Jagdeo's year in office New style, border instability, investment criticism dominated Questions linger over collective leadership By William Walker Stabroek News August 18, 2000 Being President of The Cooperative Republic of Guyana is not an easy task as President Bharrat Jagdeo has found out. In his first year in office he has had to grapple with an economy still limping from the blows of political and industrial unrest, defend controversial investments, handle serious border turmoil with both Venezuela and Suriname, and still prepare for elections in 2001. A Hawley Harris cartoon in the August 29th edition of Sunday Stabroek shows Jagdeo sitting on a fence in cowboy hat and boots patting two old horses called "Jagan politics" and "Burnham politics" as they hobble off to the "Ol' politics pasture." The cartoon reflected the hopes of many that the appointment of the 35-year-old Jagdeo could somehow change the suffocating racial dynamics of Guyanese politics. A year later it remains to be seen if Jagdeo has closed that pasture gate. The inauguration ceremony at State House on August 11th following the sudden resignation of Janet Jagan, was a bright light after the dark days of the 55-day public servants strike and the continued bitterness between the two major parties following the disputed 1997 elections. Even then the opposition party saw Jagdeo's accession as a manipulation of the constitution and Hoyte refused to recognise the new President. But at the ceremony Jagdeo was conciliatory with an idealistic speech many thought was not possible from the Soviet-trained economist. "I offer you a chance to break the vicious circle of insecurity ..we need to trust each other in our ethnically diverse community. We need to break away from this bondage of victim and victor perceptions." Jagdeo recalled words he had spoken in Kitty in 1997; that all Guyanese dream of having a stable career good paying jobs to take care of their families and savings to own a house and to provide a good education for their children. But from the first week there were more immediate issues to deal with including severe floods on the East Coast. Jagdeo dutifully donned his Wellington boots and waded through villages listening to the complaints of the residents keeping a promise to have equipment to relieve the situation in Enterprise by the end of the day. It must be remembered that there were many suitors for Mrs Jagan's position. A few days after the inauguration Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon was quoted as saying that Jagdeo was not necessarily the party's presidential candidate and mentioned Ralph Ramkarran, Moses Nagamootoo and himself as possible candidates. But after a strange silence for one so voluble Nagamootoo, who many believed was the heir apparent, put his full support behind the young president. Cabinet reshuffle At the inception, the question of a cabinet reshuffle was alive and well. Dr Luncheon again only two days after the inauguration told reporters in his own inimitable way ".... I have also had some reservations about how particular ministers at particular points in time have discharged their mandates. You can't dismiss it (cabinet reshuffle) out of hand." In fact there has been no cabinet reshuffle which has begged the question whether Jagdeo ever had the authority to instigate one. Jagdeo did continue to keep control on the country's purse strings by holding down the position of Minister of Finance. In his inaugural address to the nation on August 22 Jagdeo expressed his concern and hopes for youths and said he had invited Hoyte to meet with him. This offer was met with much scepticism by Hoyte who said the invitation was being considered by his policy team! A Stabroek News editorial of September 13 chided the PNC for its "posture of confronting for the sake of confronting" and urged regular meetings between the two leaders." Another Hawley Harris cartoon had Jagdeo carrying a book called "Guyana's future" as he looked for Hoyte hiding behind a palm tree. Meeting the people Keeping with the theme of "bringing the decision makers closer to the people" Jagdeo took his cabinet on a road show first to Berbice, then Linden and Essequibo. Jagdeo is tremendously energetic with a non-stop schedule of meetings. He seems to spend most weekends dashing around the country, always glad to pose for a picture or to shake one more hand. In the spirit of past Guyanese leaders he is always approachable. He turned a jog earlier this year into a 100-metre dash, outsprinting his security detail and when he turned the sod in Independence Park earlier this month to mark Emancipation Day, observers worried he would strike rock so enthusiastic was his digging! The first out-of-town cabinet meeting in Berbice was an opportunity for a lot of photographs of the ever garlanded Jagdeo holding babies and talking with the masses. He said that ministers would be held accountable for pledges they make on the deadlines of projects. On September 8th he himself promised that the Essequibo road, an eight-year $2.8B project which has hung heavily around the government's neck, would be finished by December 31st last year. With August here, the project is still incomplete. Tribunal award September came roaring in like a lion with the now famous Armstrong Tribunal ruling on wage increases for public servants, riding on its back. History would show that Jagdeo as then Finance minister had denied the GPSU's requested increase and even further back it was Jagdeo who had stopped their duty-free importation of liquor for the 1997 Christmas. But the increases from the arbitration panel which was itself not in full agreement, were probably more than even the union expected: 31.6% for 1999 and 26.67% for 2000 - a cost to the government of $1.3B. But Jagdeo immediately said he would honour the award. The pay increases were eventually paid at the end of October. The government wasted no time in finding funds to pay for the increases. The September 6th increase in the rate of exchange for customs transactions was increased from $155 to $180. Whilst this only reflected the prevailing exchange rates at the cambios it increased the cost of all imports by some 16%. Essentially consumers were paying for the public servants increase. Later in the month Jagdeo could not get a look in the newspapers as the country was siezed by Linden "Blackie" London fever when the fugitive started off a reign of terror by robbing a cambio on America Street. On September 28th, Jagdeo gave his inaugural address to the United Nations in New York and reiterated a lot of the late President Cheddi Jagan's opinions of the need to put a human face to globalisation, calling for debt cancellation, and special treatment for the developing countries' private sectors. In moves to attract investment, Jagdeo fused the office of Go- Invest with the Guyana Export Promotion Council and warned the employees that they were answerable to him for failing to help investors. October began with a cocktail party replete with ice sculpture to hail the formation of the new Guyana Power and Light Co (GPL) and the eternally optimistic citizens believed that with foreign management all the blackouts and power surges would be over. Meanwhile a strike by unpaid private garbage haulers saw even more garbage piling up in the city than usual and the major markets were forced to close. Eventually the city received some $95M in past due rates from ministry buildings a good while after the Cabinet had authorised them to pay up. Border problems October 3rd was the centenary of the 1899 Paris arbitration tribunal that reaffirmed that Essequibo was British Guiana's. To mark the occasion, Venezuela cranked up the propaganda machinery describing the award as "null and an irritant." There were reports of troop movements along the border and the government alerted the UN Good Officer Sir Alister McIntyre. Oliver Jackman would later take over Mcintyre's position. On the very same day Suriname (or "lil' deh bad Suriname" as Stabroek News columnist Allan Fenty described them,) intercepted four speed boats only 200 yards from the Berbice side of the Corentyne River. It was reported that amongst the onlookers were boatless members of the Guyana Defence Force, powerless to respond. The incident was a harbinger of things to come and as recently as November 23rd 1999, the GDF was asking for vessels to patrol its coast line. In October Jagdeo held a one-day summit with business leaders. Hailed as the first of its kind, the summit produced an immediate agreement to waive the consumption tax on locally made garments. Proposals that have recently come close to being launched were the Berbice River Bridge project and plans for a Private Sector development bank. The President also gave an undertaking to link royalty payments on gold to the world price. An investment code mooted by the Private Sector Commission is now being drafted into a bill. The Berbice River Project looks likely to begin in November as promised by the Minister of Works, Anthony Xavier. Ballast Nedam, a Dutch construction company which recently completed the Suriname bridge was chosen as the most qualified bidder for the Build, Operate and Transfer project estimated to cost US$60M and employ 600 workers. Political talks At the end of October Dr Kenny Anthony, Prime Minister of St Lucia arrived to try and put the dialogue engendered by the CARICOM- brokered Herdmanston Accord back on track. The PNC had walked out of talks complaining of the lack of progress! Anthony also tried to get Jagdeo and Hoyte to meet but the PNC raised the issue that as Jagdeo was not head of the PPP any meeting would be meaningless. By the end of the month Jagdeo was quoted in Trinidad as saying in relation to any meeting "I have to move on" and expressed exasperation at the conditions Hoyte had imposed. Jagdeo was talking at his first appearance at the Seventh Special meeting of CARICOM Heads of government in Trinidad. The heads emphasised that the Hoyte/Jagdeo meeting was so crucial that there was absolutely no need for preconditions and that an effort must be created to establish an environment to facilitate it. Jagdeo was later to be accused of "newness" by Trinidad's Trade Minister Mervyn Assam for defending the quality of Guyana's rice and sugar and holding out little hope for a single CARICOM market anytime soon. Prime Minister Panday later apologised to Jagdeo for the minister's slight but the opposition took up the theme of his inexperience. A Stabroek News editorial described Jagdeo's candour as "refreshingly frank after all the pious platitudes." Collective decisions As to the cabinet reshuffle, an October 31 letter to Stabroek News from Carlton Campbell said all the talk of Jagdeo being his own man and getting rid of the old guard ignores the fact that "the PPP makes collective decisions. Jagdeo belongs to that collective leadership. One man decisions are alien to the PPP executive and the PPP/Civic cabinet." The letter also noted Jagdeo's "prodigious memory for detail while never losing sight of the big picture". A Stabroek News editorial observed "To really make his mark and turn things around as he clearly would like to do, the president needs to have an effective team ..it is not only PPP ministers who have been underperforming, there are some obvious Civic candidates for replacement in a reshuffle. "The editorial concluded "A collective party leadership cannot run a government effectively there will be too many compromises for the wrong reasons." By mid-November Jagdeo must have realised that a Minister of Finance was necessary when a parliamentary order was postponed due to the lack of minister. It was a couple of weeks later that Jagdeo or the cabinet or the PPP executive appointed Saisnarine Kowlessar as Minister in the Office of President with Responsibility for Finance. The long- winded title showed Jagdeo was still interested in keeping tabs on his old ministry, citing Kowlessar's "newness" as a reason why Jagdeo would continue to lead international negotiations. Geoffrey Da Silva was appointed as Minister for Trade, Tourism and Industry taking over from Michael Shree Chan who was suffering from cancer. A long awaited shuffle came but it was only to the permanent secretaries, eight of whom were replaced. Jagdeo stressed that the object of the changes was to make government more results oriented and responsive to the needs of the population. November saw the completion of a report from the special select committee charged with constitutional reform. Jagdeo started the month by taking his cabinet roadshow to Linden where he drew big crowds on his walkabouts. At the Palm Tree cinema he promised a better future for the rundown mining town with a $10M micro credit scheme, more housing and better water supplies. Beal deal By December the deal to sell 26,000 acres of land to Beal Aerospace technology of Texas to build a rocket space port was beginning to raise a few eyebrows with many questioning the financial and environmental wisdom of the agreement. On December 1st the government announced a programme of voluntary termination for certain levels of government workers with compensation packages of one year's salary and a training grant. Those left would have to buckle down: "The comparability with private sector wages raises the possibility of incorporating more private sector conditions of service into the public service" said Dr Luncheon. Then the cabinet was off to Essequibo, touring farms, driving along the infamous road and opening the Lake Mainstay Resort. Jagdeo repeated that public service workers must put in their full hours. Jagdeo's pledge to get the Essequibo road finished by December was now pushed back to April with Dipcon being awarded the $544M contract. The road although near completion, is still not finished and the heavy rains have been cited as the reason for the delays. On December 31 1999 the PPP held a huge street party outside their Robb street headquarters to celebrate its 50 years. For Jagdeo it had been a good year. At only 35 he had gained the presidency and to most observers had done little wrong. Legislative programme On January 14 Jagdeo unveiled a packed legislative programme including introduction of acts and amendments to Acts for Money Laundering, Copyright, Broadcasting, Land Registration, Health Facilities, the establishment of a tourism authority, civil aviation, AIDS, traffic, fisheries, the Integrity Commission Act, the Drainage and Irrigation Act, the Shipping Act, the Environmental Protection Act, the New Building Society Act and the Income Tax Act. Those passed so far for the year are the Money Laundering Act, the Caribbean Investment Fund Act, the New Building Society Amendment Act, the Income Tax Amendment Act, the Civil Aviation Act, the Kaieteur National Park Amendment Act and the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Act. Much parliamentary energy has been expended on the reform to the constitution reflected in the passage of the two constitutional amendment acts and the Elections Laws Amendment Act. The 171 recommendations to an altered Constitution are still to be considered by the full house along with the sticky question of the allocation of regional seats which was unresolved by the Oversight Committee. Also in January, Guyana and Trinidad set up a high level bilateral commission to explore trade relations, hassle free travel and business cooperation as Guyana continued to push for Trinidad to purchase more parboiled rice. The government kept up its pressure on the GPSU by notifying the union that it would stop deducting agency fees for non union workers as agreed under a 1976 agreement, due to alleged non accountability by the union. This edict would eventually come into effect in June and created a legal tussle still to be resolved. A Public Service Ministry circular indicated that no time off would be granted to government employees to attend higher education classes. Revenue Authority Later in the month the government, following a favourable ruling from Justice Carl Singh, moved with astonishing speed to set up a Revenue Authority that will oversee the customs and income tax departments. This saw the removal of Head of Customs Clarence Chue who the year before had been reinstated and had reached his office only after a siege of the Customs building. Edgar Heyligar was made Commissioner General of the new authority vowing to crack down on corruption. Jagdeo also chimed in " .... We all know there is corruption in that department .." and said customs officers will be required to declare their incomes. The GPSU representing the customs officers filed an appeal against Singh's ruling describing the new authority as a political tool. They did win a car from a Fogarty's raffle, so not all was bad. February 9th saw the Siege of Eccles and the demise of Linden "Blackie" London at the hands of the police. While Hoyte attended the pre-funeral service of the fugitive to protest police brutality, Jagdeo went to the bed side of GDF Private Lennox Harvey who lost his eye in the 11-hour standoff. Increases in the price of crude oil on the world market sent petrol prices up to $390 per gallon and in February Jagdeo reduced the consumption tax on petroleum products from 50% to 40% as well as suspending the c-tax on cooking gas. This would be reduced further to 35% a few months later. The government signalled its intention to pressure GT&T into relaxing its monopoly control on telecommunications in face of the new technologies and its continued failure to provide universal service. Government would also receive US$1M in dividends, the first ever from the company, at almost the same time the Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission PJ Menon retired. Youth initiative Jagdeo also launched his "Youth Choice Programme" with tours to Regions 3 and 10 where he heard suggestions from youths about projects they think would benefit them. Over $90M will be allocated for 50 projects for the two regions mainly to improve sporting facilities. Some of the money will be spent on establishing small businesses and computer centres. By early March the storm clouds of protest to the Beal Deal were rumbling and the President's office was picketed by Amerindian groups. But on March 16 the Cabinet still cleared the way for its signing. Critics including the civic group Guyana Is First noted the small fees for launching each rocket of only $50,000 per launch. As if on cue, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez repeated his country's claim to the region saying the 1899 award "stripped us.... we've been negotiating with the United States because there are plans to set a rocket launch base there and you can't do that". A few days later the new UN Good Officer Oliver Jackman visited Guyana as part of an introductory session. Jackman recommended contacts at all levels for a practical solution to the border controversy. In mid-April Jagdeo and Chavez met at the South Summit in Havana Cuba. Jagdeo described the talks as cordial but not substantive and reported he had invited Chavez to visit Guyana. Budget The $62B budget delivered by Kowlessar on March 28 was 25% more than in 1999 but was roundly criticised by the private sector as being unimaginative with no tax cuts or investment incentives. It placed heavy emphasis on government expenditure; $14.58B in the areas of housing, water and education ($9.3B), and made optimistic assumptions about ecomomic growth to collect the additional revenues. The budget had an inflation target of 9.5% (1999 8.6%) and predicted growth in GDP of 3%. Kowlessar at a press conference co-hosted by Jagdeo defended his budget by saying it was prepared against the background of the international economic environment. Attempts to privatise the ailing state bauxite companies failed with no bids for Linmine and Aroaima Bauxite Company's tender for Bermine being rejected. The sale of Guyana Stores Ltd also fell through because the investor Royal Investments headed by Reaz Khan could not find the US$6M. In early May PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar boosted Jagdeo's grip on power by describing him as having done "exceedingly well" and saying Jagdeo was the likely candidate for the PPP. Meanwhile preparations for the elections were coming along if a little hesitantly. The commissioners for the Elections Commission were appointed and the widely approved Major General (rtd) Joe Singh was confirmed as its chairman having been forwarded by the opposition party. There were concerns that international donors would have too much control over the elections in return for funding. But the Beal Deal now took centre stage, when it was revealed that the government was to sell the 26,000 acres of land at US$3 per acre and would give the company a 99-year tax break. When the deal was eventually signed almost all opposition parties and civic groups blasted the deal or "steal" with one describing it as "a complete surrender of Guyana's sovereignty for 30 pieces of silver." Of course Venezuela objected, expressing its concern for the continued policy of granting concessions of any nature to foreign companies in the Essequibo saying it contravened the spirit of the 1966 Geneva agreement. Jagdeo defended the deal to domestic critics by noting that the land was swamp and that the US$100M investment would be at no cost to the country. He said if the government had bargained harder Beal might have walked away and the government would have been criticised for losing a high tech opportunity. A skilful public relations programme orchestrated by Kit Nascimento lessened the controversy. A visit by a Stabroek News reporter to the Waini River region showed many of the residents favoured the project for its economic benefits, despite the shrill protests of Amerindian groups in town. CGX rig June was to bring Jagdeo his sternest test. Suriname's armed removal of the CGX oil rig which was drilling for oil off the Corentyne River caused a flurry of intense diplomatic negotiations. CGX had been awarded a licence in the Eagle site and the day it was to start drilling Surinamese gunboats ordered it to move, claiming the area belonged to Suriname. At first the meetings to return the rig only involved a team headed by Foreign Minister Clement Rohee meeting his counterparts in Trinidad, then in Guyana. But with no resolution in sight the Foreign Ministry brought in former PNC foreign minister Rashleigh Jackson to boost their team when the talks moved to Paramaribo. Meanwhile the rig was waiting to return to the site at a cost to the company of US$80,000 per day. Drilling at an alternative location, Horseshoe West was unsuccessful. Rohee had early on predicted that "we were more or less there" and the discussions were at times tantalisingly close to agreement. It did not help that the Suriname Coast Guard was patrolling the Corentyne river with impunity and detaining Guyanese fishing boats. On June 22 a Suriname military plane flew provocatively low over the New River Triangle. But without a single patrol boat all Guyana could do about these actions, was protest. The talks then proceeded to a higher level with Jagdeo taking over at the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in Canouan, St Vincent. Guyana's request for a reprimand against Suriname for its use of force was denied and Jagdeo's protest over the wearing of a military uniform to the meetings by the Chief of Staff of the Suriname Defence Force also went unheeded. More substantively Guyana was bending over backwards to find a resolution including offering joint exploration and a share of the proceeds. But Suriname insisted that Guyana must accept the disputed area as belonging to Suriname. With still no progress the talks went on to Jamaica and with an agreement almost reached, a Memorandum of Understanding on the verge of being signed and "only minor details to be hammered out" the talks fell apart again. The stumbling block was widely considered to be the failure to settle on a formula for the interim sharing of resources in the disputed area while the two sides continued to work towards a final agreement. A front page Stabroek News editorial was more to the point: "Suriname in opportunistic fashion thought she saw an opening to wring territorial concessions out of Guyana by using the oil rig as a lever... .She has now damned the economic prospects in the short term both for herself and Guyana ...undermined CARICOM and brought herself into international disrepute ... The government was right to make no territorial concessions.... during the recent negotiations and to bring an end to the discussions." Jagdeo submitted that Suriname had put forward "the specious argument" that the area of dispute was now to be regarded as solely in control of Suriname. The CGX rig packed up and went away and the chance of Guyana doubling its GDP from the potential oil reserves was lost for the meantime. And there would be no let up as Hugo Chavez's government fresh from re-election stated only a week later its intention to conduct exploratory activities for oil off the Essequibo coast supported by a naval presence whilst dissuading oil companies from utilising their Guyanese licences. UN Good Officer Jackman was invited to both countries to hear the complaints. Guyana sent letters of protest to the heads of the Commonwealth and CARICOM. The government recognising the need to have expert advice on the matter regardless of political affiliation said it planned to set up a presidential advisory commission on the border dispute. Observers note there is a different style to the Jagdeo presidency although the substance may not have changed much. He has shown an impatience for bureaucratic sloth and mismanagement but this has yet to trickle down to the average citizen. By any measure his pledge in Kitty to improve the standard of living is far from being realised. The question is whether this disjunction between what he says and what actually happens is because of the decision making structure of the PPP and by extension the Cabinet. Were the PPP to be re-elected next year, only then might Guyanese see how much Jagdeo is prepared to make performance the paramount requirement for a position in a new cabinet and whether then he can deliver on his promises. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today