Beal deal seen as surrender of sovereignty
The recently signed satellite launch site agreement was described by one observer yesterday as a "complete surrender of this country's sovereignty for 30 pieces of silver." The agreement, which has been strongly criticised by opposition parties and civic groups was signed on Friday by representatives of the government and Beal Aerospace Technologies based in Texas USA. It covers the construction of a satellite launching pad in the Waini River area. The company will pay US$75,000 ($13 million) for just over 25,000 acres of land. Beal will invest US$100 million in building its spaceport. Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, co-leader of the Working People's Alliance: "I believe it would have been better if it had not been signed. The refusal of the government to disclose details and particulars of the negotiations especially to the members of parliament is inexcusable. After the GPL fiasco where the opposition parties had to abandon debate for want of information, it is nothing less than perverse that in the face of a national outcry the government would persist in this method of doing business. It remains to be seen whether the Amerindian citizens who are destined for relocation would sit quietly by and accept this. We are extremely alarmed that the signing of the agreement came before the Environmental Impact Assessment which we have argued before does not include a cultural assessment especially as the Waini region had been designated one of the 100 most endangered cultural sites in the world. I will refrain from commenting on the absurd pricing mechanism that constitutes nothing less than a giveaway of prime equatorial property. Our proposal would have been, especially given the disclosures prior to signing, that the matter be referred to a Special Select Committee of the National Assembly. But clearly the PPP/Civic has a long way to go to ever understand what modern governance means." PNC Leader Desmond Hoyte at first declined to comment, then said: "I have seen what foul deeds they have done. The document is still a state secret! They claim to have made some amendments to the document but I doubt that the changes were significant." Jean La Rose of the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) said: "The APA has not been happy with the deal from the first time it heard the government was considering it. This is a blatant disregard for the rights of the people in the area given that people have been asking for land rights for the longest while. Government has had no consultation with the people in the area and the few people they did speak to were used as spokespersons only to announce the positives. The 76 families are not happy about the relocation and this just continues the trend of non-consultation with the Amerindians over their rights and wishes." Dr Frank Beckles of Guyana Is First (GIF): "GIF has always worked for the interests of the people whether it be in the reform of the Constitution, the election timing or this Beal deal. Guyana must come first; its interests, its people, its sovereignty, its dignity. What we see in the secret signing of this document a la swearing in of Janet Jagan, is a complete surrender of Guyana's sovereignty for 30 pieces of silver. The Guyanese left in Guyana, especially the Amerindians in the region that have from time immemorial lived in harmony with the environment, have been ruthlessly excluded from this process and will be crudely uprooted. The young nation of Guyana in its thirty-fourth year and with its independence to be celebrated next week, finds itself cast back into a state of colonialism as a result of this incredible document." The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) in a press release issued on Friday which urged the government to postpone the signing, stated: "Elements of the proposed agreement contemplate the sale to Beal of large tracts of land and the relocation of Guyanese residing in the area... We believe that matters which impinge on the control of sovereign territory and the sanctity of the homelands of our people are issues of the most profound national importance which cannot be surrendered to the exclusive sanction of the ruling political administration." The GTUC noted also that conditions of employment for Guyanese workers at Beal would require changes to labour legislation. "Any such development which circumvents full and thorough consultation with the labour movement will be deemed to be entirely unacceptable and will meet with our disapproval... During the tenure of the present administration the term transparency has become a fashionable catch phrase... The Beal deal provides a practical test of the government's commitment to transparency." Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, George Jardim, reserved judgement. He said the PSC was studying the agreement and would make a statement later in the week. Sheila Holder, consumer advocate, observed that the signing was symptomatic of the country's political problems: "This deal shows that we have a non-responsive government which operates on the basis of once it is elected [it has] the authority to do as [it] chooses. Obviously the government doesn't understand the democratic process that requires wide support for decisions made on behalf of the country. Because of the inadequate political structure we are under, opposition to the deal is seen merely as political action. The deal, regrettably, will not bring the development the country needs because it will continue the erosion of the people's credibility in the government. What also needs to be noted is that under World Trade Organisation rules, the government is now obliged to offer a comparable deal to other satellite launch companies." Dr Ulric Trotz, a climatologist project manager, Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Global Climate Change and a delegate at the Caribbean Tourism Organisation conference being held at Le Meridien Pegasus, said during the course of that conference that the price paid for the swamp lands, taking into consideration the ecological damage that would be caused, was paltry. Many countries were now regretting filling swampland because of the ecological imbalance and destruction to the environment. Were you to ask to buy an acre of swamp land in Florida for US$3 you would be laughed out of the door, he said. Dr Joth Singh, technical services director, Caribbean Environmental Health Institute said that in the Caribbean we tended to undervalue natural resources. Dr Joshua Ramsammy also declined to comment, "especially since the media had only lately recognised the significance of the deal. It is a fait accompli [done deal]," he concluded.
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