Recapitalising the GDF


Stabroek News
August 20, 2000


Governments aren't given to perfection. The people know that. And as a consequence the people don't expect perfection from them. Yet for some strange reason those who hold political office believe that they must present an image of flawlessness to the public, either because they think that that is the standard which the voters demand, or because they are terrified to admit some level of failure to themselves. No mistakes, therefore, are ever conceded; official pronouncements vigorously repudiate any suggestion of miscalculation or dereliction, even in instances where these are glaringly apparent.

And so it was, true to form, that on Saturday, August 12, the Ministry of Information issued a press release labelling as "cheap political propaganda" allegations of under capitalization of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), and the consequent compromising of its capability. Warming to the topic, the authors of the statement went on to claim that these allegations were being "peddled... at the expense of our nation's security," and were "calculated to undermine confidence in our national army." There was no evidence, they said, to suggest that the present administration had starved the GDF of funds.

Strong stuff, considering that the population knows that Guyana has been unable to prevent the plundering of our marine resources by interlopers because she has no patrol boats. Strong stuff, considering that the population is aware that Guyanese vessels cannot be protected from pirates because we have no patrol boats. Strong stuff, considering that the population is conscious of the fact that the Government conceded the Corentyne river to Suriname because there were no patrol boats. Strong stuff, considering that the public is only too well informed about how Suriname forced the CGX rig from our waters because we had no patrol boats. Strong stuff, considering that the population had heard or read about the previous Chief-of-Staff making public pleas for the re-capitalization of the army - including, no doubt, the acquisition of patrol boats.

Just who does the Ministry of Information think it is talking to? Does it take the public for complete fools, or is this the ultimate expression of cynicism? Does it really not occur to it that there is a yawning credibility gap here?

Of course, the release gets into the standard political diatribe about how it was really the PNC administration under former President Hoyte which starved the GDF of funds, since even allowing for changes in the exchange rate and inflation, PPP expenditure on the army was "far superior". It is perfectly true that the contraction in the GDF at all levels began under the Hoyte administration, and that that was when the notion of 'affordability' in defence matters was first introduced. That too was a mistake. But the PPP/Civic has to take responsibility for its decisions during its own period in office. Everything that has happened in the last seven-and-a-half years, including the cessation of patrols in the Corentyne river, the CGX fiasco and the failure to equip the Coast Guard is to its own account, and not that of any other political party.

Its insult to the intelligence of the Guyanese populace apart, one hopes that this press release is not an indication of a refusal on the part of the Government to face reality. Where the frontiers are concerned, we need a whole change of direction in policy at all levels, but before we can get it, previous mistakes have to be faced up to privately, even if not publicly. Whatever happened before this point cannot be undone, but at least we can learn from the miscalculations which were made, whether by the PNC or the PPP/Civic.

The possibility exists too that the Government has changed its mind about upgrading the capability of the GDF, and investing in patrol boats, among other things. One hopes that this is not so, but since the public stance of the administration now seems to be that during its term the military was not underfunded, it would follow therefrom that the army hardly needs re-capitalising now. If that is its position, it needs to come out in the open and tell the public so directly, and what the reason for this volte face is.

At a time when there is a crisis on our borders, when we need a national consensus on the matter of the frontiers, an agreed framework among the political parties for dealing with the boundary, a national border commission, the recruiting of experts, the resuscitation of the documentation centre, the formulation of strategies, the upgrading of our diplomatic capabilities, and the recapitalisation of the army, the Government appears to be playing petty political games. It is not an approach designed to inspire confidence in the Guyanese people that it is taking the border problem seriously. After all that has happened, the need to upgrade the GDF should not be in dispute.


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