESIDENT David Granger is expected to meet Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II during his April 24-28 visit to the United Kingdom.
The Head-of-State has departed for the trip, a release from the Ministry of the Presidency said. President Granger will have an audience with the Queen at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.
He will also attend the Caribbean Council’s Annual Reception at the House of Lords. According to the release, the President will deliver an address at that reception, which will be held on Tuesday evening.

Right Honourable Lord Bruce of Bennachie; Minister of State, Baroness Anelay; and Dr. Angus McCoss, Exploration Director at Tullow Oil will also address the forum.
According to the release, the annual reception provides an opportunity for Members of Parliament, peers, high commissioners, ambassadors, members of the UK civil service, non-governmental organisations, members of the Caribbean diaspora and businesses investing in or interested in investing in the Caribbean region to network, with a view to supporting the region’s economic development.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge is accompanying the President on the trip. The team will also meet with members of the UK Government, the British business community and the Guyanese diaspora in London.
The President’s meeting with the Queen is significant since it marks several years since a Guyanese sitting Head-of-State last met with the Head of the Commonwealth.
Guyana obtained independence from Britain in May 1966.
Over the years, the two countries have collaborated on a number of projects which were funded by the UK.
The most recent of such undertakings is the Security Sector Reform Project (SSRP) which the APNU+AFC administration restarted since assuming office in May 2015.
Under former President Bharrat Jagdeo, the previous government in 2009 objected to the SSRP, and reasoned that Britain’s requirements would have resulted in the violation of Guyana’s sovereignty.
Britain subsequently abandoned the project.

In 2016, just under a year after assuming the Presidency, President Granger met with Baroness Joyce Anelay, Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations (UN) at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron and British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn, with the request that consideration be given to restart the programme here.
A UK team subsequently visited the country to perform scoping works to prepare for the arrival of the senior advisor.

The plan would provide for the building of the operational capacity of the Police Force, from the provision of a uniformed response to serious crimes, forensics, crime intelligence and traffic policing to the strengthening of policy-making across the security sector to make it more transparent, effective and better coordinated.
In January this year, British Senior Security Sector Reform Advisor, Russell Combe, who serves as the advisor to the President, under the SSRP, met with Minister of State Joseph Harmon and was assured of Government’s commitment to ensuring the crafting and implementation of the five-year strategic report.
The advisor will produce the report at the end of his one-year placement in Guyana.
Combe is from the Olive Group, which was contracted by Engineering, Design, Construction, Management (AECOM), on behalf of the United Kingdom Government.