Head of the PNCR’s Human Services and Welfare Department Volda Lawrence said the party has “just a social partnership” with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, facilitating its humanitarian work in several communities for nearly a decade.
In an interview, Lawrence told Stabroek News that members of the Church have never sought any discourse on local politics, concentrating solely on giving assistance to as many communities as possible. “No one can claim political involvement,” she said.
Last Wednesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that in accordance with the Immigration Act, it had issued letters denying work permits and extension of stay to 50 missionaries belonging to the Church. They were ordered to leave the jurisdiction, the ministry explained in a statement issued after members of the Church were detained at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Eve Leary for several hours. The statement also sought to correct a report which it said purportedly originated from the US embassy that the missionaries were being expelled because “they were engaged in espionage activities”-a claim denied by the embassy. The missionaries were subsequently given a 30-day period to leave, after a meeting between President Bharrat Jagdeo and Church representatives. The main opposition party has criticised the government’s handling of the incident, calling it an assault on the religious community, while warning that it could have implications for the treatment of Guyanese abroad.
Asked whether he felt that the party’s relationship with the Church could have been a motive for the incident, PNCR leader Robert Corbin expressed doubt, explaining that it served as a mere facilitator for the work of the religious organisation. He said the party has never received assistance from the Church or any other such organisation. “We have been working in communities and these religious bodies have contributed to many communities in which we work and we have encouraged groups in them to make requests to these organisations for assistance,” he said, adding that if this relationship was the basis for action against the Church, many other organisations would have to be given similar treatment.
The PNCR’s Human Services Department, which was established in 1997, provides, among other things, assistance to fire and flood victims, supplies to senior citizen homes and needy families. Lawrence said that eight or nine years ago, the humanitarian arm of the church approached the department for assistance in reaching out to communities. According to her, she introduced members of the Church to several communities, where they sought to find areas where assistance could be provided to meet the needs of the people.
Lawrence explained that the Church assisted various groups, including farmers, women, orphans, and indigenous peoples as well as health, schools and other social institutions, in many different communities over the years. In particular, she said they concentrated on working in several hinterland regions being impelled by the belief that the indigenous people are special to God. Further, she emphasised that the party’s Human Services Department served only as a “conduit” for the efforts by the Church to meet the needs of the people. She added that she could never recall a single occasion where any member of the Church sought to engage in any discussion that was political. “They are all about helping people,” she said, “that is where they are at.”
Additionally, Lawrence said, whenever donations are made, they are done in public and the Church is solely responsible for distribution in all communities. “They are only in it to help people,” she added.
Leslie Sobers, the Church’s Director of Public Affairs, has said that despite the incident, it has pledged to continue its humanitarian work here and would not deprive Guyanese of its services.
“We have also asked that certain key members among the group of 50 missionaries asked to leave Guyana be allowed to remain,” Sobers told Stabroek News on Friday, while noting that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been operating in Guyana for more than two decades. During the last two years, according to Sobers, the Church has expended more than $422 million here in humanitarian services.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the missionaries who are expected to leave by the end of September were not granted extensions of stay and some were not in possession of valid work permits. This was denied by Sobers, who said that applications were submitted for extension of stays but as far as he knows they were never given responses.
An elderly missionary couple was the first to be picked up from their home by police on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning the rest of their colleagues showed up at the Criminal Investigation Department, Eve Leary and were detained there for about 12 hours. The US embassy and senior members of the church were forced to intervene and meet President Jagdeo at Office of the President before the missionaries were finally released that day. Meanwhile, discussions are still underway between the Home Affairs Ministry and the Church on a settlement to allow church members to continue their work here.
