Green light given for Nat’l Border Institute

Aug 05, 2016 News

Minister of State Joseph Harmon, during the Post Cabinet Press Briefing yesterday, revealed that Cabinet last Tuesday, had accepted and agreed to the proposal put forth by the Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, to establish a National Border Institute.
The establishment of this institute, Minister Harmon explained, will enable research to ensure the maintenance of Guyana territorial integrity, as well as to address issues relating to Guyana’s airspace and continental shelf.
“Cabinet agreed that the institute should be a semi-autonomous agency under the management of a Board of Directors, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs as chairman initially,”
He stated that the Directors will be drawn from key agencies relevant to the objectives of the institute such as the Attorney General’s Chamber; Guyana Defence Force; Maritime Administration Department; National Archives of Guyana; University of Guyana; Guyana Civil Aviation Authority and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission.
Harmon added that it was also agreed that the assistance of former ambassadors and academics with relevant experience would be solicited in border matters.
“This is a very important matter in our view, because the border institute is the repository of all documents, maps, charts and so on (and) it has to do with the territorial issues which we deal with on the Suriname border…the Venezuela border issues.”
The Minister also stated that Minister Greenidge had pointed to the condition under which records were being kept and the ‘fact’ that it was really in a deplorable state.
“We were basically having to rely on institutional memory of some persons who would have been involved in previous negotiations, so the idea is for all of these matters to be placed under the institute; all maps, charts, documents will be placed and displayed in a proper way and all of the institutional memory that people have will be called upon.”
Minister Harmon also disclosed that there will be widespread consultation as they move forward.
“There is going to be widespread consultation. All Guyanese who have some input to make we will look forward to that, and we would want to make sure that institute becomes what it is meant to be, because years going forward, when many of us would have passed away, there must be some clear record there…That Institute is an important part of our historical records,” the Minister posited.
Meanwhile, Cabinet granted its approval to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to commence negotiations with the government of Colombia for the abolition of visa requirement for holders of ordinary passports. This, Harmon stated, will be done in keeping with the ongoing discussions and arrangements within the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) with regard to the free movement of citizens within the continent.
It is expected that this reciprocal visa waiver arrangement will facilitate ease of travel for the purpose of tourism, trade, and investment between the two states.

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