(Barbados Nation) Barbados and Guyana have had wide-ranging discussions. Talks between the two sides took place at Grand Barbados resort on Saturday, as Guyanese marked the 38th anniversary of the co-operative republic.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donville Inniss, led the Barbados delegation, which included Ambassador-designate to CARICOM, Denis Kellman, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teresa Marshall, and legal adviser Robert Volterra.
Director-general of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Elizabeth Harper, led the Guyana delegation.
The Minister told the SUNDAY SUN that the two countries had “fruitful bilateral discussions on a range of issues”, but did not go into details.
“As a new Government, it is necessary for us to meet with our counterparts in other CARICOM countries on a one-on-one basis to discuss outstanding issues,” he remarked.
The talks, which lasted about six hours, took place against the backdrop of calls for CARICOM nations to come up with a regional fisheries project which could assess stocks, tap them and make provision for protection against abuses.
They also followed charges by some Guyanese about an increasing number of deportations from Barbados, as well as a greater number of persons being denied entry to the island in recent weeks.
They also come on the heels of complaints made by the Guyana Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Rudolph Insanally, about some states unilaterally varying the terms of the CARICOM Freedom of Movement accords for skilled nationals.
On Saturday night, the Guyanese community and Friends of Guyana, gathered at the Croton Inn, Maxwell, Christ Church, to celebrate that country’s 38th year as a republic.
