Administration working to fill vacant diplomatic posts

– no consensus on consul general to Barbados

Several of Guyana’s diplomatic missions are without heads – a situation the administration said it is working to fix. Among the vacant posts are ambassadors to Brazil and Venezuela, as well as an honorary consul general to Barbados.    

Government recently moved its ambassadors to Brazil and Venezuela and posted them to missions in Canada and Kuwait respectively. Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon, when asked on Thursday whether replacements have been identified, said no. Ambassador Odeen Ishmael was last week moved from Venezuela and reassigned to Kuwait, while Ambassador Harrinarine Nawbatt was reassigned from Brazil to Canada. Brazil and Venezuela are key allies of Guyana, and with talks of the deepening of South American integration, those diplomatic postings have taken on greater significance.          

Meanwhile, Guyanese living in Barbados cannot agree on a suitable replacement for the former honorary consul to that country, and the Bharrat Jagdeo administration may be forced to dispatch a diplomatic team to Bridgetown to sort out the issue. 

Guyana Times International was told that recent attempts at finding a replacement for the late Norman Faria have been difficult, with the diaspora unable to reach consensus among three candidates who have been put forward. A top government official said on Wednesday, December 08th that, as a result of the deadlock, administration officials are mulling whether to send Guyana’s Ambassador to Caricom, Elizabeth Harper, and a team to Barbados to have the matter resolved.  Faria died in a Barbados hospital in May this year after a brief illness. The former freelance journalist had served as Guyana’s consul for 16 years. 

Senior diplomats have said it is imperative for someone to be appointed soon to the Barbados post, given the recent fallout between Guyanese natives and the David Thompson administration over immigration issues.  

A number of undocumented Guyanese were ordered out of Barbados last year. Several others had said that, even though they had their documents in order, immigration officials had rounded them up and deported them.  

And as if that were not enough, the Barbados government recently hiked immigration fees, prompting a strong response from the founder of the Guyanese Association of Barbados, attorney-at-law Latchman Kissoon. 

The increases in immigration fees will see Caricom nationals paying, in some cases, twice what they previously paid for services from the immigration department. Barbadian Finance Minister Chris Sinckler had announced the increase during his budget presentation two weeks ago. He said at the time that government was seeking to raise an additional Bds$4 million in revenue from the immigration department this financial year, and this would be earned in fees charged. 

The changes, which also affect the cost of acquiring the Barbados passport, include a rise in the permanent resident application fee, moving it from Bds$600 to Bds$1,200; the grant of application for immigrant status fee, moving it from Bds$600 to Bds$1,200; and the grant of permission to reside and work in Barbados fee, moving it from $800 to Bds$1,000.

The application for a work permit fee goes up from Bds$200 to Bds$300; while fees for all categories of immigrant workers have also been increased.

Kissoon had said that while Caricom citizens did not need visas, the hikes to them were “restrictive”.

“We are destroying Caricom at a time when we should be encouraging inter-regional travel,” Kissoon was quoted in the Barbados Nation as saying.