Prime Minister says Beal agreement sent to Hoyte
PRIME Sam Hinds has welcomed the concern he said was now finally being publicly expressed by Opposition Leader, Mr Desmond Hoyte over the aggressive threats being made by Venezuela with regard to the Beal spaceport project in the northwest of the country. In a statement yesterday, he maintained that the agreement between the Government of Guyana and the Beal Aerospace company of Texas was officially made public. "The Government of Guyana, as a matter of policy for the purpose of public information, decided to officially circulate copies of the agreement concluded with Beal Launch Services Ltd. on May 19, 2000 for the establishment of a commercial space launch facility", Mr Hinds said. He said copies of the agreement were therefore officially provided to the leaders of the political parties in the National Assembly, to all members of the National Assembly, to a number of civil societies and private sector organisations and the media. The Prime Minister said a copy of the agreement was sent directly to Hoyte, also leader of the People's National Congress (PNC), from the Office of the President, and was delivered and signed for as received at the party headquarters, Congress Place, on June 2, 2000. "It is obvious from the public statements made by the Leader of the Opposition that he has acknowledged receipt of the agreement," Mr Hinds said. Hoyte Wednesday said he had not received a copy of the agreement. In a statement read at a news conference, he objected to President Bharrat Jagdeo giving a copy of the agreement to Venezuela President Hugo Chavez before it was laid in Parliament or otherwise publicised. The President, at a news conference Monday, stood by his decision to give Chavez a copy of the agreement to reinforce assurances that the spaceport project does not have a military component. "Our country does not subscribe to keeping agreements, once they are concluded, secret", he said. He reported that his government more than two months ago gave copies of the agreement to the Opposition parties in Parliament, including the PNC, the Trades Union Congress, the Private Sector Commission, the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana and the Guyana Is First group. Hoyte said he had not been given a copy of the agreement. "I state publicly and unequivocally that I have received no such document", he said. "In any event, allegedly sending a document to a few selected persons or agencies could hardly be said to be publishing it for the information of the Parliament and the Guyanese people", Hoyte argued. However, the PNC leader said he had received a document that appeared to have come from the Office of the President but it had no covering letter or explanatory note, and was unsigned and undated. "It (document) seemed to be a revised version of a draft document leaked to me by a senior People's Progressive Party (PPP) functionary" and related to the Beal project, he said. The President first reported giving Chavez a copy of the agreement at the Brasilia summit of South American Presidents last week.
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