WHEN CHAMPIONS MEET

Jun 27, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

---

Two champions met recently in Port of Spain. Our Champion of the Earth met with the Champion of the People’s Partnership.
Just why they met stirred a mini-controversy. In the Trinidad media, it was initially reported that the meeting was about the relocation of a smelter project to Guyana. This was quickly debunked, with one media house claiming it was told that the report had caused some problems for our champ. It turned out that the meeting was about cooperation between the two countries, with Guyana interested in building capacity in the petroleum sector and Trinidad being interested in food production.
These were some of the issues discussed when the two leaders met. But surely there must have been other things which were on the agenda.
When too champions meet there is always great excitement. This time, however, the sparks did not fly. No major deal was signed, but our champion would have no doubt learnt a few things about how governments are run from his Trinidadian counterpart.
He would have seen how during its first days in office, the People’s Partnership handled a mini storm involving criticisms of one of its ministers holding a senior position in FIFA while holding public office.
A complaint was made by the opposition to the Integrity Commission and the Commission gave an opinion. The opinion was studied and the government sought the opinions of three eminent legal counsels from outside the country on the matter. The government did not engage in a tit-for-tat with the opposition. It diffused a controversy through its expert non-partisan handling of the situation.
Our government needs to take a leaf out of the People’s Partnership handling of that matter and in general, the way in which the Trinidadian Prime Minister has been forthcoming on matters of public concern.
The new Trinidad government has not been defensive and has not been making excuses. It has been direct in dealing with issues that have arisen, including the talks which were held with President Jagdeo.
Now that our champion is back, he should tell us about the details of his meeting with the Prime Minister of Trinidad. We do not want to hear about the media and how they are distorting the news. We do not wish him to go on the defensive and to say that certain details will have to be kept confidential until later. We want to hear the details about that trip, what was agreed to and what was not agreed to. If that information is made public, then there will be no need for our good President to have to worry about media misrepresentation.
Our President is a good boy. He does his best. He tries all the time to put Guyana first. He would have done so during his latest visit overseas and that is why he should tell us why Guyana is interested in the help of the Trinidadians in building technical capacity should we strike oil. Surely that technical support is available all over the world.
We are moons away from the discovery of oil, and even if it is found, those with rights to the wells and ownership of the refineries would have the responsibility to find the required technical expertise. This is going to be as easy as a Sunday morning.
What is confounding is why our champion would believe that Trinidad would be forthcoming with such assistance. The day that Guyana discovers oil, it would place this country in competition with the twin-island republic, and it is naïve therefore to believe that Trinidad is the right country to approach for any assistance.
Trinidad, we are told, is interested in agricultural cooperation. But is it not from Trinidad that some technical experts advising our farmers originate? Trinidad can hardly be said to seek technical help when it comes to agriculture. What they may need is land. And Guyana has a great deal of land.
Under the previous regime, the Trinidadians had hinted at outsourcing farms to Guyana, which has an abundance of land. So is this proposal still on the cards and is Guyana still supporting it seeing that we are pushing agricultural expansion and diversification?
What is in Guyana’s interest is for the Trinidadians and other Caribbean territories to remove the remaining barriers to increased exports from Guyana. This will allow us to feed the entire region, and therefore, no need to have to worry about building capacity in the petroleum sector.
These are early days yet for the new Trinidadian Prime Minister, and she must be given time to settle on the job before judgment is passed. In the case of our own champion, he is only months away from demitting office, and therefore there is most likely to be a haste to get things finished.
Transparency and openness must however take precedence over the rush to complete work that has started. There are questions to be answered and the press has been asking a great deal of questions. The responses have been coming at a trickle.
Instead of the government worrying about which media house is aligned to which political party, and instead of bashing media houses for their reportage, the government should ensure that all its agreements are made public, and that there is a level of disclosure that would attract a high degree of confidence in the work of the administration.

---

---