Latest update June 21st, 2026 12:48 AM
Latest News
- Guyana paid off Exxon for 7 oil projects but still to receive full 50% profits agreed to in contract
- Gas-to-Energy contractor wriggles out of U.S. lawsuit alleging multi-million $$$ fraud
- One dead, several injured in three-vehicle smash-up at Providence
- Iran closes Strait of Hormuz
- State grants accounted for nearly a third of GPL revenue in 2024 — PUC Report
Are the proposed consultations just a ploy?
DEAR EDITOR,
Permit me to respond to Kaieteur News Editorial “Guyana will not return to being a colony” (Kaieteur News 11/7/2008).
This editorial was in response to the Jamaica Observer analysis on President Jagdeo’s new position on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
I disagree with Kaieteur News’ colonization position, because signing on to the EPA is not about colonization, it is about judgment and making the right decisions.
The EPA is a partnership agreement between Europe, CARICOM countries and the Dominican Republic. This partnership has to do with trade and development, and this partnership was the result of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
Persons who attended the Heads of Government Meeting in December 2007 in Guyana have informed that, even though President Jagdeo criticised the EPA, he did advise the December Meeting that the best deal was made of the EPA under the existing circumstance and they should accept and sign the Agreement.
Given the above, President Jagdeo’s new position against the EPA brings into question his credibility and relationship with his Heads of Government peers.
Guyanese are aware that President Jadgeo’s management style does not include consultation. Rather, it has been governance by edict.
Now that the President has found himself cornered and his fellow CARICOM leaders disappointed in him, he is speaking about full national consultation with Guyanese.
The proposed consultation is a ploy, because the President knows if Guyana does not sign on to the EPA taxes will be applied to our sugar and rice exported into Europe, just as how Nigeria, who failed to sign on to the EPA, is paying taxes on its cocoa from January 2008.
The purpose of the EPA is to make trade with Europe compatible with WTO rules. President Jagdeo and the other Caribbean political leaders signed on to the WTO, which is driving trade agreement.
The Caribbean negotiators and Europe cannot be blamed for the results of the EPA, because it was President Jagdeo and the other Caribbean political leaders who signed on to the WTO.
Humphrey Charles
Share this:
Discover more from Kaieteur News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.