Cabinet concurs on Beal proposal - negotiators to seek clarification By Gitanjali Singh Stabroek News March 16, 2000 Cabinet concluded its review of the proposed satellite launch project two days ago and has cleared the way for the signing of a potential deal before the end of the month, save for some clarifications to be provided by Beal Aerospace Technologies. Prime Minister Sam Hinds yesterday issued a mandate to the negotiating team to seek the clarifications necessary from Beal to pave the way for the signing by month end. But Hinds was tight-lipped on what these clarifications were. However, he assured all Guyanese that overall, the deal being proposed is "very good," for Guyana. "One placard holder, a child, asked the government to 'secure our future'. That is exactly what we are doing. We Guyanese have to realise that if we want things of the world, we must participate in the world," Hinds asserted in a telephone interview with this newspaper yesterday. "What we have here is a balanced arrangement that is good for Beal and good for Guyana. There is no agreement... and people should disabuse their minds... that does not put each party at some risk," Hinds asserted. The Guyana Is First (GIF) grouping has begun to protest reports that the government will only be receiving US$50,000 per rocket launch and that aspect of the agreement supersedes Guyana's law. Asked about these, Hinds said that in the case of the launch fee, this is based on a stepped rate and not a fixed sum. And on the aspect of the law, he said he could not say but doubted that there were any such provisions. He said that there are provisions in the proposed agreement to allow a space port operation and provision has been made for timely clearances of launches within a day or two. He said he was not certain whether these provisions were being misconstrued. "Lots of the things being said are totally untrue and one could have checked it out," Hinds said. As to the claim by a GIF executive that the government just asked for suggestions for the sake of suggestions and did not consider them, Hinds said that the government asked for suggestions and not orders. He said that the government took the suggestions into account and eventually made a decision in the country's best interest. "People must realise that the world is not a one-sided place and in negotiations we compromise," the Prime Minister said. Hinds yesterday reported that the government was working with Beal to close the agreement. "We have reaffirmed to Beal that we continue to be desirous of closing and I continue to be hopeful to close a deal by month end," Hinds said. He revealed that Beal has forwarded the name of someone who led a major operation in the interior to be the manager of its ground operation once the deal is clinched, signaling the seriousness of the firm to get cracking. "If anything, we in Guyana need additional work opportunity," Hinds said, noting that Guyana had not been very successful in attracting investment or in benefiting from world trade and needed to reassess itself. Some Cabinet members had concerns about whether the deal being proposed was the best one that could be had, and Hinds said yesterday, "we have brought about a consensus," at Cabinet level. "I would say that a number of matters have been clarified and Cabinet is satisfied and is proceeding," Hinds said. Beal is proposing to establish a satellite space port in the Waini and to create 200 long-term and 500 short-term jobs. It promises to bring with it notoriety as the world's first private commercial launch site and tourism for Guyana, in return for which it asks to buy 26,010 acres of swamp land and to lease a five-mile radius of buffer. The government expects this investment to bring other investors to Guyana. There has been opposition to the sale of the land but the government has argued that the sale arrangement was structured as a lease. Hinds said yesterday that the company would not have exclusive rights to satellite launching in Guyana. And he felt that with Brazil making efforts to secure this investment to recoup on its US$200 million investment in infrastructure, the government had to take this into account. However, the Prime Minister noted that there was a possibility that the Beal project might not be successful and that was why the non-exclusivity clause was important. He said if the project failed, the land would revert to the state, or the company could seek the government's permission to get into a project with another partner. It is possible that if Beal responds positively to the clarification issues sent yesterday, a deal could be clinched in the coming week.