The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has asked the CARICOM Secretariat to review the appointment of former finance minister Carl Greenidge and to resist engaging in local political wrangling.
In a December 28 letter, addressed to acting CARICOM Secretary-General Lolita Applewaithe and copied to CARICOM Chairman, Jamaica Prime Minister Bruce Golding, the GTUC posited that Greenidge’s appointment as Senior Deputy Director in the Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) should not be revoked on the grounds that funding is not available.
The GTUC charged that the move satisfies thepolitical dictates of the Guyana government, which formally complained over recent statements Greenidge made while delivering a tribute at the funeral service for the late Winston Murray. “The CARICOM Secretariat should not be complicit in the internal political machinations of its host state, and to respond to its not so subtle direction to dispense with the experience and expertise of one of its most qualified experts in trade negotiations, without more substantial evidence of professional wrongdoing,” the letter, signed by GTUC General Secretary Lincoln Lewis said. It added, “We humbly request that good sense may prevail and the CARICOM Secretariat following its best tradition revisits this issue and put in place the requisite mechanism to allow the people of the region to continue to benefit from the proven skills, acumen and professional competence of Mr. Greenidge’s, facts that the OTN readily highlights, which Mr. Greenidge has thus far brought to the CARICOM trade negotiations process and more so the critical CARICOM/Canada Trade Agreement now in its embryonic stage.”
When questioned about Greenidge’s future at CARICOM, now retired Secretary General Edwin Carrington said that he was still a member of the OTN but it is unclear whether his contract will be renewed in light of the availability of resources. However, sources close to the former minister have said that he communicated that CARICOM had sacked him.
The GTUC said the claim that funds are not available to maintain the services of a senior, proficient representative of a team that is involved in highly critical negotiations whose success will have far-reaching consequences and benefits for the entire Caribbean region, exposes itself to be questioned about whether its explanation is reflective of the seriousness and importance that it attaches to the business and functions of the OTN. It added that CARICOM’s explanation seems to be a deliberate action to avoid addressing both the popular and considered conclusion that “the Guyana Government diktat” had invaded the corridors of the Secretariat beyond those established rules that the CARICOM Charter permits, to influence Greenidge’s involuntary departure.
At a private funeral service for Murray, Greenidge said: “I share Winston’s belief that notwithstanding the trauma of the last few decades Guyana can, with visionary leadership, be lifted from this nightmare in which it finds itself.” Subsequently, Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir, in his capacity as the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, formally communicated government’s “loss of confidence” in his ability to represent it and “urged that he not be involved in any negotiations that would impact on Guyana” or in any negotiations on behalf of Guyana. Nadir said Greenidge’s comments “cast aspersions on and brought disrepute to H.E. Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, President of the Republic of Guyana and his Government” and that “his remarks are highly unprofessional and clearly put him in a conflict of interest position.”
The GTUC said Greenidge was simply exercising a fundamental right to free speech at a private function and for exercising this freedom it seems his right to work may be taken away. “Are we to believe that by the action of the Government of Guyana, and CARICOM that every Guyanese who works with regional institutions of CARICOM, including its Secretariat, are not allowed to express a different point of view, on any question as a matter of fact, from that of the Government of Guyana or admire/embrace dissimilar position(s) articulated by functionaries outside of the Government? Is CARICOM suggesting that there will be zero tolerance for alternative views? Will fear now stalk the hallowed halls of CARICOM the way its grips the Guyanese society under this political administration?” it questioned.
