– Luncheon says of USAID project
Dr Roger Luncheon
The government of Guyana said that it will not enter into any negotiations with the U.S. government in relation to the rejected United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Leadership Enhancement and Democracy Project (LEAD) if attempts are made to continue the implementation of that initiative despite its strong objections.
Government’s chief spokesperson, Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon on Wednesday reiterated government’s stance on the project, while dismissing any expectation that the government was experiencing a change of heart towards the project.
He was at the time responding to questions posed by journalists at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing.
No negotiation
“We ain’t negotiating under duress,” the Cabinet secretary insisted while disclosing that “we are not discussing a project and its implementation while it is being implemented”.
D Brent Hardt
He announced that steps are already being taken to formally provide the U.S. government Guyana’s final position on the project after receiving a response to a list of inquires about the said project from Washington on Monday.
Dr Luncheon told journalists that the U.S.’s response to the concerns raised by the government merely invited the authorities here to engage its bilateral partners in the U.S. in discussions on the project and its design.
He reasoned that any such engagement must include the examinations of the contentions of the government while declaring that despite the host of public exchanges between the two sides on the project, “its merits are of lesser significance” at this stage.
“What is of most significance is the fact that the government of Guyana, the sovereign authority, has declared what it has declared… it has decided what it has decided… and a foreign government has in essence said to the government of Guyana: we have no respect for what you said and what you decided and what conclusions you came to… we are going ahead,” the Cabinet secretary said.
Asked more pointedly whether the response from Washington actually mirrors the public utterances of U.S. Ambassador D Brent Hardt on the project, Dr Luncheon said that it did not address his comments or the specifics raised by the Guyana government.
“They have not said that they have taken the Guyana government’s concerns into consideration and they either have taken a decision to abandon the project or nothing… they have not said anything,” he responded when questioned by Guyana Times International.
Asked what inference can be drawn from such a diplomatic response about whether the project is progressing, he stated, “Well… if they didn’t say so… is so.”
Sovereignty
However, Dr Luncheon maintained that government will have to discuss the response before it makes any other decisions that could see the relations between the two sides on this project further deteriorate, but it will not surrender its sovereignty to any foreign power.
“We need to discuss this… most of my colleagues feel that this is not an insurmountable matter, problem to be resolved but there are principled ways to address the issue.”
The Cabinet secretary also admitted that government was not willing to let the fruitful relations with the U.S. worsen, explaining that it can “allow this one swallow to be made sour”.
He disclosed too that Georgetown’s response to the objectionable posture of the U.S. will be dispatched to Washington before the end of the week, noting that the “crafting” of the response has begun.
Dr Luncheon has been the lead spokesperson championing the government’s concerns and reservations about the project since it was presented to the Donald Ramotar administration.
Despite the position of government, the two right-wing political parties in the country, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) have signalled their full support for the USAID LEAD project.
