Corbin breaks tradition of political unity on border integrity
Stance harming national interests – President
Guyana Chronicle
March 14, 2004
`This matter should have been solved a long time ago. We should have gone this route earlier. And as President I am going to do it. We have too many poor people and rather than us fighting all the time and making every issue political we should try to utilise all of our resources to upgrade this country. Think about if Guyana were to find oil and we start exploration, it would transform our country, create more jobs for our people an better conditions of life. That could not be diversionary’” President Bharrat Jagdeo
(GINA) – IN SPITE of differences on other matters, the political parties of Guyana have always been united in matters affecting Guyana’s territorial integrity and the Leader of the Opposition Robert Corbin broke a tradition with his non-support of Guyana’s revocation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
This is according to President Bharrat Jagdeo during a television interview with NCN’s Editor-in-Chief Wilfred Cameron on current issues.
Corbin had earlier accused the Government of making this move as a diversionary tactic from the allegations levelled against Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj. Corbin also accused the President of using his recent trips to Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica as diversions from the local issue.
President Jagdeo noted that what is worrisome is the fact that Corbin sees the efforts to protect Guyana’s border as diversionary.
“Never in the past {has this happened} and if Mr. Hoyte or Mr. Burnham were here I do not think they would have taken this position. Mr. Corbin has broken a position. Our border issues are sacred and we never play politics with our borders,” he said.
Corbin did not accept the President’s invitation issued since last year for a meeting to plan how Guyana will deal with the border dispute with Suriname, that is, going to a third party for some mediation. Corbin’s defence was that he was aware of the issue so did not need to attend the meeting.
“The decision to actually file the claim under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea was taken at one o’clock on Mashramani Day here at State House,” the President said.
The meeting with the Sectoral Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Cabinet meeting on the issue were slated for seven and eight o’clock the same day, as all of this had to been completed within a short time to prevent Suriname from filing a reservation and block this avenue for Guyana.
“Mr. Corbin refused to come. The members of the Sectoral Committee refused to come and he made a statement that I was interested in a photo opportunity. Now a photo opportunity doesn’t raise my stock very much in Guyana. I have country to run. I am not interested in a photo opportunity with the Leader of the Opposition. It is the meeting that I am interested in. But it was a childish response to a very serious issue. The issue is our border problem,” the President said.
He noted that Government’s position is even being supported by two former Foreign Affairs Ministers under the previous PNC regime – Rashleigh Jackson and Sir Shridath Ramphal.
The President noted that the potential of oil being found offshore is high and this could be a tremendous boost to Guyana’s economy.
“This matter should have been solved a long time ago. We should have gone this route earlier. And as President I am going to do it. We have too many poor people and rather than us fighting all the time and making every issue political we should try to utilise all of our resources to upgrade this country. Think about if Guyana were to find oil and we start exploration, it would transform our country, create more jobs for our people and better conditions of life. That could not be diversionary,” the Head of State said.
The PNCR has also accused Government of using the expulsion of Attorney-at-Law Khemraj Ramjattan from the PPP as another diversionary tactic.
According to President Jagdeo, Ramjattan was expelled from the Party and that is the end of the matter. This is not a diversion, he maintained.
“Everything that the Government does today is being called diversionary. I have a country to run. I will be trying to raise money from the international agencies, which the PNC is trying to block, for development here in Guyana, for more roads and water and electricity and housing and education, because our people want these things, and they are trying to block it. I will try to solve our border problems in a peaceful way, regardless of what the PNC says,” he asserted.
According to President Jagdeo, he cannot decide how the PNCR will run their party, but their action is harming national interest. He assured the public that he will run the country based on a clear conscience and principle.
Despite Guyana’s and CARICOM’s genuine efforts to resolve the Guyana/Suriname dispute amicably, the flurry of diplomatic activity and bilateral meetings failed to yield any results. Suriname insisted on maritime delimitation based on a line running 10° east of true north, though it offered no justification for its position. It rejected all suggestions to delimit the maritime zone based on the principles of international law contained in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Suriname even rejected repeated offers to establish a Special Zone for Sustainable Development in order to allow for joint exploration and exploitation pending settlement of the maritime boundary. In short, Suriname made clear that it would not compromise, and that it was willing to use force to prevent Guyana from exploring and exploiting the natural resources in its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.
In these circumstances, the Government of Guyana has a clear and pressing duty to seek to resolve its maritime differences with Suriname by every peaceful means, the President had earlier said in an address to the nation.
Fortunately, as the Government of Barbados has recently demonstrated in its maritime dispute with Trinidad and Tobago, such means are at hand in the form of procedures available under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to which both Suriname and Guyana are parties. These procedures allow for disputes relating to maritime boundaries between adjacent states which are parties to the Treaty to be submitted for binding resolution to an Arbitral Tribunal established under the Treaty.
“Everyone can be assured that we will proceed with the arbitrary process with Suriname which we have initiated in the spirit of the United Nations Convention and in keeping with the highest standards of international amity – not as an adversarial process, but one designed to establish a sound basis for economic development in the maritime regions of both Suriname and Guyana. We hope the Government of Suriname will cooperate with us in achieving this,” he had said.