Commendations from Canada
Editorial
ITS detractors, especially in a politically sensitive season like going into a general elections, would not have been comforted by the commendation the Guyana Government has received from a top official of the Government of Canada. What makes it even more uncomfortable for the detractors, seemingly always eager to clasp their hands and smile with glee to have the administration squirming in uncomfortable situations, is that the government has earned plaudits for its handling of the crisis triggered by the Suriname threat on the border in June. The praise came from visiting Canada Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa, Mr David Kilgour. Mr Kilgour said he expressed regrets that no solution could have been found to allow the return of the CGX oil rig to the `Eagle' site from which it was evicted June 3 by Suriname gunboats. "But I commended your government on the way it has dealt with the crisis and its efforts to find a mutually agreeable solution", he told reporters. This assessment from the Canadians is all the more significant because it is a Canadian company, including Canadian shareholders that have suffered a tremendous setback from the unexpected Suriname hostility to an investment that held out huge economic potential for both countries. The Suriname gunboat action drove the CGX firm from a site in which it had been licensed to explore for oil by the Guyana Government in 1998 and after spending millions of dollars in getting the project going, it has been made to sit in the wings awaiting developments. The CGX company would have kept the Canadian Government fully informed of the developments and if the Guyana Government had not acted properly in the eyes of these stakeholders, commendation of the kind Mr Kilgour conveyed on his visit here would not have been forthcoming. The critics of the Guyana Government would, however, have Guyanese and others think otherwise, purely for political purposes. Threats to the territorial integrity of the country would be better faced if there is a united front and the nature of criticisms from some quarters does not really help such a cause. This holds true for the disputes on the eastern and western borders because these are issues that must override partisan interests. If the government makes a habit of making mistakes it must be made to account for this because in the final analysis it is beholden to the nation at large. But questions must be raised when a major western nation concerned about the investment of one of its companies commends the government here for its actions while its critics heap scorn. "There have been enormous problems with boundaries I guess in all parts of the world, and it's important to the six billion people who live on this planet that borders should be settled peacefully without loss of life or blood. So Canada is anxious to help you secure peacefully your boundary", Mr Kilgour said. Words the ready critics here would do well to heed.  Follow the goings-on in Guyana
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