Senior Deputy Director of Caricom’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN), Carl Greenidge would not face any sanctions for remarks that the Guyana government considered “offensive” but there are question marks about whether his contract would be renewed after it expires at the end of the year. 

“I don’t know that there is any sanctionable action that one would necessarily be taking in a contract which ends in another week,” said Caricom Secretary General, Sir Edwin Carrington. 

Sir Edwin explained that Greenidge’s contract is one of several that would be ending at year-end and his future depended on the availability of resources. 

“What happens beyond that depends on if there are resources, if we are able to do anything further,” said the Secretary General. 

A senior Caricom headquarters official told demerarawaves.com that Greenidge’s internal response was not very persuasive in the context of the concerns by the Guyana government. 

The official said there were little options available if a government has said that it has lost confidence in an official’s ability to negotiate on its behalf. 

Carrington’s comments came one day after the Guyana government announced that it had written to Caricom, saying were “offensive.”  

“Cabinet went further and has decided to notify the secretariat that the functionary’s conduct has led to a gross loss of confidence by the Government of Guyana in his ability to represent the interests of Guyana and the government and the community and at bilateral levels,” said Luncheon. 

Demerarawaves.com was told that government has objected to remarks by Greenidge, a former Finance Minister in the Peoples National Congress administration from 1985 to 1992, that suggested that the country was being poorly managed. 

“Guyana can, and with visionary leadership, be lifted from the nightmare in which it finds itself,” Greenidge has said. 

Luncheon said that government had not advocated Greenidge’s resignation but wanted to ensure there was respect for protocol.

Greenidge has been nominated to be the presidential candidate for the PNC in Guyana's general elections scheduled to be held next year.

Acting Foreign Minister, Manzoor Nadir has explained that Guyana had not specifically requested that Greenidge be dismissed and his future employment would be left to the Caricom secretariat. 

“If they feel that by not being able to represent us that he can’t effectively do his job, they have to make that decision but we have been quite clear that he can’t get up and say that Guyana requires visionary leadership to get out of the problems that it’s in and expect to represent this government,” Nadir told demerarawaves.com

Greenidge has been nominated to be the presidential candidate for Guyana's main opposition Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR). He served as Finance Minister in the Desmond Hoyte-led administration from 1985 to 1992.

Greenidge then went on to become the Deputy Secretary General of the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) group.

As Minister of Finance he headed the Guyana teams which negotiated the many agreements, such as Paris Club and the first ever programme for the clearance of arrears to the Multilateral Institutions under the so-called ‘Intensified Collaborative Approach’ for chronically indebted countries and buy-back of commercial debt, on which successful management of Guyana’s ERP and HIPC eligibility were based.

Mr. Greenidge’s professional interests are extensive and he has published on a variety of issues ranging from privatization to the management of a common property resource and the political economy of agricultural modernisation.

He has served on a variety of international bodies including the European Forum on International Cooperation (EUFORIC), the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) and the 5th UN Expert Group on Financial Issues of Agenda 21 which spawned the ‘Nairobi Initiative on Capacity Building for Financing Sustainable Development’.

He was Vice Chairman of each of these bodies and is a former member of the Advisory Boards of the University of Oxford’s Regulatory Policy Research Institute (RPRI) and Regulatory Policy Centre (RPC).

Most recently he has been a Coordinating Lead Author of the International Agricultural Assessment of Science and Technology (IAASTD) with responsibility for East, South Asia and the Pacific Regions.

LETTER BY MR. CARL GREENIDGE ON THE ISSUE:

Dear Sir,

I greatly admire the initiative that has led to the establishment of the Demerarawaves and the enormous increase in
the speed with which news can now be delivered to a significant portion of the Guyanese public. I take this opportunity to congratulate you on this achievement and to suggest that Demerarawaves guard against treating speed and enthusiasm as the enemies of truth. Some of the information carried in your column (December 6^th and 16^th) on the matter of my tribute to Winston Murray is not correct. Given that the typescript of the speech itself is available the
errors should be relatively easy to remedy although the same may not be said of their consequences. I offer below examples of two instances of such inaccuracy.

First, I attach for your attention an extract of the Tribute delivered on the occasion of Mr Murray’s funeral and invite you to publish it in place of the interpretations you have hitherto carried. It would be helpful for the public to see for themselves exactly where the speech makes reference to the economy of Guyana or where it states that Mr Jagdeo is not a visionary. In the case of your own writer it would be most helpful if he/she would note that I sought to make reference to neither. A full copy of the speech is attached.

Secondly, I am not the PNC’s presidential candidate and to date have not formally expressed any interest in this matter. The names of several persons who have clearly stated that they are not desirous of being candidates will remain on the list being discussed internally by the Party until the relevant body of the Party examines the list and approaches the persons in question or deletes them on the basis of internal criteria. The list in question is therefore a list of candidates suggested by Party groups.    

With kind regards,

Carl B. Greenidge

“….. Many observers feel that the answer to the country’s problems is to be found in new direction and new leadership. In Winston Shripal Murray, many saw hope of such a change in direction and the country’s revival.

However, to paraphrase George Bush Snr., even as they planned to realize that dream:

‘[he] ….slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God’

We can do nothing about his loss as such. I am sure that he would be well on the way in the journey of the afterlife [and that he will find a place among the indestructibles]. We can ensure that [outcome] by commemorating his contribution to the betterment of our lives and paying homage to his dedication and professionalism.

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. And I want to offer the same comment, I dare say, he would have proffered to those who are left traumatized by this turn of events.

Do not despair! Engage! Win the struggle!....”

EDITOR'S NOTE:

None of Demerara Waves' articles has EVER stated that Mr. Greenidge is the candidate. We have repeatedly said
that he has been nominated.

Demerara Waves NEVER on its own accord interpreted Mr. Greenidge's tribute or sought to link what he has has said
with President Jagdeo. The facts were merely reported.

As regards your expressions about treating speed and enthusiasm as the enemies of the truth; Mr. Greenidge has not
been accessible to the local media to offer his perspectives or offer clarity since his nomination and the recent objections by the Guyana government.

ENDS