British High Commissioner to Guyana, Fraser Wheeler says this country has a “politicized racial divide” which strains its development and that from a donor perspective all political and civil society players need to find some form of accommodation.
The country’s political history is known, Wheeler said, pointing out that when he arrived here just before the 2006 general elections he was aware of “this history”. He called it a complicated and troubled history saying that while he has never personally experienced it and or believes there is “significant racism”, the racial divide is a problem.
“It is a problem… the history of the country’s politics is largely divided on race,” Wheeler told Stabroek News in an exclusive interview on Friday; he left for the United Kingdom yesterday. He would not elaborate much on the issue except to say that it is hurting development here. He called it a fundamental problem which reaches back decades.
Wheeler opined that the stakeholders need to get involved and work on finding some form of “accommodation” that allows for development. He noted that the country also stands to benefit if the political dialogue in the country improves. “It would also help,” he observed.
Wheeler referred to his stint here as High Commissioner as “enjoyable”, but also frankly stated that there were challenges. He would not comment on specifics, but did point out that some of the challenges had been widely reported; a possible reference to the withdrawal of UK funding for this country’s security sector reform programme.
No choice
Wheeler addressed the issue during his sit-down with this newspaper saying his government had no choice but to pull its funding after realizing that Guyana had shifted its focus on security reform. He said this country had initially requested funding from the UK in 2006 for comprehensive and holistic security sector reform and that his government responded positively. He said the plan was to make reform a reality, but that it failed to follow through because government’s focus here was primarily on police modernization. He said they felt that if government wanted to go in a different direction then this was fine, but the UK could not support this.
Funding was predicated on what the government here had originally asked for, he noted, saying the UK withdrew the funds after the change in direction. He said it had nothing to do with the encroachment on sovereignty as was later suggested by government officials, declaring that it was contrary to this because the UK government respected this country’s sovereignty and allowed it to go ahead with reform in the direction that it chose to.
He continued saying that he is looking forward to see how the government develops its reform programme and pointed out that security reform is critical because it involves increased accountability, transparency and increased inclusiveness. Wheeler said too that his government will sustain its call for an independent probe into the activities of the phantom squad here, through the United Nations system, because it feels this is a legitimate question which the government needs to address.
He also spoke on good governance saying the donor community advocates it, but that it has to come from within. Wheeler said the international community can stress but not impose it, and should the administration here make any serious proposal to build its governance programme, he said the international donor community would look at it with the aim of offering assistance.
Organised crime
He noted also that organised crime is a problem here, regionally and at the global level and according to him, the UK and the rest of the donor community would be happy to help counter this. Wheeler said they would be receptive to the strategy which government develops, adding that organized crime is a powerful force which impacts on governance in different countries.
Given the differences between Guyana and the UK on issues such as human rights and security reform, Wheeler was questioned as to whether aid would diminish. He stated that his government has no intention of scaling back on international aid, but observed that the focus now is on getting “more bang for our pound”; getting more impact from the funds has taken priority and hence the focus on the new regional initiatives being announced by Europe.
He said Guyana specifically has had a lot of support from the UK, citing its support for the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). He said the UK financed the expertise for it and helped to “make it what it is today”. In terms of other UK assistance for the economy, he said it has sent experts to look into the potential for call centres because of the country’s good geographic location and the fact that it is English speaking. He said that on a basic level it would appear that the call centres initiative offers a real opportunity.
He mentioned also the road with Brazil saying the pace at which that country is emerging offers additional opportunities for Guyana. He also spoke of the prospects of offshore drilling, adding that the government would have to request support from the UK government for any assistance it might need and the UK would come in to provide initial funding to a point where the programme becomes sustainable and the country can move forward.
Wheeler also noted his government’s assistance in developing a new breed of sheep here using British animal genetics and crossing the British Texel Sheep with the Barbados Black-belly sheep to create a new breed in addition to producing high quality meat. He noted too that the UK placed a lot of effort in developing the aquaculture industry, adding that they also helped in the area of aquaculture by bringing in new technologies and boosting the potential of that industry.
Asked about local elections next year and UK funding, he said the government here now has the resources to finance an election on its own, noting that the international community would be willing to look at individual requests.
Wheeler and his wife, Sara came here in 2006 shortly before the general elections. He recalled many good times saying he was struck by the openness and the warmth of people here; after his three years posting was up he had it extended for another year. “I really hope that Guyana does develop, potential is a much overused word in Guyana, but there are significant opportunities here. Some of them are coming to the surface now [and] if they can be implemented properly, and that is the key, then there are good prospects for this country.”
As to his plans for the future, he laughed and disclosed that he is heading to London for six months and will “take it from there”. He added that given the history with British High Commissioners and Guyana, he and his wife are likely to be back some day.