Re-equipping the army
Finally, the government has announced a two-year capital injection of $545M for the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). According to Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, the outlay will be used to beef up the air and naval wings of the GDF. The army's fleet of aircraft is to be serviced, the coast guard wharf repaired, a vessel leased or purchased to patrol the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and a naval craft procured for a range of military activity. The allocations will be welcomed with a sigh of relief from Guyanese not because they will meet our desperate military needs - they will not - but as a sign that this government is finally beginning to take seriously the need to have a small, professional army that is properly equipped. What has forced a rapid rethink of the government's position was Suriname's military adventurism in Guyana's waters when its gunboats chased away the CGX oil rig and the realisation that had our army had a well-known, credible presence in the area where CGX was prospecting we might have been swimming in oil today and celebrating our status as an oil producer. A big opportunity was lost because of the emasculation of the military and this is a state of affairs that successive governments starting with the PNC should answer for. Of course, the legitimate needs of the army predated the CGX fiasco and in more recent years manifested itself in the stark need for close patrolling of our EEZ where our fish stocks are being plundered relentlessly by boats of all nationalities. It has been open season in our waters and hopefully the greatest immediate impact of these allocations would be to restrict in some way this pillaging. The enhancing of our aerial capability and the procuring of an armed high seas patrol boat will at least put the army on the map and facilitate a more activist role in securing our boundaries. It does not, however, put us anywhere near the capability needed in the aftermath of Suriname's power play. Suriname has embarked on a course of action that has reduced options on both sides and moreso carries with it the threat of further militarism. Our army must therefore be endowed with what is absolutely required to stave off any further threat. Paramaribo has spent - considering the shattered state of its economy - profligately on its military and its navy now boasts six or seven state-of-the art patrol boats with which it has been aggressively prowling the Corentyne and the zone in the Atlantic off the river. There is no sense in embarking on an arms race with Suriname; it would be sheer foolishness. What the government must do is find creative ways of re-equipping the military. While it should not be the prime objective, the conclusion of an honourable `shiprider' arrangement with the US will likely make more hardware available to the army. Sympathetic governments like the UK and Canada could also be approached bearing in mind that it is not only to the east where a physical presence must be established but to the west and the north. There has not been a clear statement from the government on what our exact military needs are and how these will be met. The National Security Strategy is still being fashioned and not much has been heard of it recently. Based on what this strategy comes up with and considering that the maritime zone is where the greatest challenges lie so far, the government must state clearly how these capital needs will be factored into our budgets or met through bilateral engagement such as with the United States. A start has been made with the $545M but there is still a far way to go.
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