CARICOM on Haiti, Guyana
By Rickey Singh
WHEN THEY meet in a caucus session during their two-day special meeting this week in Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government will be expected to discuss and disclose for public information what's their new moves, if any, on the political situations in Haiti and Guyana: For their October 26-27 meeting they will have a report on CARICOM's fact-finding mission to Haiti last July that concentrated on arrangements for parliamentary and local government elections, then expected in November or December, but since postponed until March 2000. The independence of the Provisional Electoral Council is, according to reports from Port-au-Prince, being undermined amid political manoeuvrings by the major political contenders, including ex-President Bertrand Aristide's Fani Lavalas party. Will CARICOM send yet another "fact-finding" mission to Haiti. And what, if any, kind of practical support it intends to provide to facilitate genuine electoral democracy in 2000 in that poorest and most politically unstable of Caribbean nations? More than words of comfort and assurances are needed. So far as Guyana is concerned as the second poorest nation in the region, after 28 years of one-party rule, it is time for a report from Maurice King, the CARICOM Facilitator to the inter-party dialogue in Georgetown. This seems preferable at this stage to the public being further lulled into a false sense of expectation from the current visit to Guyana by Prime Minister Kenny Anthony of St. Lucia. As this article was being written, Prime Minister Anthony was due to meet yesterday with President Bharrat Jagdeo who is scheduled to leave today for the CARICOM special meeting at Chaguaramas. Anthony is also expected to meet with People's National Congress (PNC) leader, Desmond Hoyte, before leaving for Trinidad and report to CARICOM heads of government on his visit to Guyana. Whatever comes out of Anthony's meetings with Jagdeo and Hoyte and others who may be included for his mission to Guyana, Community leaders will be expected to hear from the new Guyana President himself on the status of the dialogue between the governing People's Progressive Party and Hoyte's PNC. This would include, I imagine, Jagdeo's invitation to meet with Hoyte - an invitation made to the PNC leader since August. A report from Facilitator King, who had a meeting with Anthony even before his visit to Guyana, would be particularly useful at this stage, in addition to that of the St. Lucia Prime Minister, to determine any further CARICOM involvement in Guyana. For his part, having managed to get the nod from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund for adjustments in austerity fiscal agreements, President Jagdeo's priorities must certainly include implementation of the award by an Arbitration Tribunal on pay increases for public sector workers. Although the majority report of the divided Tribunal on a 31.6 percent pay increase for 1999 came as a big surprise and disappointment to the government, it has reaffirmed its commitment to honour the award so far is it confirms to the terms of reference. But it is also important for the functioning of future industrial relations, in Guyana's national interest, as well the professional interest of the members of the Tribunal, that action be taken on the recommended judicial interpretation of the findings of the Chief Labour Officer (CLO) to ensure transparency and justice. The Tribunal comprised Dr Aubrey Armstrong (chairman), a management consultant, and two economists, Dr. Gobind Ganga (government nominee) and Dr Clive Thomas (the union's representative). A minority report by the government's nominee had pointed to serious discrepancies. This resulted in the investigation by the CLO who confirmed claims by the government's nominee. Whatever their own positions, Armstrong, Ganga and Thomas should welcome the recommendation for a judicial interpretation of the CLO's findings as the government prepares to implement the pay award for 1999. Much is at stake for industrial relations, stability and progress of Guyana, as well as for the integrity of the arbitrators themselves.
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